February 5

February 5 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Thursday)

February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 329 days remain until the end of the year (330 in leap years).

Events

• 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
• 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
• 1597 – 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 second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
• 1782 – Spanish defeat British forces and capture Minorca.
• 1783 – In Calabria a sequence of strong earthquakes begins.
• 1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.
• 1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
• 1852 – The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public.
• 1859 – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza as the United Principalities, an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire, which ushered the birth of the modern Romanian state.
• 1869 – The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the "Welcome Stranger", is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
• 1885 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.
• 1900 – The United States and the United Kingdom sign a treaty for the Panama Canal.
• 1909 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.
• 1913 – Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis perform the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane.
• 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 the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. Also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, it forbade immigration from nearly all of south and southeast Asia.
• 1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane. It is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
• 1918 – SS Tuscania (1914) is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland; it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.
• 1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists.
• 1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips".
• 1937 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes a plan to enlarge the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1939 – Generalísimo Francisco Franco becomes the 68th "Caudillo de España", or Leader of Spain.
• 1941 – Air Training Corps formed, from the Air Defense Cadet Corps.
• 1941 – World War II: Allied forces begin the Battle of Keren to capture Keren, Eritrea.
• 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.
• 1962 – French President Charles De Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
• 1963 – The European Court of Justice's ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen establishes the principle of direct effect, one of the most important, if not the most important, decisions in the development of European Union law.
• 1971 – Astronauts land on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission.
• 1972 – Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• 1975 – Riots break in Lima, Peru after the police forces go on strike the day before. The uprising (locally known as the Limazo) is bloodily suppressed by the military dictatorship.
• 1976 – The 1976 swine flu outbreak begins at Fort Dix, NJ.
• 1985 – Ugo Vetere, then the mayor of Rome, and Chedli Klibi, then the mayor of Carthage meet in Tunis to sign a treaty of friendship officially ending the Third Punic War which lasted 2,131 years.
• 1988 – Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.
• 1994 – Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
• 1994 – During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina more than 60 people are killed and some 200 wounded as a mortar shell slams into a downtown marketplace in Sarajevo.
• 1997 – The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
• 2000 – Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.
• 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.
• 2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States leaves 57 dead, the most since the May 31, 1985 outbreak that killed 88.
• 2009 – The United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal runs aground off Oahu, Hawaii, damaging the ship as well as a coral reef.

Births

• 976 – Emperor Sanjō, of Japan (d. 1017)
• 1505 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (d. 1572)
• 1519 – René of Châlon, (d. 1544)
• 1534 – Giovanni de' Bardi, Italian writer (d. 1612)
• 1589 – Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet (d. 1669)
• 1594 – Biagio Marini, Italian virtuoso violinist and composer (d. 1663)
• 1608 – Gaspar Schott, German mathematician (d. 1666)
• 1626 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (d. 1696)
• 1650 – Anne-Jules, French general (d. 1708)
• 1703 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (d. 1764)
• 1725 – James Otis, American lawyer and patriot (d. 1783)
• 1744 – John Jeffries, Physician, Surgeon, Balloonist (d. 1819)
• 1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German opera composer and conductor (d. 1798)
• 1784 – Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1818)
• 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)
• 1840 – Hiram Stevens Maxim, American inventor (Maxim gun) (d. 1916)
• 1848 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (d. 1907)
• 1848 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean war hero (d. 1882)
• 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, English cricketer (d. 1962)
• 1897 – Dirk Stikker, Dutch banker, industrialist, politician, and diplomat (d. 1979)
• 1900 – Adlai Stevenson, American politician, 31st Governor of Illinois (d. 1965)
• 1903 – Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress (d. 1975)
• 1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Pierre Pflimlin, French Politician (d. 2000)
• 1908 – Mietje Baron, Dutch swimmer (d. 1948)
• 1908 – Bob Dunn (musician), pioneer Western swing musician (d. 1971)
• 1908 – Peg Entwistle, English actress (d. 1932)
• 1908 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (d. 1969)
• 1909 – Grażyna Bacewicz, Polish composer and violinist (d. 1969)
• 1910 – Charles Leblond, Canadian cell biologist (d. 2007)
• 1910 – Francisco Varallo, Argentine footballer (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960)
• 1914 – William S. Burroughs, American author (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1998)
• 1915 – Robert Hofstadter, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1990)
• 1917 – Isuzu Yamada, Japanese actress
• 1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Kenneth Hare, Canadian climatologist and academic (d. 2002)
• 1919 – Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973)
• 1919 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Frank Muir, British comedian (d. 1998)
• 1921 – John Pritchard, British conductor (d. 1989)
• 1922 – Alain de Changy, Belgian racing driver (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Claude King, American musician
• 1923 – Fatmawati, Indonesian First Lady
• 1927 – Robert Allen, pianist and composer of popular songs (d. 2000)
• 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 (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Al Worthington, American baseball player
• 1930 – John A. Gambling, American radio show host (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager
• 1933 – Jörn Donner, Finnish writer/director
• 1934 – Hank Aaron. American baseball player
• 1934 – Don Cherry, Canadian ice hockey commentator
• 1935 – Alex Harvey, Scottish rock musician (d. 1982)
• 1936 – K. S. Nissar Ahmed, Kannada Poet
• 1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor
• 1937 – Larry Hillman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1937 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian athlete
• 1937 – Wang Xuan, Chinese scientist (d. 2006)
• 1939 – Jane Bryant Quinn, American journalist
• 1940 – H.R. Giger, Swiss artist
• 1940 – Dick Warlock, Canadian actor and stuntman
• 1941 – Stephen J. Cannell. American television producer and writer (d. 2010)
• 1941 – David Selby, American actor
• 1941 – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss Federal Councilor
• 1942 – Jaap Blokker, Dutch businessman and executive (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player
• 1942 – Cory Wells, American singer (Three Dog Night)
• 1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American video game pioneer
• 1943 – Michael Mann, American film director
• 1943 – Craig Morton, American football player
• 1944 – James B. Cobb, Jr., American guitarist (Classics IV)
• 1944 – Al Kooper, American musician
• 1944 – Tamanoumi Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 51st Yokozuna (d. 1971)
• 1946 – Charlotte Rampling, British actress
• 1947 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver
• 1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager
• 1948 – Christopher Guest, American film actor and director
• 1948 – Barbara Hershey, American actress
• 1948 – Errol Morris, American film director
• 1949 – Yvon Vallières, French-Canadian politician
• 1950 – Jonathan Freeman, American actor
• 1951 – Russell Grant, British astrologer
• 1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer and songwriter (d. 1986)
• 1953 – John Beilein, American basketball coach
• 1953 – Takashi Ishikawa, Japanese sumo and professional wrestler
• 1953 – Loretta Tofani, American journalist
• 1954 – Cliff Martinez, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Dickies)
• 1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player
• 1956 – Betty Ong, Flight attendant of American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11, 2001 (d. 2001)
• 1956 – Hector Rebaque, Mexican racing driver
• 1959 – Jennifer Granholm American politician, 47th Governor of Michigan
• 1960 – Aris Christofellis, Greek countertenor
• 1961 – Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager
• 1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress
• 1963 – Steven Shainberg, American film director
• 1964 – Laura Linney, American actress
• 1964 – Duff McKagan, American musician (Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver)
• 1965 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer
• 1965 – Keith Moseley, American musician (The String Cheese Incident)
• 1965 – Andreas Vogler, German footballer
• 1966 – Apostolos Nanos, Greek archer
• 1966 – Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
• 1967 – Chris Parnell, American actor
• 1967 – Frederick Pitcher, Nauruan politician
• 1968 – Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1968 – Eyþór Guðjónsson, Icelandic actor
• 1968 – Nir Kabaretti, Israeli conductor
• 1968 – Qasim Melho, Syrian actor
• 1969 – Bobby Brown, American singer (New Edition)
• 1969 – Michael Sheen, Welsh actor
• 1971 – Sara Evans, American singer
• 1972 – Kristopher Carter, American composer
• 1972 – Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian
• 1972 – Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
• 1973 – Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1973 – Trijntje Oosterhuis, Dutch singer
• 1975 – Brainpower, Dutch rapper
• 1975 – Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer
• 1975 – Adam Carson, American musician (AFI)
• 1976 – John Aloisi, Australian soccer player
• 1976 – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
• 1976 – Tony Jaa, Thai actor
• 1976 – Brian Moorman, American football player
• 1977 – Ben Ainslie, British sailor
• 1977 – Adam Everett, American baseball player
• 1977 – Ahmad Merritt, American football player
• 1978 – Shawn Reaves, American actor
• 1978 – Brian Russell, American football player
• 1980 – Stefano Di Fiordo, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer
• 1980 – Prince Peter, American-born Yugoslav royalty
• 1980 – Jo Swinson, British politician
• 1980 – Robin Vik, Czech tennis player
• 1981 – Loukas Vyntra, Greek football player
• 1981 – Nora Zehetner, American actress
• 1982 – Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, Iranian basketball player (d. 2007)
• 1982 – Deidra Dionne, Canadian freestyle skier
• 1982 – Kevin Everett, American football player
• 1982 – Marc Kennedy, Canadian Curler
• 1982 – Tomáš Kopecký, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1982 – Dionysis Makris, Greek singer
• 1982 – Rodrigo Palacio, Argentine footballer
• 1982 – Wheesung, Korean R&B singer
• 1984 – Nate Salley, American football player
• 1984 – Carlos Tévez, Argentine footballer
• 1985 – Lindsey Cardinale, American singer
• 1985 – Crystal Hunt, American actress
• 1985 – Robert Lijesen, Dutch swimmer
• 1985 – Laurence Maroney, American football player
• 1985 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
• 1986 – Vedran Ćorluka, Croatian footballer
• 1986 – Manuel Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
• 1986 – Ashley Simmons, American professional wrestler
• 1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer
• 1986 – Reed Sorenson, American racecar driver
• 1986 – Carlos Villanueva, Chilean footballer
• 1987 – Darren Criss, American actor, singer
• 1987 – Linus Omark, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1988 – Johnathan Haggerty, American football player
• 1988 – Kevin J. Maclean, Scottish singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Cristine Reyes, Filipino actress
• 1989 – Jeremy Sumpter, American actor
• 1990 – Marvin Knoll, German footballer
• 1991 – Alba Riquelme, Paraguayan model
• 1992 – Neymar, Brazilian footballer
• 1992 – Stefan de Vrij, Dutch footballer
• 1998 – chase babii jesus stackin stash blake durant drizzy montana reed, best man ever
• 1994 – Saki Nakajima, Japanese singer (C-ute)
• 2002 – Davis Cleveland, American actor

Deaths

• 1520 – Sten Sture the Younger, regent of Sweden (b. 1493)
• 1578 – Giambattista Moroni, Italian painter (b. c.1520-24)
• 1705 – Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (b. 1635)
• 1754 – Nicolaas Kruik, Dutch cartographer (b. 1678)
• 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)
• 1881 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (b. 1795)
• 1882 – Adolfo Rivadeneyra, Spanish traveler, writer and diplomat (b. 1841)
• 1892 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (b. 1807)
• 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 (b. 1854)
• 1927 – Inayat Khan, Indian sufi (b. 1882)
• 1931 – Athanasios Eftaxias, Greek politician (b. 1849)
• 1933 – Josiah Thomas, Australian politician (b. 1863)
• 1937 – Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born writer (b. 1861)
• 1938 – Hans Litten, German jurist (b. 1903)
• 1941 – Banjo Paterson, Australian poet, author of "Walzing Matilda" (b. 1864)
• 1946 – George Arliss, English actor (b. 1868)
• 1948 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b. 1883)
• 1952 – Adela Verne, English pianist (b. 1877)
• 1957 – Sami Ibrahim Haddad, Lebanese surgeon (b. 1890)
• 1962 – Jacques Ibert, French composer (b. 1890)
• 1967 – Leon Leonwood Bean, American department store founder (b. 1872)
• 1967 – Violeta Parra, Chilean folklorist and visual artist (b. 1917)
• 1969 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902)
• 1970 – Rudy York, American 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)
• 1984 – Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, Mexican wrestler and film actor (b. 1917)
• 1985 – Georges-Émile Lapalme, French-Canadian politician (b. 1907)
• 1987 – William Collier, American film and stage actor (b. 1902)
• 1991 – Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
• 1992 – Miguel Rolando Covian, Brazilian physiologist (b. 1913)
• 1993 – Seán Flanagan, Irish Gaelic footballer and politician (b. 1922)
• 1993 – Marcel Léger, Quebec politician (b. 1930)
• 1993 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American writer, producer, and director (b. 1909)
• 1993 – Tip Tipping, British actor and stuntman (parachuting accident) (b. 1958)
• 1995 – Doug McClure, American actor (b. 1935)
• 1997 – Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat (b. 1920)
• 1997 – René Huyghe, French writer (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Tim Kelly, American musician (Slaughter) (b. 1963)
• 1999 – Wassily Leontief, Russian economist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1906)
• 2000 – Claude Autant-Lara, French film director (b. 1901)
• 2003 – Helge Boes, American Central Intelligence Agency officer (b. 1970)
• 2004 – John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
• 2005 – Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of Togo (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Henri Rochon, Canadian tennis player (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actress and comedian (b. 1930)
• 2006 – Franklin Cover, American actor (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Fred Ball, American movie studio executive, actor, and the brother of comedienne Lucille Ball (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, American politician and 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (1983–1995) (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Alfred Worm, Austrian investigative journalist (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru, founder of Transcendental Meditation (b. c. 1917)
• 2010 – Brendan Burke, Gay rights activist, son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke (b. 1988)
• 2010 – Ian Carmichael, English actor (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Harry Schwarz, South African lawyer, politician and diplomat, leader of the anti-apartheid movement (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Brian Jacques, English author, author of the Redwall series (b. 1939)
• 2011 – Peggy Rea, American actress (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Agatha of Sicily
  • February 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Mexico)
• Kashmir Day (Pakistan)
• Liberation from the Alberoni Occupation (San Marino)
• National Weatherperson's Day (United States)
• Runeberg's Birthday, where Runeberg's tart are made specially for the holiday. (Finland)
• Unity Day (Burundi)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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