05 February History
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).