Today in History.....December 5

On this day in …

* 1776, the first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

* 1792, George Washington was re-elected president; John Adams was re-elected vice president

* 1831, former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives

* 1848, President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1949 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California

* 1932, German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States

* 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment

* 1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades

* 2004, Egypt freed an Israeli Arab man convicted of spying in exchange for Israel's release of six Egyptian students who were suspected of trying to kidnap Israeli soldiers