05 February History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1556    -    Henry II of France and Philip of Spain sign the truce of Vaucelles.
  • 1631    -    A ship from Bristol, the Lyon, arrives with provisions for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
  • 1762    -    Martinique, a major French base in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, surrenders to the British.
  • 1783    -    Sweden recognizes U.S. independence.
  • 1846    -    The first Pacific Coast newspaper, Oregon Spectator, is published.
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  • 1864    -    Federal forces occupy Jackson, Miss.
  • 1865    -    The three-day Battle of Hatcher's Run, Va., begins.
  • 1900    -    The United States and Great Britain sign the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the United States the right to build a canal in Nicaragua but not to fortify it.
  • 1917    -    U.S. Congress nullifies President Woordrow Wilson's veto of the Immigration Act; literacy tests are required.
  • 1918    -    The Soviets proclaim separation of church and state.
  • 1922    -    The Reader's Digest begins publication in New York.
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  • 1922    -    William Larned's steel-framed tennis racquet gets its first test.
  • 1945    -    American and French troops destroy German forces in the Colmar Pocket in France.
  • 1947    -    The Soviet Union and Great Britain reject terms for an American trusteeship over Japanese Pacific Isles.
  • 1952    -    New York adopts three-colored traffic lights.
  • 1961    -    The Soviets launch Sputnik V, the heaviest satellite to date at 7.1 tons.
  • 1968    -    U.S. troops divide Viet Cong at Hue while the Saigon government claims they will arm loyal citizens.
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  • 1971    -    Two Apollo 14 astronauts walk on the moon.
  • 1972    -    It is reported that the United States has agreed to sell 42 F-4 Phantom jets to Israel.
  • 1974    -    Patty Hearst is kidnapped at gunpoint.
  • 1985    -    U.S. halts a loan to Chile in protest over human rights abuses.

  • 05 February Birthdays

  • 1723    -    John Witherspoon, Declaration of Independence signer.
  • 1788    -    Sir Robert Peel, British prime minister.
  • 1837    -    Dwight L. Moody, evangelist, founder of the Moody Bible Institute.
  • 1848    -    Belle Starr, Western outlaw.
  • 1872    -    Lafayette Benedict Mendel, biochemist.
  • 1898    -    Ralph McGill, editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution.
  • 1900    -    Adlai E. Stevenson II, Illinois governor and presidential candidate.
  • 1914    -    Sir Alan Hodgin, English physiologist and biophysicist.
  • 1915    -    Robert Hofstadter, physicist who won the Nobel prize in 1961 for his studies of neutrons and protons.
  • 1926    -    Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, longtime New York Times publisher.
  • 1934    -    Hank Aaron, American hall of fame baseball player.
  • 1938    -    John Guare, playwright (The House of Blue Leaves).