On this day...

1644 First US livestock branding law passed, by Connecticut
1736 Methodists John & Charles Wesley arrive in Savannah, Georgia
1782 Spanish take Minorca (western Mediterranean) from the English
1783 Sweden recognizes US independence
1816 The opera "Barber of Seville" is presented (Rome)
1817 First US gas company incorporated, Baltimore (coal gas for street lights)
1825 Hannah Lord Montague of NY creates first detachable collar
1846 First US newspaper published on the Pacific Coast, Oregon Spectator
1850 Push key adding machine patented
1861 Kinematoscope patented by Coleman Sellers, Philadelphia
1861 Peep show machine patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati
1870 First motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia
1881 Phoenix, AZ incorporates
1901 Loop-the-loop centrifugal railroad (roller coaster) patented by Ed Prescot
1917 Congress overrides Wilson's veto, curtailing Asian immigration
1918 Separation of church & state begins in USSR
1921 Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx for Yankee Stadium
1929 Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoon debuts in the SF
1937 FDR proposes enlarging Supreme Court, "court packing" plan failed
1940 Glenn Miller & his Orchestra record "Tuxedo Junction"
1948 "The Nature of Things" science show premiers on NBC prime time
1948 Dick Button becomes first US figure skating Olympic champion
1948 Gretchen Fraser becomes first US woman Olympic slalom champion
1953 Walt Disney's "Peter Pan" released
1958 Clifton R. Wharton confirmed as first US black foreign minister (Romania)
1958 Gamel Abdel Nasser nominated first president of United Arab Republic
1962 French President de Gaulle calls for Algeria's independence
1963 Soviet lunar probe failure
1967 "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premiers on CBS
1969 US population reaches 200 million
1971 Apollo 14, 3rd US manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro
1972 US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage
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
1974 Mats Wermelin, Sweden, scores all points in 272-0 basketball win
1974 US Mariner 10 returns first close-up photos of Venus' cloud structure
1977 Sugar Ray Leonard beats Luis Vega in 6 rounds in his first pro fight
1978 Fred Newman makes 88 consecutive basketball free throws blindfolded
1982 DEA announces seizure of 3,192 tons of marijuana, 495 people
1983 Former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie brought to trial
1986 Corazon Aquino & Ferdinand Marcos appear on "Nightline"
1987 Dow Jones avg closes above 2,200 for first time
1988 First prime-time wrestling match in 30 yrs-Andre the Giant beats Hulk Hogan
1988 Panamanian General Manuel Noriega indicted by US grand jury for drugs
1989 Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes first NBA player to score 38,000 points

Birthdays which occurred on February 5th:

1723 John Witherspoon, clergyman/signed Declaration of Independence
1744 John Jeffries, colonial physician/meteorologist
1770 Alexandre Brongniart, Paris, minerologist/geologist (Tertiary)
1778 Sir Robert Peel, British PM (1834-46), founded Tories
1837 Dwight Lyman Moody, US, evangelist
1840 Hiram Stevens Maxim, inventor (automatic single-barrel rifle)
1840 John Boyd Dunlop, developer (pneumatic rubber tire)
1848 Belle Starr, Western outlaw
1848 Joris-Karl Huysmans, France, writer (Against the Grain)
1900 Adlai E Stevenson (Gov-D-Ill), Presidential Candidate (1952, 1956)
1903 Ivan Galamian, Tabriz Persia, violinist
1906 John Carradine, Greenwich Village NY, actor (Grapes of Wrath, Howling)
1907 Norton Simon, business executive (Simon & Schuster)
1912 Willard Parker, NYC, actor (Kiss Me Kate, What A Woman)
1914 William S. Burroughs, St Louis, novelist (Naked Lunch)
1917 Zsa Zsa Gabor, Budapest Hungary, actress (Queen of Outer Space)
1919 Melina Mercuri, actress (Never on a Sunday)
1919 Red Buttons, Bronx NYC, comedian/actor (Sayonara, Poseidon Adventure)
1921 Sir John Pritchard, London England, conductor
1927 Robert Brown, Herbrides Is, actor (Here Comes The Brides, Primus)
1933 Nick Georgiade, NYC, actor (Untouchables, Run Buddy Run)
1934 Hank Aaron, Hall of Fame baseball player
1937 Gaston Roelants, Belgium, world cross-country champion
1939 Jane Bryant Quinn, newscaster/financial writer
1941 Barrett Strong, Detroit, singer (Money, That's What I Want)
1941 David Selby, Morgantown WV, actor (Falcon Crest, Flamingo Road)
1941 Stephen J. Cannell, producer (Rockford Files)
1942 Cory Wells, rock vocalist (3 Dog Night-Joy to the World)
1942 Roger Staubach, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
1943 Charles Winfield, rocker (Blood Sweat & Tears-Spinning Wheel)
1943 Craig Morton, Flint Michigan, NFL quarterback (Dallas, Denver)
1943 Larry Tamblyn, rocker (Standells-Dirty Water)
1944 Al Kooper, rock keyboards/vocalist (Blood Sweat & Tears-When I Die)
1946 Charlotte Rampling, England, actress (Zardoz, Night Porter, Verdict)
1948 Barbara Hershey, Atlanta Ga, actress (Stuntman, Shy People)
1948 Christopher Guest, actor (SNL, This is Spinal Tap, Princess Bride)
1951 Elizabeth Swados, US, composer/playwright (1972 TONY)
1955 Debra Jo Fondren, Los Angeles, playmate of year (September, 1977)
1969 Bobby Brown, rapper (Mr. Whitney Houston)
1971 Marcus Redman, actor (Raymond-Doogie Howser)

Deaths which occurred on February 5th:

45 -BC- Cato, Roman patriot & philosopher, commits suicide
1881 Thomas Carlyle, historian/essayist, dies in London at 85
1897 Hoss Radbourn, pitcher won 60 games in 1884, dies at 42
1961 Anthony G. de Rothschild, British philanthropist, dies at 73
1968 Nick Adams, actor (Johnny Yuma-The Rebel), dies at 36
1969 Thelma Ritter, actress (Miracle on 34th Street), dies at 63
1981 Kuda Bux, Indian mystic (I'd Like to See), dies at 75
1982 Dolores Maran, actress, dies at 56