On This Day in History...

0816 Frankish emperor Louis grants archbishop Salzburg immunity
1428 King Alfonso V, orders Sicily's Jews to attend conversion sermons
1488 Roman catholic German emperor Maximilian I caught in Belgium
1512 French troops under Gaston de Foix rescues Bologna
1556 Kings Henri I & Philip II sign Treaty of Vaucelles
1572 Beggars assault Oisterwijk Netherlands, drive nuns out
1576 Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours
1631 Rhode Island, founder, Roger Williams arrives in Boston from England
1644 1st US livestock branding law passed, by Connecticut
1649 Prince of Wales becomes king Charles II
1663 Earthquake in Canada
1679 German emperor Leopold I signs peace with France
1736 Methodists John & Charles Wesley arrive in Savannah GA
1777 Georgia becomes 1st US state to abolish both entail & primogeniture
1778 Articles of Confederation ratified by 1st state, South Carolina
1782 Spanish take Minorca (western Mediterranean) from the English
1783 Sweden recognizes US independence
1783 Earthquakes ravage Calabria, killing 30,000
1795 Zealand Netherlands surrenders to French General Michaud
1816 Rossini's Opera "Barber of Seville" premieres in Rome
1817 1st US gas company incorporated, Baltimore (coal gas for street lights)
1825 Hannah Lord Montague of New York creates 1st detachable shirt collar
1831 Jan van Speijk blows up his gunboat in Antwerp, killing about 30
1846 "Oregon Spectator" is 1st newspaper to be published on the West Coast
1850 Adding machine employing depressible keys patented, New Paltz NY
1855 British government of Palmerston forms
1861 Kinematoscope patented by Coleman Sellers, Philadelphia PA
1861 Louisiana delegation except Mr Bouligny withdraws from Congress
1861 1st moving picture peep show machine is patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati
1864 Federals occupy Jackson MS
1865 Battle of Hatcher's Run, VA (Armstrong's Mill, Dabney's Mill)
1870 1st motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia
1879 Joseph Swan demonstrates light bulb using carbon glow
1881 Phoenix AZ incorporates
1885 News of fall of Khartoum reaches London
1887 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premieres at La Scala in Italy
1887 Snow falls on San Francisco
1893 Alfred Naess skates world record 500 meter (49.4 seconds)
1894 Female suffrage organization in Amsterdam forms
1897 Marcel Proust meets Jean Lorrain in a pistol duel
1900 British troops under General Buller occupy Vaal Krantz, Natal
1901 Loop-the-loop centrifugal RR (roller coaster) patented by Ed Prescot
1901 Pierpont Morgan forms US Steel Corp
1904 American occupation of Cuba ends
1907 Arnold Schönberg's 1st string quartet premieres in Vienna
1911 Society of Dutch Composers forms in Amsterdam
1916 Enrico Caruso recorded "O Sole Mio" for the Victor Talking Machine Company
1917 Congress overrides Wilson's veto, curtailing Asian immigration
1917 Present Mexican constitution adopted
1917 Morosco Theater opens at 217 W 45th St NYC (demolished 1982)
1918 1st US pilot to down an enemy airplane, Stephen W Thompson
1918 Separation of church & state begins in USSR
1919 NL president John Heydler dismisses charges that Hal Chase bet against his team & threw games in collusion with gamblers
1921 Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx for Yankee Stadium
1922 Reader's Digest magazine 1st published
1923 General mine strike against wage cuts in Saar
1923 Mass arrests of socialists & communists in Italy
1927 Buster Keaton's movie "The General" released & bombed
1929 Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoon debuts in San Francisco
1930 5th Aliyah to Israel begins
1931 Maxine Dunlap becomes 1st US women to earn a glider pilot license
1933 Marinus van der Lubbe passes Dutch/German boundary
1936 National Wildlife Federation forms
1937 FDR proposes enlarging Supreme Court, "court packing" plan failed
1937 1st Charlie Chaplin talkie, "Modern Times", is released
1938 Hans Engnestangen skates world record 500 meter (41.8 seconds)
1940 Glenn Miller & his Orchestra record "Tuxedo Junction"
1940 General Winckelman replaces General Reijnders as Dutch supreme commander
1941 Dutch Premier De Geer returns from Lisbon to Netherlands
1942 "Woman of the Year", starring Hepburn & Tracy, opens at Radio City
1942 Braves get Tommy Holmes from Yanks for Buddy Hassett & Gene Moore
1943 Clandestine Radio Atlantiksender, Germany, 1st transmission
1943 Amsterdam resistance group CS-6 shoots Nazi General Seyffardt
1944 358 RAF-bombers attack Stettin
1945 Big Racket becomes fastest race horse at 69.6 kph (440 yards/20.8 seconds)
1945 British premier Churchill arrives in Yalta, the Krim
1945 US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manilla
1947 Bolewet Beirut becomes President of Poland
1948 "The Nature of Things" science show premieres on NBC prime time
1948 Dick Button becomes 1st US figure skating Olympics champion
1948 Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympics slalom champion
1949 Huaso sets official world equestrian high-jump record, 2.47 m, Chicago
1953 "Peter Pan" by Walt Disney opens at Roxy Theater, NYC
1953 5th Emmy Awards I Love Lucy, Thomas Mitchell & Helen Hayes win
1954 WCDC TV channel 19 in Adams MA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1956 7th Winter Olympics games close at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
1956 Louise Suggs win LPGA Havana Golf Open
1956 New York Mayor Robert Wagner & Brooklyn Boro President Frank Cashmore sponsor a bill to create a $30 million Brooklyn Sports Center Authority to build
1957 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 2nd Piano Concert
1958 Clifton R Wharton confirmed as 1st US black foreign minister (Romania)
1958 Gamel Abdel Nasser nominated 1st President of United Arab Republic
1958 Vanguard TV-3 back-up launches into Earth orbit; reaches 6 km
1958 Test Cricket debut of Lance Gibbs, West Indies vs Pakistan, Port-of-Spain
1959 "Redhead" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 455 performances
1959 Australia regain the Ashes with a 10 wicket victory at Adelaide
1962 French President de Gaulle calls for Algeria's independence
1962 Suit to bar Englewood NJ from "racial segregated" schools is filed
1962 Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn within 16º
1963 Maarten Schmidt discovers enormous red shifts in quasars
1963 Soviet lunar probe failure
1965 Beursschouwburg opens in Brussels
1966 BBC opens a relay radio station on Ascension Island
1967 "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS (later ABC, NBC)
1967 Anastasio Somoza elected President of Nicaragua
1967 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Robert Penn Warren
1968 KDTV TV channel 39 in Dallas-Fort Worth TX (IND) begins broadcasting
1968 Skater Kees Verkerk win Olympics gold in the 1500m
1969 US population reaches 200 million
1969 Vince Lombardi, becomes part owner, vice president, general manager & head coach of Redskins
1969 "Turn-On", debuts & is cancelled by ABC after flopping so badly
1970 1st Test Cricket ton of Barry Richards, 126, 164 balls, 20 fours 1 six
1970 Test Cricket debut of John Traicos, South Africa vs Australia, Durban
1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 WSCV TV channel 51 in Ft Lauderdale FL (IND) suspends broadcasting
1971 Apollo 14, 3rd US manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro; Alan Shepard & Edward Mitchell (Apollo 14) walk on Moon for 4 hours
1972 US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage
1972 "Another Puff" by Jerry Reed peaks at #65
1972 Bob Douglas is 1st black elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
1973 Funeral for LC William Nolde, last US soldier killed in Vietnam War
1973 Juan Corona sentenced to 25 consecutive life terms for 25 murders
1973 Comic strip "Hagar The Horrible" debuts
1974 Mats Wermelin, Sweden, scores all points in 272-0 basketball win
1974 US Mariner 10 returns 1st close-up photos of Venus' cloud structure
1974 British mine strike
1974 Maximum speed on Autobahn reduced to 100 kph
1976 Australia complete 5-1 series drubbing of West Indies
1976 Last day of Test Cricket for Lance Gibbs & Ian Redpath
1977 Sugar Ray Leonard beats Luis Vega in 6 rounds in his 1st pro fight
1977 "CB Savage" by Rod Hart peaks at #67
1977 "Dis-Gorilla (part 1)" by Rick Dees peaks at #56
1977 "In The Mood" by Henhouse 5 Plus Too (Ray Stevens) peaks at #40
1977 "Turn Loose On My Leg" by Jim Stafford peaks at #98
1977 "Up Your Nose" by Gabriel Kaplan peaks at #91
1977 General Mills Adventure Theater premieres on CBS radio
1977 US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
1977 US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
1978 Fred Newman makes 88 consecutive basketball free throws blindfolded
1979 Costliest single periodical ad, $3.2 million, Gulf + Western in Time
1979 Sears Radio Theater premieres on CBS
1980 32nd NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 6-3 at Detroit
1980 Egyptian parliament votes to end boycott of Israel
1981 Military jury in North Carolina convicts Robert Garwood of collaborating with enemy
1981 "Piaf" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 165 performances
1981 Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane
1982 DEA announces seizure of 3,192 tons of marijuana, 495 people
1982 Laker Airways collapse owing £270 million ($351 million)
1982 Suriname President Chin A Sen resigns & flees to Netherlands
1983 Former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie brought to trial
1984 New Zealand beat England (82 & 93) by an innings in 3 days
1984 Patty Sheehan win LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1986 Corazon Aquino & Ferdinand Marcos appear on "Nightline"
1987 Dow Jones average closes above 2,200 for 1st time
1987 Soyuz TM-2 launches
1988 1st prime-time wrestling match in 30 years-Andre beats Hulk Hogan
1988 Panamanian General Manuel Noriega indicted by US grand jury for drugs
1988 Arizona House of Representatives vote to impeach Republican Governor Evan Mecham
1989 Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes 1st NBA player to score 38,000 points
1990 Notre Dame becomes 1st team to sell its game to a major network (NBC)
1991 A Michigan court bars Dr Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides
1991 All American Bowl ends after 14 years
1991 Big East Football conference forms
1991 Howard Stern kisses New York Giant Leonard Marshall's ass over bet, Stern lost claiming the Giants would lose the Superbowl
1991 Joni Mitchel inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame
1991 Los Angeles King Dave Taylor becomes 29th NHLer to score 1000 points
1992 Jury selection begins in the Los Angeles cops beating Rodney King case
1992 Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Dilip Vengsarkar
1992 Mike Whitney career-best 7-27 at WACA in Test Cricket win vs India
1993 Grenade explodes in Sarajevo, killing 63 & injuring 160
1993 R James Woolsey, becomes 16th director of CIA
1994 "Where On Earth Is Carmen San Diego" debuts on Fox TV
1994 Medgar Evers' murderer Byron De La Beckwith sentenced to life, in Jackson MS, 30 years after the crime
1995 Japan's Shinshinto Party win local elections
1995 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 41-13
1995 Sandra Völker swims female European record 50 meter backstroke 27.77
1997 3 Swiss banks create $70 million Holocaust fund
1997 Brook Lee, Hawaii, crowned 46th Miss USA (en route to Miss Universe)
1998 Alberto Acciarito convicted of harassing his ex-wife Ingrid Rossellini
1998 Author Tom Clancy confirms he signed agreement to purchase Minnesota Vikings for slightly more than $200 million, an NFL franchise record
1998 Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding talk on FOX (Taped Dec 22nd)
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Missing in Action...

1966 ASMUSSEN GLENN EDWARD WASHINGTON DC
1966 MC CONNAUGHHAY DAN DAILY ARTESIA CA DIED IN HELI CRASH
1966 SPARENBERG BERNARD JOHN BALTIMORE MD DIED IN HELI CRASH
1968 CLEVER LOUIS J. WESTMORELAND CITY PA NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST FAMILY STATES NEW " KENSINGTON PA, WESTMORELAND COUNTY"
1968 DORSEY JAMES V. WASHINGTON DC NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 EDGAR ROBERT J. NOKOMIS FL
1968 GODWIN SOLOMON H. HOT SPRINGS AR
1968 GOTT RODNEY H. MAIMI FL NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 HATTON WILTON N. FORT WORTH TX NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 LASITER CARL W. INDIANAPOLIS IN "03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV (GRAND RAPIDS, ND)" ALIVE IN 98
1968 LYNN HOMER M. ELMWOOD IL NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 MC NEILL CLARENCE L. WARSAW NC NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 NIGGLE HARRY T. BLOOMINGTON IN NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 OLSON ROBERT E. SAINT PAUL MN NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1968 POTTER WILLIAM T. GRAND FORKS ND REFNO 1036 VEHICLE #0443
1968 ROLLINS JAMES U. 02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED
1969 BURKE WALTER F. FLUSHING NY NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1969 SWIGART PAUL E. JR. SEAL BEACH CA
1969 SHERBURN HUGH L. VANCOUVER WA NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST
1970 DELUCA ANTHONY J. 02/28/70 RELEASED TUNNEL RAT ALIVE AND WELL 1998
1970 GLENN THOMAS PAUL 02/28/70 RELEASED
1970 HEFEL DANIEL GUTTENBURG IA 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98
1970 HUNSUCKER JAMES 02/28/70 RELEASED
1970 KOBASHIGAWA TOM Y. HONOLULU HI 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98
1970 LYON JAMES M. INDIANAPOLIS IN "02/06/70 DIC, MERCY KILLING"
1970 LEHNEN GARY ROBERT 02/28/70 RELEASED
1970 PARSELS JOHN W. BRADENTON FL 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98
1970 STEPHENSON RICHARD C. HAMILTON OH
1970 WALKER MICHAEL JAMES 02/28/70 RELEASED
1971 PAUL JAMES L. RIVERVIEW MI
1973 BERNHARDT ROBERT E. RICHMOND VA 02/73 REMAINS RECOVERED ID'D 2/13/73
1973 BOLLINGER ARTHUR R. GREENVILLE IL "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95
1973 BRANDENBURG DALE CAPITOL HEIGHTS MD "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95
1973 CRESSMAN PETER R. WAYNE NJ "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95
1973 MATEJOV JOSEPH A. EAST MEADOW NY "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95
1973 MELTON TODD M. MILWAUKEE WI "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95
1973 PRIMM SERVERO J. III NEW ORLEANS LA "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95
1973 SPITZ GEORGE R. KAHALUU HI "KIA, POSS CAPTURED" GROUP BURIAL 12/95

Births which occurred on February 05:

1589 Honorat de Brueil seigneur de Racan French playwright/poet
1626 Madame Marie de Sévigné Paris, celebrated letter-writer (Portrait in Letters)
1662 Giuseppi Vignola composer
1711 Joseph Umstatt composer
1723 John Witherspoon clergyman/signed Declaration of Independence
1732 Nathanael Gottfried Gruner composer
1744 John Jeffries colonial physician/meteorologist
1748 Christian Gottlob Neefe German composer/conductor/tutor of Beethoven
1753 Coert L van Beyma thoe Kingma Frisian regent/patriot
1770 Alexandre Brongniart Paris, mineralogist/geologist (Tertiary)
1775 Margaretha J de Neufville author (Small Pligten)
1779 Frans van Campenhout Belgian vocalist/composer (Brabançonne)
1788 Sir Robert "Bobbie" Peel British PM (1834-46), founded Tories
1788 Karoly Kisfaludy Hungarian literary (A Tat rok Magyarorsz gon)
1799 John Lindley English botanist (Elements of Botany)
1804 Johan Ludvig Runeberg Finland, poet
1810 Ole Bull composer
1833 John Watkinson founder of British Chess Magazine (oldest chess magazine)
1837 Dwight Lyman Moody US, evangelist (Student Volunteer Movement)
1840 Hiram Stevens Maxim inventor (automatic single-barrel rifle)
1840 John Boyd Dunlop Scotland, developer (pneumatic rubber tire)
1848 Joris-Karl Huysmans France, writer (Against the Grain)
1848 Belle Starr [Myra Belle Shirley] US female outlaw (wild west)
1856 Otto Brahm German critic/founder (Neue Deutsche Rundschau)
1860 Jackson Showalter 1st US chess champion (1888-92, 1895-97, 1906-09)
1862 Felipe Villanueva y Gutiérrez Mexico, composer
1863 Armand Parent composer
1864 Carl Tieke composer
1865 Harvey Worthington Loomis composer
1866 Arthur Keith Scottish anthropologist
1866 Henri [Hendrik J] Hall Dutch MP/comic (Put a Lid on it)
1866 Rossetter Gleason Cole composer
1867 Casper A Lingbeek vicar/Dutch MP
1868 Lodewijk Mortelmans composer
1871 Jovan Ducic Serbian poet (Blue Legends)
1878 André-Gustave Citroën France, auto maker
1879 Edward Rigby England, actor (Star Look Down, Young & Innocent)
1881 Frederick Leonard Lonsdale British playwright (Balkan Princess)
1882 Felice Lattuada composer
1887 A P Gütersloh writer
1889 Elias Henry "Patsy" Hendren cricketer (prolific England bat of 20's)
1889 Ernest Tyldesley cricketer (1st Lancastrian to score 100 100's)
1889 Ioan Dumitru Chirescu composer
1891 Elizabeth Ryan Anaheim CA, doubles tennis champion (6 time Wimbledon)
1891 Karl L Schmidt German/Swiss theologist (Urchristentum)
1892 George Saiko writer
1893 Roman Ingarden Polish philosopher (Studia philosophica)
1897 Dirk U Stikker director (Heineken)/Dutch foreign minister/NATO
19-- Jason Bieler rock guitarist (Saigon Kick-New World)
1900 Adlai E Stevenson (Governor-D-IL), presidential candidate (D) (1952, 1956)
1902 Bronislaw Kaper composer
1903 Ivan Galamian Tabriz Persia, violinist
1903 Joan Whitney Payson owner of New York Mets & horse stables
1903 Nathaniel Owings Indianapolis IN, architect (Oak Ridge TN; Sears)
1906 John Carradine Greenwich Village NY, actor (Grapes of Wrath, Howling)
1907 Norton Simon business executive (Simon & Schuster)
1907 Jan Klaasesz Dutch governor Suriname (1949-56)
1907 Pierre E J Pflimlin premier France
1909 Grazyna Bacewicz composer
1910 Martha van Och-Scholl German/Dutch resistance fighter (WWII)
1912 Willard Parker New York NY, actor (Kiss Me Kate, What A Woman)
1912 Zoltan Pongracz composer
1913 Rozelle Claxton pianist/arranger
1914 William S Burroughs St Louis, novelist (Naked Lunch)
1914 Alan Hodgkin British physicist (Nobel 1963)
1915 Robert Hofstadter US atomic physicist
1917 Zsa Zsa Gabor [Zsa Sari], Budapest Hungary, actress (Queen of Outer Space)
1918 Robert Brown Hebrides Islands Scotland, actor (Here Come The Brides, Primus)
1918 Charles John "Tim" Holt Beverly Hills CA, actor (Treasure of Sierra Madre, Stagecoach, Hitler's Children)
1918 Kara Abulfazogli Karayev composer
1919 Melina Mercouri actress (Never on Sunday)
1919 Andrea George Papandreou Greek premier (1981-89, 93- )
1919 Red Buttons [Aaron Chwatt], Bronx New York NY, comedian/actor (Sayonara, Poseidon Adventure)
1921 Sir John Pritchard London England, conductor
1922 Bernard Kalb State Dept spokesman/actor (Dave)
1923 Stephen J Cannell TV producer/writer
1924 Robert Lynn anarchist
1926 Arthur Ochs Sulzberger New York NY, publisher (New York Times)
1927 Val Dufour New Orleans LA, actor (Eugenie Grandet, Another World)
1928 Andrew M Greeley author/reverend
1928 Pananayiotis Taki Vatikiotis middle east scholar
1929 Fred Sinowatz (SPÖ) Neufeld an der Leitha, chancellor of Austria (1983-86)
1933 Jörn Donner Helsinki Finland, director (Anna, Tenderness)
1933 Nick Georgiade New York NY, actor (Untouchables, Run Buddy Run)
1933 Ron Wilson US percussionist (Joy of Cooking)
1934 Hank Aaron baseball player (record 755 home runs, 1957 NL MVP)
1935 Alex Harvey rocker (Just Visiting This Planet)
1935 John J "Jannie" Geldenhuys supreme commander South Africa army 1980- )
1937 Gaston Roelants Belgium, world cross-country champion
1937 Stuart Damon Brooklyn NY, actor (Alan Quartermaine-General Hospital)
1937 Cocky van Oost [Kommertje van Vliet], Dutch dancer (Sylphides)
1938 Dick van Niehoff Dutch vocalist (Fouryo)
1938 John Guare US writer (6º of Separation, Atlantic City, Taking Off)
1939 Brian Luckhurst cricketer (England opener of 60's & early 70's)
1939 Jane Bryant Quinn newscaster/financial writer (Everyone's Money Book)
1940 H R Giger artist, special effects designer, (Alien)
1941 Barrett Strong Detroit MI, singer (Money, That's What I Want)
1941 David Selby Morgantown WV, actor (Falcon Crest, Flamingo Road)
1941 Stephen J Cannell producer (Rockford Files)
1941 Rick Laird jazz musician (Gerry Niewood & Timepiece)
1942 Roger Staubach NFL quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
1942 Cory Wells Buffalo NY, rock vocalist (3 Dog Night-Joy to the World)
1942 Susan Hill English playwright (Magic Apple Tree)
1943 Craig Morton Flint MI, NFL quarterback (Dallas, Denver)
1943 Charles Winfield Pennsylvania, rocker (Blood Sweat & Tears-Spinning Wheel)
1943 Ivan Alexandrovich Tcherepnin composer
1943 Larry Tamblyn rock guitarist (Standells-Dirty Water)
1943 Michael Mann Chicago IL, actor/director (Sexpot, Close Friends)
1943 Nolan Bushnell founder (Atari)/creator (Pong)
1943 Sven Johnson rocker (Tangerine Dream
1944 Al Kooper rock keyboards/vocalist (Blood Sweat & Tears-When I Die)
1944 J R Cobb Birmingham AL, rocker (Atlanta Rhythm Section, Classic IV)
1946 Charlotte Rampling England, actress (Zardoz, Night Porter, Verdict)
1947 Claude King singer
1947 David Ladd Los Angeles CA, actor (Raymie, Catlow, Misty, Deathline)
1947 Mary Louise Cleave Southampton NY, PhD/astronaut (STS 61-B, STS 30)
1948 David Denny rock guitarist (Steve Miller Band-Abracadabra)
1948 Barbara Hershey [Herzstein], Atlanta GA, (Stuntman, Shy People, A World Apart)
1948 Christopher Guest New York NY, actor (Saturday Night Live, Heartbeeps, This is Spinal Tap, Princess Bride)
1948 Elco [LC] Brinkman Dutch minister WVC (CDA)
1948 Nigel Tufnel rocker (Spinal Tap)
1949 David Sullivan English softporno/newspaper publisher (Sunday Sport)
1949 Maidarjabyn Ganzorig Mongolia, cosmonaut (Soyuz 39 backup)
1949 Nigel Olsson rock guitarist/drummer (Elton John Band)
1950 Ann Sexton US vocalist (You're Gone too Long)
1951 Elizabeth Swados Buffalo NY, composer/playwright (1972 TONY)
1954 Roseanne Katan Jamacia, playmate (September 1978)
1955 Debra Jo Fondren Los Angeles CA, playmate of year (September, 1977)
1957 Craig Wilson Beeville TX, US water polo goalie (Olympics-silver-84, 88)
1958 Jennifer Jason Leigh [Morrow], Los Angeles CA, actress (Single White Female)
1959 Glenn Dubis Lincoln NB, US 3x40 rifle (Olympics-1984, 88, 96)
1960 Jane Geddes Huntington NY, LPGA golfer (1987 Women's Kemper Open)
1960 William John Readings literary theorist
1962 Tommy Skeoch rock vocalist (Tesla-Five Man Acoustical Jam)
1964 Duff [Michael] "Rose" McKagan rocker (Guns & Roses-Sweet Child of Mine)
1964 Jim Pugh Burbank CA, tennis star
1965 Ben Lee Rangoon Burma, US badminton player (Olympics-92)
1965 James David McGovern Teaneck NJ, PGA golfer (1993 Shell Houston Open)
1965 Tarik Benhabiles Algeria, tennis star
1966 Jose Maria Olazabal golfer
1968 Chris Barron rocker (Spin Doctors)
1968 Regina Rajchitova Czechoslovakia, tennis star
1968 Roberto Alomar Salinas Puerto Rico, infielder (Baltimore Orioles)
1968 Will Furrer NFL quarterback (Houston Oilers, St Louis Rams)
1969 Bobby Brown Roxbury MA, singer (Ghostbusters, Don't Be Cruel)
1970 Darren Lehmann cricketer (South Africa & Victoria LHB Australian ODI 1996)
1970 Forey Duckett NFL/WLAF cornerback/safety (Saints, Scot Claymores)
1971 Marcus Redman actor (Raymond-Doogie Howser)
1971 Dennis Hall Milwaukee WI, 125½ lbs greco-roman wrestler (Olympics-silver-92, 96)
1971 Dianne Norman Sault Ste Marie Ontario, basketball forward (Olympics-96)
1971 Peter "Chip" Cipollone Ardmore PA, rower (Olympics-1996)
1972 Chris Bailey ice hockey defenseman (USA, Olympics-98)
1972 Erin Phillips Mexico MO, Miss Missouri-America (1995)
1972 Tony Johnson tight end (New Orleans Saints)
1973 Diego Serrano Quito Ecuador, actor (Tomas Rivera-Another World)
1973 Israel Raybon defensive end (Carolina Panthers)
1973 Laura Espinoza-Watson Torrance CA, female infielder (Silver Bullets)
1973 Richard Matvichuk Ft Saskatchewan Canada, NHL defenseman (Dallas Stars)
1974 Adrienne Johnson WNBA guard (Cleveland Rockers)
1975 Giovanni van Bronckhorst Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord)
1975 Jan l'Ami Dutch soccer player (Willem II)
1976 Nancy Feber Antwerp Belgium, tennis star (1995 Puerto Rico)
1978 Kristina Cherina Miss Croatia-Universe (1997)
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Deaths which occurred on February 05:

0045 -BC- Cato Roman patriot & philosopher, commits suicide
1578 Giovanni B Moroni Italian portrait painter, dies
1591 Gerard de Jode Flemish publisher, dies
1658 Maria Margaretha van Angels Dutch prioress at Oirschot, dies at 52
1679 Joost van den Vondel Dutch poet (Gysbreght van Aemstel), dies at 91
1705 Jean Gilles composer, dies at 37
1721 James Stanhope 1st earl of Stanhope English General, dies at 47
1738 Georg Reidel composer, dies at 61
1745 Coelestin Praelisauer composer, dies at 49
1754 Nicolaas S Cruquius hydraulic engineer, (Haarlemmermeer), dies at 75
1758 Bernhard Christian Weber composer, dies at 45
1807 Pasquale Paoli Corsican freedom fighter, dies at 80
1812 Franz Schneider composer, dies at 74
1822 Ali Pasha of Janina (Napoleon, Lord Byron), dies at about 77
1825 Pierre Gaveaux composer, dies at 64
1831 John CJ van Speijk commits suicide at 29
1838 Philippe Libon composer, dies at 62
1867 Salomon Munk published Arabic edition of Maimounides, dies
1881 Thomas Carlyle historian/essayist, dies in London at 85
1888 Anton Mauve Dutch painter/cousin of Vincent Van Gogh, dies at 49
1897 Hoss Radbourn pitcher won 60 games in 1884, dies at 42
1907 Ludwig Thuille composer, dies at 45
1911 Petrus A Cronjé Transvaal Boer General, dies
1917 Paul Rubens composer, dies at 41
1919 Vasili V Rozanov Russian philosopher/writer, dies at 62
1922 Christiaan R de Wet South African Boer General, dies at 67
1922 James William Tate composer, dies at 46
1924 Alexis Hollander composer, dies at 83
1926 Andre Gedalge composer, dies at 69
1929 Siegfried Ochs composer, dies at 70
1937 Lou [Andreas-]Salomé Russian/German author (Eroticism), dies at 75
1943 Wim Gertenbach Dutch resistance fighter (Slogan), shot by Nazis
1944 Robert E Park sociologist (human ecology, marginal man), dies at 79
1946 George Arliss actor/writer (Dr Syn, Voltaire), dies at 77
1947 Ganzefles Dutch Nazi spy/Jew hunter, executed
1947 Hans Fallada writer, dies at 53
1948 Johann Blaskowitz German General (surrendered at Wageningen), dies at 64
1949 Juozas Tallat-Kelpsa composer, dies at 50
1952 Reginald Allen cricketer (uncle of Gubby, Test Australia vs England 1887), dies
1954 Vittorio Gnecchi composer, dies at 77
1956 Savilly Tartakower Austrian/Polish/French chess player, dies at 74
1958 Henry M Tomlinson British writer (Under red ensign), dies at 84
1959 Gwili Andre actress (No Other Woman, Roar of the Dragon), dies
1960 Louis Stricker cricketer (South Africa open bat in 13 Tests 1909-12), dies
1960 Rudolf Nelson composer, dies at 81
1961 Anthony G de Rothschild British philanthropist, dies at 73
1962 Jacques Ibert French composer (Escales), dies at 71
1965 Irving Bacon actor (Fort Ti, Petticoat Fever), dies at 71
1966 Ludwig Binswanger Swiss psychiatrist (Über Ideenflucht), dies at 84
1967 Herman Teirlinck Belgian writer (Jokaste against God), dies at 87
1968 Luckey Roberts composer, dies at 80
1971 Mátyás Rákosi Hungarian premier (1952-56), dies at 78
1972 Marianne Moore US poetess (Pulitzer 1951), dies at 84
1973 George Morrison dies at 82
1973 L C William Nolde last US soldier killed in Vietnam, funeral
1976 Roger Livesey actor (Drum, Vice Versa, Colonel Blimp), dies at 69
1977 Izaak Boleslavski Russian chess player, dies at 67
1978 Annie [Anna HM] Romein-Verschoor Dutch historian (Omzien), dies at 83
1978 Frans van Immerseel Belgian graphic artist, dies at 68
1979 Eddie Paynter cricketer (20 Tests for England, average 59.23), dies
1981 Kuda Bux Indian mystic (I'd Like to See), dies at 75
1981 Barend Barendse Dutch sportscaster, dies at 73
1982 Dolores Moran actress (Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies at 56
1982 Neil Aggett South African worker's union leader, commits suicide
1982 Wies [Aloisius CA] Moens Flemish writer/Nazi, dies at 84
1983 Derk Roemers Dutch union leader/politician (Social Democrat), dies at 67
1989 Joe Raposa composer/songwriter (Sesame Street), dies at 51
1991 Dean Jagger US actor (Mr Novak, Rawhide, Oscar), dies at about 87
1991 Pedro Arrupe Spanish priest/Jesuit, dies at 83
1992 Donald Zimmerman editor, dies
1992 Laura Liddell actress (Shakespeare Wallah), dies at 83
1993 Jack Young cricketer (8 Tests for England 1947-49, 17 wickets), dies
1993 Joseph L Mankiewicz US writer/director (All about Eve), dies at 83
1993 Tip Tipping [Tim], stuntman, dies in sky-diving accident at 34
1994 Fred de Bruyne Flemish cyclist/gang leader (Paris-Nice), dies at 63
1994 Hermann Abs German banker to Hitler & Adenauer, dies at 92
1994 Kenneth "Buddy" Scott blues guitarist/Singer, dies at 59
1995 Courtenay E Benson broadcaster, dies at 79
1995 Doug Mcclure US rodeo rider/actor (Trampas-Virginian), dies at 59
1995 Frans Köhler Dutch painter, dies at 59
1995 Frederick Craig Riddle violinist, dies at 82
1995 Judith Fluks Amsterdam's activist, dies
1995 Kimberley Leston journalist, dies at 35
1996 Antonio Ruiz Soler Spanish dancer, dies at 74
1996 Gianandrea Gavazzeni conductor, dies at 86
1996 Peter Pooley broadcaster, dies at 84
1996 W R Lee language teacher, dies at 84
1997 John Richard Patterson businessman, dies at 51
1997 Pamela Harriman US Ambassador (to France), dies of stroke at 76
1998 Tim Kelly guitarist, dies at 34

1787 First draft of Constitution debated

In Philadelphia, delegates to the Constitutional Convention begin debating the first complete draft of the proposed Constitution of the United States.

The Articles of Confederation, ratified several months before the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, provided for a loose confederation of U.S. states, which were sovereign in most of their affairs. On paper, Congress--the central authority--had the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war, and regulate currency, but in practice these powers were sharply limited because Congress was given no authority to enforce its requests to the states for money or troops. By 1786, it was apparent that the Union would soon break up if the Articles of Confederation were not amended or replaced. Five states met in Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss the issue, and all the states were invited to send delegates to a new constitutional convention to be held in Philadelphia.

On May 25, 1787, delegates representing every state except Rhode Island convened at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania State House for the Constitutional Convention. The building, which is now known as Independence Hall, had earlier seen the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the Articles of Confederation. The assembly immediately discarded the idea of amending the Articles of Confederation and set about drawing up a new scheme of government. Revolutionary War hero George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, was elected convention president.

During an intensive debate, the delegates devised a brilliant federal system characterized by an intricate system of checks and balances. The convention was divided over the issue of state representation in Congress, as more-populated states sought proportional legislation, and smaller states wanted equal representation. The problem was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in the upper house (Senate).

On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States of America was signed by 38 of the 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the convention. As dictated by Article VII, the document would not become binding until it was ratified by nine of the 13 states.

Beginning on December 7, five states--Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut--ratified it in quick succession. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. In February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. In June, Virginia ratified the Constitution, followed by New York in July.

On September 25, 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution--the Bill of Rights--and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments were ratified in 1791. In November 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island, which opposed federal control of currency and was critical of compromise on the issue of slavery, resisted ratifying the Constitution until the U.S. government threatened to sever commercial relations with the state. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island voted by two votes to ratify the document, and the last of the original 13 colonies joined the United States. Today, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.
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1865 Battle of Dabney's Mill (Hatcher's Run)

Union and Confederate forces around Petersburg, Virginia, begin a three-day battle that produces 3,000 casualties but ends with no significant advantage for either side.

Dabney's Mill was another attempt by Union General Ulysses S. Grant to break the siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. In 1864, Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee pounded each other as they wheeled south around the cities. After a month of heavy battling that produced the highest casualty rates of the war, Grant and Lee settled into trenches around Petersburg. These lines eventually stretched 25 miles to Richmond, and the stalemate continued for 10 months. Periodically, Grant mounted offensives either to break through Lee's lines or envelope the ends. In June, August, and October, these moves failed to extricate the Confederates from their trenches.

Now, Grant sent cavalry under General David Gregg to capture a road that carried supplies from Hicksford, Virginia, into Petersburg. On February 5, Gregg moved and captured a few wagons along his objective, the Boydton Plank Road. He found little else, so he pulled back toward the rest of the Union army. Yankee infantry under General Gouverneur K. Warren also moved forward and probed the area at the end of the Confederate's Petersburg line. The Rebels responded by moving troops into the area. Skirmishes erupted that evening and the fighting continued for two more days as each side maneuvered for an advantage. The fighting surged back and forth around Dabney's Mill, but the Yankees were never able to penetrate the Confederate lines. The Union suffered 2,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, while the Confederates lost about 1,000. The battle did extend the Petersburg line a few miles to further stretch Lee's thin lines, but the stalemate continued for six more weeks before Grant's forces finally sent Lee racing west with the remnants of his army. The chase ended in April when Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

1918 U.S. steamship Tuscania is torpedoed and sinks

On February 5, 1918, the Anchor line steamship Tuscania, traveling as part of a British convoy and transporting over 2,000 American soldiers bound for Europe, is torpedoed and sinks off the coast of Ireland by the German submarine U-77.

For the first three years of the war, the British Admiralty had resisted calls for a convoy system to protect merchant ships coming to Britain from the United States, Canada and other countries, on the grounds that such a system would divert ships and sailors from the defense of Britain’s own coastline or confrontation of the German enemy at sea. A stream of successful attacks by German submarines, however, finally forced the British to set up a system under which all merchant ships sailing across the Atlantic would travel in groups and would be given heavy protection by the British navy. A typical convoy could consist of 10 to 50 merchant ships, possibly including a troopship, escorted by a cruiser, six destroyers, 11 armed trawlers and two torpedo boats, each equipped with an aerial balloon from which submarines and torpedo tracks could be observed from above.

The convoy system, introduced on May 24, 1917, became especially important after the U.S. entry into the war in April 1917, when large numbers of American soldiers headed across the Atlantic. Convoy gathering points were soon established along the North American coastline. The Tuscania, captained by Peter McLean, embarked on its final journey from Hoboken, New Jersey, on January 23, 1918, carrying 2,397 American servicemen bound for the front in Europe toward Le Havre, France, as part of the British convoy HX-20.

The German submarine U-77, with its crew of 34 men under the command of Lieutenant Commander Wilhelm Meyer, spotted the Tuscania and its convoy on the evening of February 5, just eight miles off the Irish coast. After moving into position, Meyer fired two torpedoes at the Tuscania. The first torpedo missed, but the second torpedo scored a direct hit on the starboard side, causing a terrific explosion. The 14,384-ton steamer immediately took a great list and crewmembers were plunged into darkness as they began lowering lifeboats into the sea. Of the 2,397 American servicemen on the Tuscania, the convoy was able to rescue 2,187, along with the majority of the ship’s British crew.

On the whole, the British convoy system was highly successful. In the last two years of the Great War, it drastically reduced the number of ships, men and supplies lost to the Germans at sea. Above all, it played a crucial role in protecting U.S. troops crossing the Atlantic to aid the Allies: of the 1.1 million American troops transported in convoy to Europe between May 1917 and November 1918, only 637 were drowned as a result of U-boat attacks.
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1941 Hitler to Mussolini: Fight harder!

On this day in 1941, Adolf Hitler scolds his Axis partner, Benito Mussolini, for his troops' retreat in the face of British advances in Libya, demanding that the Duce command his forces to resist.

Since 1912, Italy had occupied Libya because of purely economic "expansion" motives. In 1935, Mussolini began sending tens of thousands of Italians to Libya, mostly farmers and other rural workers, in part to relieve overpopulation concerns in Italy. So by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, Italy had enjoyed a long-term presence in North Africa, and Mussolini began dreaming of expanding that presence--always with an eye toward the same territories that the old "Roman Empire" had counted among its conquests.

Also sitting in North Africa were British troops, which, under a 1936 treaty, were garrisoned in Egypt to protect the Suez Canal and Royal Navy bases at Alexandria and Port Said. Hitler had offered to aid Mussolini early on in his North African expansion, to send German troops to help fend off a British counterattack. But Mussolini had been rebuffed when he had offered Italian assistance during the Battle of Britain. He now insisted that as a matter of national pride, Italy would have to create a Mediterranean sphere of influence on its own--or risk becoming a "junior" partner of Germany's.

But despite expansion into parts of East Africa and Egypt, Mussolini's forces proved no match for the Brits in the long run. British troops pushed the Italians westward, inflicting extraordinary losses on the Axis forces in an attack at Beda Fomm. As Britain threatened to push the Italians out of Libya altogether and break through to Tunisia, Mussolini swallowed his pride and asked Hitler for assistance. Hitler reluctantly agreed (it would mean the first direct German-British encounter in the Mediterranean)--but only if Mussolini stopped the Italians' retreat and kept the British out of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. But the Italians continued to be overwhelmed; in three months, 20,000 men were wounded or killed and 130,000 were taken prisoner. Only with the arrival of German Gen. Erwin Rommel would the Italian resistance be strengthened against further British advances. Even with Germany's help, Italy was able to defend its North African territory only until early 1943.
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1960 South Vietnam requests more support

The South Vietnamese government requests that Washington double U.S. Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG-Vietnam) strength from 342 to 685. The advisory group was formed on November 1, 1955 to provide military assistance to South Vietnam. It had replaced U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group Indochina (MAAG-Indochina), which had been providing military assistance to "the forces of France and the Associated States in Indochina" (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) in accordance with President Harry S. Truman's order of June 27, 1950.

MAAG-Vietnam had U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps elements that provided advice and assistance to the South Vietnamese Ministry of Defense, Joint General Staff and corps and division commanders, as well as to training centers and province and district headquarters.

In May 1964, MAAG-Vietnam was disbanded and its personnel and responsibilities absorbed by the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), which had been established in Saigon two years earlier.
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1975 North Vietnamese begin preparations for offensive

North Vietnamese Gen. Van Tien Dung departs for South Vietnam to take command of communist forces in preparation for a new offensive. In December 1974, the North Vietnamese 7th Division and the newly formed 3rd Division attacked Phuoc Long Province, north of Saigon. This attack represented an escalation in the "cease-fire war" that started shortly after the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973.

The North Vietnamese wanted to see how Saigon and Washington would react to a major attack so close to Saigon. President Richard Nixon and his successor, Gerald Ford, had promised to come to the aid of South Vietnam if the North Vietnamese launched a major new offensive. With Nixon's Watergate resignation and Ford facing an increasingly hostile Congress, Hanoi was essentially conducting a "test" attack to see if the United States would honor its commitment to Saigon. The attack was much more successful than the North Vietnamese anticipated: the South Vietnamese soldiers fought poorly and the United States did nothing.

Emboldened by their success, the North Vietnamese decided to launch a major offensive against the South Vietnamese. "Campaign 275" began on March 1, 1975. The North Vietnamese forces quickly overran the South Vietnamese and the United States failed to provide the promised support. Saigon fell on April 30 and the South Vietnamese government officially surrendered.