Today In History

Today is Friday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2021. There are 329 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 2020: The Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump, bringing to a close the third presidential trial in American history.

ON THIS DATE

› 1631: The founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and his wife, Mary, arrived in Boston from England.

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

› 1922: The first edition of Reader’s Digest was published.

› 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.

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

› 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.)

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor Stuart Damon is 84. Tony-winning playwright John Guare is 83. Financial writer Jane Bryant Quinn is 82. Movie director Michael Mann is 78. Rock singer Al Kooper is 77. Actor Charlotte Rampling is

75. Racing Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip is 74. Actor Barbara Hershey is 73. Actor Christopher Guest is 73. Actor Tom Wilkinson is 73. Actor-comedian Tim Meadows is 60. Actor Jennifer Jason Leigh is

59. Actor Laura Linney is 57. Actor-comedian Chris Parnell is 54. Rock singer Chris Barron (Spin Doctors) is 53. Singer Bobby Brown is

52. Actor Michael Sheen is 52. Country singer Sara Evans is 50. Country singer Tyler Farr is 37. Neo-soul musician Mark Shusterman (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats) is 36. Actor-singer Darren Criss is 34. Actor Alex Brightman is

34. Actor Henry Golding is 34. Rock musician Kyle Simmons (Bastille) is 33. Actor Jeremy Sumpter is 32. Drummer Graham Sierota (Echosmith) is 22.