Today in History

Today is Sunday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2023. There are 329 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 5, 2020, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump, bringing to a close the third presidential trial in American history, though a majority of senators expressed unease with Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine that resulted in the two articles of impeachment. Just one Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, broke with the GOP and voted to convict.

On this date:

In 1811, George, the Prince of Wales, was named Prince Regent due to the mental illness of his father, Britain’s King George III.

In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, an act severely curtailing Asian immigration.

In 1918, during World War I, the Cunard liner SS Tuscania, which was transporting about 2,000 American troops to Europe, was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Irish Sea with the loss of more than 200 people.

In 1922, the first edition of Reader’s Digest was published.

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices; the proposal, which failed in Congress, drew accusations that Roosevelt was attempting to “pack” the nation’s highest court.

In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell stepped onto the surface of the moon in the first of two lunar excursions.

In 1973, services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for U.S. Army Col. William B. Nolde, the last official American combat casualty before the Vietnam cease-fire took effect.

In 1983, former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie, expelled from Bolivia, was brought to Lyon (lee-OHN’), France, to stand trial. (He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison — he died in 1991.)

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, granting workers up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for family emergencies.

In 1994, white separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, Mississippi, of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963, and was immediately sentenced to life in prison. (Beckwith died Jan. 21, 2001 at age 80.)

In 2008, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles who introduced the West to transcendental meditation, died at his home in the Dutch town of Vlodrop; he was believed to be about 90.

In 2014, CVS Caremark announced it would pull cigarettes and other tobacco products from its stores.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama asked Congress for a short-term deficit reduction package of spending cuts and tax revenue that would delay the effective date of steeper automatic cuts scheduled to kick in March 1. (The president and congressional leaders failed to reach an agreement, and the $85 billion in federal spending cuts, known as sequester, went into effect.)

Five years ago: Stocks took their worst loss in six and a half years, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging more than 1,100 points. Jerome Powell was sworn in as the 16th chairman of the Federal Reserve. Former sports doctor Larry Nassar received his third long prison sentence, 40 to 125 years, for molesting young athletes at an elite Michigan gymnastics club. President Donald Trump accused Democrats of being “un-American” and perhaps “treasonous” for not clapping during his State of the Union address a week earlier.

One year ago: On the eve of the celebration of her 70th anniversary on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II offered her support to have the Duchess of Cornwall become known as Queen Camilla, a significant decision in shaping the future of the British Monarchy. A 5-year-old boy named Rayan trapped in a deep well in Morocco for four days died. He was pulled from the well by rescuers after the lengthy operation that captured global attention.

Today’s birthdays: Tony-winning playwright John Guare is 85. Financial writer Jane Bryant Quinn is 84. Actor David Selby is 82. Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach is 81. Movie director Michael Mann is 80. Rock singer Al Kooper is 79. Actor Charlotte Rampling is 77. Racing Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip is 76. Actor Barbara Hershey is 75. Actor Christopher Guest is 75. Actor Tom Wilkinson is 75. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is 64. Actor-comedian Tim Meadows is 62. Actor Jennifer Jason Leigh is 61. Actor Laura Linney is 59. Rock musician Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) is 59. World Golf Hall of Famer Jose Maria Olazabal is 57. Actor-comedian Chris Parnell is 56. Rock singer Chris Barron (Spin Doctors) is 55. Singer Bobby Brown is 54. Actor Michael Sheen is 54. Actor David Chisum is 53. Country singer Sara Evans is 52. Country singer Tyler Farr is 39. Actor-singer Darren Criss is 36. Actor Alex Brightman is 36. Actor Henry Golding is 36. Rock musician Kyle Simmons (Bastille) is 35. Actor Jeremy Sumpter is 34. Drummer Graham Sierota (Echosmith) is 24.

This story was first published on Feb. 5. It has been republished to correct that 329 days remain in the year, not 335.

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