| 5 November 1840 | Egypt, Ottoman Empire [treaties] | By the Convention of Alexandria the Egyptian viceroy Mehmet Ali agrees to the terms of the Treaty of London of 15 July, ending the Ottoman-Egyptian war. |
| 5 November 1840 | Afghanistan, UK [wars] | The First Anglo-Afghan War ends when Afghan forces surrender to the British in Afghanistan. |
| 5 November 1854 | UK, France, Russian Empire [Crimean War (1854–56)] | British and French forces defeat the Russians at the Battle of Inkerman. |
| 5 November 1872 | USA [elections] | In the US presidential election, Ulysses S Grant (Republican) is re-elected with 286 electoral votes over Horace Greeley (Liberal Democrat) with 62 votes. |
| 5 November 1879 | Scotland, England [births and deaths] | James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist who formulated the theory of electromagnetism, dies in Cambridge, England (48). |
| 5 November 1883 | Egypt, UK, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan [wars] | The Sudanese followers of the dervish Mahdi (prophet) Mohammed Ahmed of Dongola defeat an Egyptian force under the British general William Hicks at El Obeid, in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and the British decide to evacuate the country. |
| 5 November 1911 | Italy, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [diplomacy] | Italy annexes Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Libya from the Ottoman Empire. |
| 5 November 1912 | USA [elections] | The Democrat Woodrow Wilson wins the US presidential election with 435 electoral votes, while the Progressive candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, wins 88 votes, and the residing Republican president, William Howard Taft, wins 8. In the popular vote Wilson receives 6,293,454 votes, Roosevelt 4,119,538, and Taft 3,484,980. Democrats attain majorities in both the House (2911–127) and Senate (51–44). |
| 5 November 1914 | France, United Kingdom, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [World War I (1914–18)] | France and Britain declare war on the Ottoman Empire. |
| 5 November 1921 | USA [everyday life] | The US president Warren G Harding declares Armistice Day (November 11, the date of the end of World War I in 1918) a national holiday. |
| 5 November 1921 | Russia, Mongolia [treaties] | A treaty of alliance is signed between the communist governments of Mongolia and Russia following the defeat of anticommunist White Russian forces under Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. |
| 5 November 1974 | USA [elections] | Democrat Ella Grasso becomes governor of the state of Connecticut, and the first woman governor of a US state who is not the wife or widow of a former governor. |
| 5 November 1988 | UK [charities] | Comic Relief, a charity that raises money for programmes that work to end poverty and promote social justice, launches the first Red Nose Day, with the distribution of almost 4 million noses. |
| 5 November 1996 | USA [elections] | Bill Clinton is re-elected president of the USA, defeating Republican nominee Bob Dole with 379 electoral college votes to 159. The popular vote is Clinton 45,590,703; Dole 37,816,307; Reform candidate Ross Perot 7,866,284. The Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. |
