Important Events From This day in History February 5th

 

2008 Tornadoes Kill 54 people across the South

2008 : The worst tornadoes in over two decades strikes 5 states in the south including the worst hit Tennessee with over 30 reported dead, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama. Find More What happened in 2008

2002 John Walker Lindh

2002 : The American John Walker Lindh who was captured on November 25, during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan while fighting for the Taliban is indicted by A federal grand jury on 10 charges, alleging that he was trained by Osama bin Laden's network and that he conspired with the Taliban to kill Americans. On July 15th Walker accepted the plea bargain offered which meant he would plead guilty to two charges: — serving in the Taliban army and carrying weapons, also consent to a gag order that would prevent him from making any public statements on the matter for the duration of his twenty-year sentence. In return, all other charges would be dropped. He is currently serving his sentence at ADMAX in Florence, Colorado, the federal Supermax facility.

1917 U.S.A. Immigration Act

1917 : Congress passes the Immigration Act which required a literacy test for immigrants and barred Asiatic laborers, except for those from countries with special treaties or agreements with the United States, such as the Philippines.

5 Feb, 1917 Mexican Constitution

1917 : Mexican President Venustiano Carranza had proclaimed the establishment of the modern-day Mexican constitution . This constitution consisted of promises made that are similar to the ones outlined by the American constitution. For instance, the constitution of Mexico makes provisions for returning land to native people, and separation of church and state. This constitution also included plans for economic and educational reform.

1922 Readers Digest First Published

1922 : DeWitt Wallace and his wife Lila Wallace publish the first Reader's Digest magazine designed to provide abridged articles on a wide variety of subjects, for easy reading. They publish and direct market the magazine themselves, the success of the magazine has led to a circulation of over 10 million copies in the United States and is still believed to be the best-selling consumer magazine in the country.

1931 Sir Malcolm Campbell

1931 : Sir Malcolm Campbell set a new land speed record on Daytona Beach of 245 MPH with his racing machine Bluebird beating the previous record of 231 MPH by 14 MPH . The new record now stands at 245 MPH.

1937 U.S. Taxes

1937 : A bill proposing to increase tax exemption for homesteads from $2,000 to $3,500 was passed on this day. It received an initial House vote 47 to 45 vote in favor of the bill. It was expected to soon be reviewed by the Senate as of this date as well.

1952 Don't Walk Signs

1952 : The first "Don't Walk" sign was installed in New York City. The installation of this sign was inspired by the growing number of deaths resulting from pedestrian accidents. The use of these pedestrian traffic signs are still used today in order to make streets safer.

1953 UK Sweet Rationing

1953 : After 13 years of sweet rationing since the beginning of World War II sweet rationing has ended in Great Britain and children all over the country are heading straight for the nearest sweet-shop as the first unrationed sweets went on sale today. The most popular sweets are toffee apples, bars of nougat, chocolates, lollipops and liquorice.

5 Feb, 1953 U.S.A. Steel Industry

1953 : The United States steel industry was reported as thriving-or reviving perhaps. The need for steel had dramatically increased during World War II and in the year 1953 the need for steel still continued.

1971 Space Apollo 14

1971 : Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the fifth human to walk on the moon with astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell.

1982 UK Freddie Laker

1982 : Laker Airways the first of the low cost airlines operating out of the UK has collapsed owing £270 million to banks and other creditors and the company chairman Sir Freddie Laker asked Clydesdale Bank to appoint a receiver.

1983 Bolivia Klaus Barbie

1983 : Klaus Barbie, 69, Known as the ( Butcher of Lyon ) who was chief of the Gestapo in Lyon, France, during Nazi occupation, was flown to France today where he was indicted for crimes against humanity.

1988 U.S.A. Drug Smuggling

1988 : Panama leader General Manual Antonio Noriega, along with 16 associates, was charged of drug smuggling and money laundering. Noriega himself had been in charge of smuggling marijuana into the United States and assisting a cocaine drug cartel. Before it was known that Noriega was caught handling mass drug dealings, he was known to be a promising military student. He even secured a position within the CIA, which later he was fired from as one consequence of leading drug rings.

1989 Afghanistan Soviets Withdraw

1989 : The last Russian troops withdraw from the capital city of Kabul. In 1979 in attempts to destroy Afghan rebels, who had been armed by U.S. hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops are sent to Afghanistan where the fighting is bloody, costly, and ultimately 13,000 Russian soldiers are left dead and over 22,000 wounded. Less than two weeks later, all Soviet troops depart Afghanistan entirely, ending what many observers referred to as Russia's "Vietnam."

1994 Bosnia Bombing of Market

1994 : A mortar bomb explodes in the main market square in Sarajevo killing 68 and wounding 200 people.

5 Feb, 1994 U.S.A. Murder Trial

1994 : Byron de la Beckwith is convicted of the assassination of civil rights leader Medger Evers 31 years earlier, ending the lengthiest murder case in American history. The movie Ghosts of Mississippi dramatized the story including the original crime and the trials that followed.

1995 England Social Justice

1995 : Tony Blair had expressed his concerned about social division and warned that it could threaten the unity of the United Kingdom (UK). He also explained that social justice was more about just giving money to the poor, or helping the poor with their mortgage, or minimum wage. He addressed the point that helping the poor should include lending them the same services (within reason, of course) that other people with money should receive. For instance, Blair thought that those who are of a lower class should be able to know where their pension funds are going, or to receive fair treatment from bank managers. Blair also believed that the poor should be helped with getting businesses off the ground. He also warned the Labour government of his country (England) to do away with waste and to control spending.

1995 Badgers Basketball

1995 : The Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball game experiences a record crowd. A total of 9,346 people witnessed the victory of the Badgers over the Minnesota team. The final score of the game was 79-78.

1996 England GM Food

1996 : The first genetically modified, or GM, food goes on sale in British supermarkets. The first GM puree based on GM tomatoes with the rotting gene removed.

2003 Colin Powell

2003 : Secretary of State Colin Powell urges the U.N. Security Council to move against Iraq, saying that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction and was harboring terrorists - claims that later turned out to be false.

2006 Danish Embassy in Beirut

2006 : Demonstrators in Beirut have set fire to the Danish embassy as a protest against the publication of cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed. Numerous Lebanese attend a rally, and clashes break out with the security forces that are sent to protect the compound. Lebanese leaders condemn the attack, and the Interior Minister announces his resignation. This comes a day after mobs in Syria have torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus.

2007 Responsibility for Alexander Litvinenko's Death

2007 : A close friend of murdered spy Alexander Litvinenko has broken his silence in a BBC interview. Boris Berezovsky said that Litvinenko had named former K.G.B. agent Andrei Lugovoi as responsible. Berezovsky also said that Litvinenko, whose body contained radioactive polonium-210, had told him that 'I think Lugovoi is involved in my poison.' British police sources have said that Lugovoi was the 'most likely poisoner,' and he has denied any involvement.

2007 Saint Philip's Bones for Sale

2007 : The Russian Orthodox Church has expressed its dissatisfaction at an attempt to sell the skull and bones that allegedly belong to Saint Philip. The advertisement for the remains has appeared on a Russian website. It described the relic as 'remains of an Orthodox saint, in good condition, with an inscription on the cranium confirming the saint's name.' The Church has not said whether it thinks the bone and skull are real, and has described the advert as 'immoral.'

2008 C.I.A. Admits to Waterboarding

2008 : The C.I.A. has admitted to 'waterboarding' terror suspects. The C.I.A. director Michael Hayden has told Congress that it has only been used on three people, and not for the past five years. He said that the technique was used on high-profile al-Qaeda detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Waterboarding has been condemned as a torture by a number of rights groups. Mr. Hayden was speaking when the National Intelligence Director, Mike McConnell, was presenting his annual threat assessment.

2009 China Tells Canada to Refuse Prisoners

2009 : China has urged Canada not to take in any members of its Uyghur minority held at Guantánamo Bay, saying the issue should be solved according to international law. The three, whose lawyers have filed applications for refugee status in Canada, are among a group of seventeen Uyghurs captured in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, and have been held at Guantánamo for the past seven years.

2011 Anti-Government Protests in Belgrade

2011 : Anti-Government protests erupt in the Serbian capital as over 50,000 people gather at a rally. The protesters called for an early election in the wake of a weak economy and the perceived ineffectiveness of a coalition government made up of ten parties that had been in power since 2008.

2012 Manuel Noriega Sent to Hospital

2012 : The imprisoned ex-leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega, was taken from prison to a hospital after authorities thought he may have suffered a stroke. Doctors indicated that their tests did not show evidence of a stroke.

2013 UK Troggs Singer Dies

2013 : Singer of the classic sixties rock band the Troggs, Reg Presley, died at the age of seventy-one. Presley had retired from music a year earlier after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

2014 Cambodia Tests Public Transportation

2014 : The capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh has introduced a trial run of a public bus route in hopes of reducing traffic jams in the busy city. This is the country's first attempt at creating public transportation in over ten years. Previous programs were ended over a lack of interest.

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