Today in History

Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023

Today is Sunday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2023. There are 335days 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 14astronauts 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, 40to 125years, 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: Tonywinning 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. Actorsinger 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.

Monday, Feb. 6, 2023

Today is Monday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2023. There are 334 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 6, 1952, Britain’s King George VI, 56, died at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; he was succeeded as monarch by his 25-year-old elder daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II.

On this date:

In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the United States won official recognition and military support from France with the signing of a Treaty of Alliance in Paris.

In 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1815, the state of New Jersey issued the first American railroad charter to John Stevens, who proposed a rail link between Trenton and New Brunswick. (The line, however, was never built.)

In 1862, during the Civil War, Fort Henry in Tennessee fell to Union forces. In 1899, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

In 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Illinois.

In 1922, Cardinal Archille Ratti was elected pope; he took the name Pius XI. In 1933, the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the so-called “lame duck” amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.

In 1993, tennis Hall of Famer and human rights advocate Arthur Ashe died in New York at age 49. In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Carl Wilson, a founding member of The Beach Boys, died in Los Angeles at age 51.

In 2000, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton launched her successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

In 2008, the Bush White House defended the use of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding, saying it was legal — not torture as critics argued — and had saved American lives.

Ten years ago: The U.S. Postal Service proposed eliminating Saturday mail delivery, an announcement that immediately drew protests from some lawmakers. At least nine people were killed by a tsunami that smashed into villages in the Solomon Islands, flattening dozens of homes in the South Pacific island chain. Toy maker Hasbro Inc. announced that Monopoly fans had voted online to add a cat token to the board game, replacing the iron.

Five years ago: Casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts amid sexual misconduct allegations. Spacex’s big new rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on its first test flight, carrying a red sports car on a route that would take it to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Poland’s president signed legislation making it a crime to blame Poland for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany.

One year ago: Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 70th anniversary of her ascendance to the British throne, an unprecedented reign that made her a symbol of stability as the United Kingdom navigated an age of uncertainty. (She would die seven months later at age 96, and her son became King Charles III.)

Today’s birthdays: Actor Mamie Van Doren is 92. Actor Mike Farrell is 84. Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 83. Singer Fabian is 80. Actor Gayle Hunnicutt is 80. Actor Michael Tucker is 78. Producer-director-writer Jim Sheridan is 74. Actor Jon Walmsley is 67. Actor Kathy Najimy is 66. Rock musician Simon Phillips (Toto) is

66. Actor-director Robert Townsend is 66. Actor Barry Miller is 65. Actor Megan Gallagher is 63. Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses) is 61. Country singer Richie Mcdonald is 61. Singer Rick Astley is 57. Rock musician Tim Brown (Boo Radleys) is 54. Former ABC News anchor Amy Robach is 50. Actor Josh Stewart is 46. Actor Ben Lawson is 43. Actor Brandon Hammond is

39. Actor Crystal Reed (TV: “Teen Wolf”) is 38. Actor Alice Greczyn (Greh’-chihn) is 37. Actor Anna Diop is 35. R&B singer/actor Tinashe is 30.