February 5
is the 36th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 329 days remaining (330 in
leap years).
*
1576 -
Henry of Navarre converts to
Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of
France.
*
1597 - The
Keikyo a group of early
Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of
Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese
society.
*
1631 -
Roger Williams emigrates to
Boston.
*
1778 -
South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the
Articles of Confederation.
*
1782 -
Spanish defeat
British forces and capture
Minorca.
*
1818 -
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
*
1846 -
The Oregon Spectator becomes the first
newspaper on the
Pacific coast of the
United States.
*
1859 -
Wallachia and
Moldavia are united under
Alexander John Cuza under the name
Romania (see
December 1 1918 for the final unification,
Transylvania and other regions were still missing at this time).
*
1881 -
Phoenix, Arizona is incorporated.
*
1885 - King
Léopold II of Belgium establishes the
Congo as a personal possession.
*
1917 - The
current constitution of
Mexico is adopted, establishing a
federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
* 1917 - The
Congress of the United States passes a
law, over
President Woodrow Wilson's veto, banning most
Asian immigration to the
United States.
*
1919 -
Charlie Chaplin,
Mary Pickford,
Douglas Fairbanks, and
D.W. Griffith launch
United Artists.
*
1922 -
DeWitt and
Lila Wallace publish the first issue of
Reader's Digest. (Some sources say
February 7.)
*
1924 - The
Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the
Greenwich Time Signal or the "
BBC pips".
*
1936 -
Charlie Chaplin releases the last movie of the silent film era,
Modern Times.
*
1937 -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes a plan to enlarge the
Supreme Court of the United States.
*
1945 -
World War II:
General Douglas MacArthur returns to
Manila.
*
1946 - The
Chondoist Chongu Party is founded in
North Korea.
*
1958 -
Gamel Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the
United Arab Republic.
* 1958 - A
hydrogen bomb known as the
Tybee Bomb is lost by the
US Air Force off the coast of
Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
*
1961 - The
Sunday Telegraph publishes its first issue.
*
1962 -
French President Charles De Gaulle calls for allowing
Algeria to be an independent nation.
*
1968 -
Vietnam War:
Battle of Khe Sanh begins.
*
1971 -
Project Apollo:
Apollo 14 Mission -
Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell aboard LM,
Antares land on the
Moon at
Fra Mauro formation.
*
1972 -
Bob Douglas becomes the first
African American elected to the
Basketball Hall of Fame.
*
1974 -
John Murtha becomes the first
Vietnam War veteran elected to the
Congress of the United States.
*
1978 - The
Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst
Nor'easters ever to hit
New England, forms.
*
1988 -
Manuel Noriega is indicted on
drug smuggling and
money laundering charges.
* 1988 -
Comic Relief hold the first "
Red Nose Day", which raises £15 million in the
United Kingdom for
charity.
*
1991 - A
Michigan court bars Dr.
Jack Kevorkian from assisting in
suicides.
*
1994 -
Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the
1963 murder of
civil rights leader
Medgar Evers.
*
1997 - The so-called
Big Three banks in
Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid
Holocaust survivors and their families.
* 1997 -
Morgan Stanley and
Dean Witter investment banks announce a $10 billion merger.
*
2003 -
U.S. plan to invade Iraq:
Colin Powell addresses the
UN Security Council on
Iraq.
*
2004 - Twenty-three
Chinese people drown when a group of 35
cockle-pickers are trapped by rising tides in
Morecambe Bay,
England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered.
* 2004 -
Rebels from the
Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of
Gonaïves, starting the
2004 Haiti rebellion.
*
976 -
Sanjo,
Emperor of Japan (d.
1017)
*
1505 -
Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (d.
1572)
*
1519 -
René of Châlon, Prince of the House of Orange (d.
1544)
*
1534 -
Giovanni de' Bardi, Italian writer, composer, and soldier (d.
1612)
*
1589 -
Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet (d.
1669)
*
1626 -
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (d.
1696)
*
1650 -
Anne-Jules, 2nd duc de Noailles, French general (d.
1708)
*
1703 -
Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (d.
1764)
*
1725 -
James Otis, American lawyer and patriot (d.
1783)
*
1788 -
Robert Peel,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.
1850)
*
1795 -
Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist (d.
1871)
*
1804 -
Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (d.
1877)
*
1808 -
Carl Spitzweg, German painter (d.
1885)
*
1810 -
Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (d.
1880)
*
1837 -
Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (d.
1899)
*
1840 -
John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor (d.
1921)
*
1848 -
Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (d.
1907)
* 1848 -
Belle Starr, American outlaw (d.
1889)
*
1878 -
André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (d.
1935)
*
1880 -
Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (d.
1973)
*
1889 -
Ernest Tyldesley, British cricketer (d.
1962)
*
1900 -
Adlai Stevenson, American politician (d.
1965)
*
1906 -
John Carradine, American actor (d.
1988)
*
1908 -
Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twin actresses (d.
1969)
*
1910 -
Francisco Varallo, Argentine footballer
*
1911 -
Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d.
1960)
*
1914 -
William S. Burroughs, American author (d.
1997)
* 1914 -
Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (d.
1998)
*
1915 -
Robert Hofstadter, American physicist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (d.
1990)
*
1918 -
Tim Holt, American actor (d.
1973)
*
1919 -
Red Buttons, American actor (d.
2006)
* 1919 -
Andreas Papandreou, Greek politician (d.
1996)
*
1921 -
John Pritchard, British conductor (d.
1989)
*
1923 -
Claude King, American musician
*
1927 -
Ruth Fertel, American entrepreneur (d.
2002)
*
1928 -
Andrew Greeley, American priest and novelist
*
1929 -
Luc Ferrari, French composer (d.
2005)
* 1929 -
Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician
*
1929 -
Al Worthington, baseball player
*
1930 -
John A. Gambling, American radio show host (d.
2004)
*
1933 -
Jörn Donner, Finnish writer, film director, producer and politician
*
1934 -
Don Cherry, Canadian NHL Hockey player and coach, and "CBC's Hockey Night in Canada" Commentator
* 1934 -
Hank Aaron, baseball player
*
1937 -
Stuart Damon, American actor
* 1937 -
Wang Xuan, Chinese scientist, the "Father of Chinese Language Laser Typesetting"
*
1940 -
H.R. Giger, Swiss artist
*
1941 -
Jane Bryant Quinn, American journalist
* 1941 -
David Selby, American actor
* 1941 -
Kaspar Villiger, Swiss Federal Councilor
*
1942 -
Roger Staubach, American football player
*
1943 -
Nolan Bushnell, American video game pioneer
* 1943 -
Michael Mann, American film director, writer, and producer
* 1943 -
Craig Morton, American football player
*
1944 -
Al Kooper, American musician
*
1945 -
Charlotte Rampling, British actress
*
1947 -
Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver
*
1948 -
Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish Football Manager
* 1948 -
Christopher Guest, American actor, writer, director, and composer
* 1948 -
Barbara Hershey, American actress
* 1948 -
Errol Morris, American film director
*
1949 -
Nigel Olsson, drummer
*
1953 -
John Beilein, American head coach of the West Virginia University men's basketball team
*
1954 -
Cliff Martinez, American musician
*
1955 -
Mike Heath, baseball player
*
1962 -
Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress
*
1964 -
Laura Linney, American actress
* 1964 -
Duff McKagen, American musician (
Guns N' Roses)
*
1965 -
Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer
*
1966 -
Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d.
1993)
*
1968 -
Roberto Alomar, baseball player
*
1969 -
Bobby Brown, American singer
*
1971 -
Sara Evans, American singer
*
1972 -
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark* 1972 -
Koriki Choshu, Japanese comedian
*
1975 -
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer
*
1976 -
Tony Jaa, Thai actor
*
1976 -
Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
* 1976 -
John Aloisi, Australian footballer
*
1977 -
Ben Ainslie, British sailor
* 1977 -
Ahmad Merritt, American football player
*
1978 -
Shawn Reaves, American actor
*
1980 -
Brad Fitzpatrick,
LiveJournal creator
* 1980 -
Robin Vik, Czech tennis player
* 1980 -
Jo Swinson, British politician
*
1982 -
Rodrigo Palacio, Argentine footballer
*
1984 -
Carlos Tévez, Argentinine footballer
*
1985 -
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
*
1986 -
Reed Sorenson,
NASCAR driver
*
1989 -
Jeremy Sumpter, American actor
*
995 -
William IV, Duke of Aquitaine (b.
937)
*
1520 -
Sten Sture the Younger, regent of Sweden (b.
1493)
*
1578 -
Giambattista Moroni, Italian painter
*
1705 -
Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (b.
1635)
*
1766 -
Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Austrian field marshal (b.
1705)
*
1775 -
Eusebius Amort, German Catholic theologian (b.
1692)
*
1790 -
William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (b.
1710)
*
1807 -
Pasquale Paoli, Corsican patriot and military leader (b.
1725)
*
1818 - King
Charles XIII of Sweden (b.
1748)
*
1881 -
Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (b.
1795)
*
1915 -
Ross Barnes, baseball player (b.
1850)
*
1917 -
Jaber II Al-Sabah, Emir of
Kuwait (b.
1860 )
*
1922 -
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian inventor (b.
1871)
* 1922 -
Christiaan De Wet, South African general
*
1937 -
Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born writer (b.
1861)
*
1946 -
George Arliss, English actor (b.
1868)
*
1948 -
Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b.
1883)
*
1962 -
Jacques Ibert, French composer (b.
1890)
*
1966 -
Ludwig Binswanger, Swiss psychiatrist (b.
1881)
*
1967 -
Leon Leonwood Bean, American department store founder (b.
1872)
*
1970 -
Rudy York, baseball player (b.
1913)
*
1972 -
Marianne Moore, American poet (b.
1887)
*
1976 -
Rudy Pompilli, American musician (
Bill Haley and His Comets) (b.
1926)
*
1977 -
Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist (b.
1894)
*
1981 -
Ella Grasso, Governor of Connecticut (b.
1919)
*
1991 -
Dean Jagger, American actor (b.
1903)
*
1992 -
Miguel Rolando Covian, Brazilian physiologist (b.
1913)
*
1993 -
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American writer, producer, and director (b.
1909)
*
1995 -
Doug McClure, American actor (b.
1935)
*
1997 -
Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat (b.
1920)
*
1999 -
Wassily Leontief, Russian economist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (b.
1906)
*
2003 -
Helge Boes, American Central Intelligence Agency officer
*
2005 -
Gnassingbe Eyadema,
President of Togo (b.
1937)
*
2006 -
Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actress and comedienne (b.
1930)
* 2006 -
Franklin Cover, American actor (b.
1928)
*
Kashmir Day observes as public holiday in
Pakistan.
Liturgical feasts
*
Catholicism - Feast day of
Saint Agatha of Sicily, patron saint of firework makers and glass blowers.
*
Saint Bertolf*
On this day in Canada*
NY Times: On this day*
BBC: On This DayFebruary 4 -
February 6 -
January 5 -
March 5 --
listing of all days
