February 5th archived daily history

Today February 5th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009

Events
1576 – Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France.
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 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.
1859 – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza as the United Principalities.
1885 – King Léopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.
1900 – The United States and the United Kingdom sign treaty for Panama Canal
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.
1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shot down a German airplane. It was the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists.
1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the BBC pips.
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 allowing Algeria to be an independent nation.
1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh begins.
1971 – Apollo program: 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.
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.
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.

Births
976 – Sanjo, Emperor 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)
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
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 – Belle Starr, American outlaw (d. 1889)
1848 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean war hero (d. 1882)
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)
1903 – Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress (d. 1975)
1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)
1908 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (d. 1969)
1910 – Francisco Varallo, Argentine footballer
1910 – Charles Leblond, Canadian Cell Biologist (d. 2007)
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)
1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
1919 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
1919 – Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973)
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
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)
1932 – Cesare Maldini – Italian footballer and manager
1933 – Jörn Donner, Finnish writer/director
1934 – Don Cherry, Canadian hockey commentator
1934 – Hank Aaron, American baseball player
1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor
1937 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian athlete
1937 – Wang Xuan, Chinese scientist (d. 2006)
1940 – H.R. Giger, Swiss artist
1941 – Jane Bryant Quinn, American journalist
1941 – Stephen J. Cannell, American television producer and writer
1941 – David Selby, American actor
1941 – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss Federal Councilor
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 – Al Kooper, American musician
1946 – Charlotte Rampling, British actress
1947 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver
1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager
1948 – Christopher Guest, American actor
1948 – Barbara Hershey, American actress
1948 – Errol Morris, American film director
1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer and songwriter (d. 1986)
1953 – John Beilein, American basketball coach
1954 – Cliff Martinez, American musician
1955 – Mike Heath, baseball player
1956 – Hector Rebaque, Mexican racing driver
1956 – Betty Ong, flight attendant that died on September 11, 2001, on American Airlines Flight 11
1959 – Jennifer Granholm American Politician
1960 – Aris Christofellis, Greek countertenor
1961 – Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager
1961 – Tim Meadows, American actor and comedian
1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress
1963 – Steven Shainberg, American film director
1964 – Alexia, Cypriot singer
1964 – Laura Linney, American actress
1964 – Duff McKagan, American musician
1965 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer
1966 – Rok Petrovic, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
1966 – Apostolos Nanos, Greek archer
1967 – Chris Parnell, American actor
1967 – Frederick Pitcher, Nauruan politician
1968 – Roberto Alomar, baseball player
1968 – Eyþór Guðjónsson, Icelandic actor
1968 – Nir Kabaretti, Israeli conductor
1969 – Bobby Brown, American singer
1969 – Michael Sheen, Welsh actor
1971 – Sara Evans, American singer
1972 – Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
1972 – Koriki Choshu, Japanese comedian
1973 – Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Trijntje Oosterhuis, Dutch singer
1975 – Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer
1975 – Adam Carson, American musician (AFI)
1976 – Tony Jaa, Thai actor
1976 – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
1976 – John Aloisi, Australian footballer
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 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer
1980 – Prince Peter, American-born Yugoslav royalty
1980 – Jo Swinson, British politician
1980 – Robin Vik, Czech tennis player
1981 – Nora Zehetner, American actress
1981 – Loukas Vyntra, Greek football player
1982 – Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, Iranian basketball player (d. 2007)
1982 – Rodrigo Palacio, Argentine footballer
1982 – Kevin Everett, American football player
1982 – Tomas Kopecky, Ice hockey player
1984 – Carlos Tévez, Argentinine footballer
1984 – Nate Salley, American football player
1985 – Laurence Maroney, American football player
1985 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
1985 – Crystal Hunt, American actress
1985 – Lindsey Cardinale, American singer
1986 – Reed Sorenson, American racecar driver
1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer
1986 – Manuel Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Vedran Corluka Croatian football player
1989 – Cristine Reyes, Filipino actress
1989 – Jeremy Sumpter, American actor

Deaths
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)
1881 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (b. 1795)
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
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)
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)
1969 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1905)
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, Quebec 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 – 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)
1998 – Tim Kelly, American musician (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
2004 – John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
2005 – Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of Togo (b. 1937)
2006 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actress and comedian (b. 1930)
2006 – Franklin Cover, American actor (b. 1928)
2007 – Alfred Worm, Austrian investigative journalist (b. 1945)
2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, American politician and 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (1983–1995) (b. 1930)
2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru, founder of Transcendental Meditation (b. c. 1917)

Holidays and observances
St. Agatha