Major Events
- 1576 Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) abjures Catholicism at Tours
- 1597 A group of early Japanese Christians, known as the 26 Martyrs, are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society
- 1885 King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal colonial possession
- 1885 News of the fall of Khartoum reaches London
- 1945 US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month long battle, ending three years of Japanese military occupation
- 1969 United States population reaches 200 million
- More February 5 Events
Feb 5 in Film & TV
- 1936 "Modern Times", silent film directed by, written by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released
Feb 5 in Music
- 1887 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premieres at La Scala in Italy, Verdi's first new opera for over 15 years
Feb 5 in Sport
- 1972 Bob Douglas is 1st African American elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
Did You Know?
Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips"
John Witherspoon
Robert Peel
Adlai Stevenson II
William S. Burroughs
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nolan Bushnell
Darrell Waltrip
Grażyna Bacewicz
Elizabeth Ryan
Hank Aaron
Don Cherry
Cristiano Ronaldo
Neymar
Fun Fact About February 5
Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane
Famous Weddings
- 1826 Future US President Millard Fillmore (26) weds Abigail Powers (27)
- 1971 Actress Judi Dench (36) weds actor Michael Williams (35) at St Mary's Catholic Church in Hampstead, London
- 1990 British comic actor Rowan Atkinson (35) weds Sunetra Sastry in New York
More February 5 Weddings
Thomas Carlyle
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Kirk Douglas
Christopher Plummer
Toby KeithArticles, Photos and Quiz
26 Martyrs of Japan Executed
A painting in a Prague church commemorating the 1597 crucifixion of the 26 Catholic martyrs of Japan in Nagasaki
February 5, 1597
‘Bobbies’ Take To The Streets Of London
Robert Peel, the man responsible for the world’s first modern police force, the UK’s ruling Conservative party – and income tax – was born on this day.
February 5, 1788
