A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 5th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On February 5, 1852, the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was opened to the public.
On February 5, 1869, prospectors Richard Oates and John Deason of Australia found the incredibly large alluvial gold nugget known as “Welcome Stranger,” a rock weighing almost 300 pounds!
On February 5, 1909, New Yorker Leo Baekeland presented his invention of Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic, to the American Chemical Society.
On February 5, 1917, the Congress of the United States overrode a veto by President Woodrow Wilson and enacted the Immigration Act of 1917, a law that targeted Asians to prevent their immigration to the US.
On February 5, 1918, American US Army soldier Stephen W. Thompson while flying as a machine gunner in a French airplane shot down a German aircraft, the first ever air to air combat victory by an American member of the US Military.
On February 5, 1933, the crew of the Royal Netherlands Navy ship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën mutinied while stationed off the coast of Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies.
On February 5, 1985, a war that started in 149 BC was finally put to rest when the Mayor of Rome, Ugo Vetere, went to Tunisia to meet with Chedli Klibi, the Mayor of Carthage, to sign a treaty of peace and friendship, officially ending the Third Punic War 2,131 years after it began.
On February 5, 2008, a date known as “Super Tuesday,” a series of powerful tornadoes hit the Southern United States, leaving 57 people dead.
On Thursday, February 5, 2015, American President Obama said, concerning the atrocities associated with the Islamic State, “Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.”
On February 5, 2023, Americans were flooded with a variety of opinions about the Chinese “spy” balloon that had crossed much of the US and was shot down by a US fighter plane off the coast of South Carolina the previous day.
On February 5, 2023, America was abuzz with partisan bickering over the way President Biden handled the alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down on February 4th.
An article, published on February 5, 2023, presents a compilation of our three recent videos that in some way mention the 2023 China balloon incident.
On February 5, 2024, Royal spokespersons released information that the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King Charles III, had been diagnosed and was under treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
On Monday, February 5, 2024, romantic comedy fans had their chance to be among the first in Cleveland, Ohio to see a free, virtual screening of Upgraded at 6:00PM Eastern.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
