December 5 Birthday
On December 5, 1933, Utah became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, repealing Prohibition. The amendment was the only one to repeal another amendment. Prohibition had lasted thirteen years and ten months. It had not stopped drinking — it had criminalized it, enriching organized crime and corrupting law enforcement. The repeal was supported by even those who had originally supported Prohibition. The Twenty-first Amendment is also notable for its structure — it was ratified by state conventions rather than state legislatures, the only amendment ratified this way. Walt Disney, born this day in 1901, started with a cartoon mouse and built an empire. He received 22 Academy Awards — more than anyone in history. He died of lung cancer in 1966. His body was cremated, and rumors that it was cryogenically frozen are false. People born on December 5 fall under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius. The birthstone is Tanzanite and the birth flower is Holly. Historical events on December 5 include 1933: Prohibition repealed — 21st Amendment ratified, 1945: Flight 19 — five Navy bombers disappear over Bermuda Triangle, 1901: Walt Disney born (that's a birth). Famous people born on December 5 include Walt Disney (1901), Little Richard (1932), Margaret Cho (1968).