On this day: 5 February

Selected events and births on 5 February, from Wikipedia’s “On this day”.

Events

• 1818 – Charles XIV John succeeded to the thrones of Sweden and Norway as the first monarch of the House of Bernadotte. Read more: Charles XIV John Union between Sweden and Norway House of Bernadotte
• 1861 – In a speech before the U.S. Congress, Representative John Edward Bouligny refused to join his fellow Louisiana congressmen in heeding the state's secession convention and resigning. Read more: United States Congress John Edward Bouligny Louisiana
• 1869 – Prospectors in Moliagul, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the Welcome Stranger. Read more: Moliagul Alluvium Gold nugget
• 1909 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced his invention of Bakelite (production device pictured), the world's first synthetic plastic. Read more: Leo Baekeland Bakelite Plastic
• 1917 – The U.S. Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson's veto to pass the Immigration Act of 1917, establishing new restrictions on immigrants, including the wholesale ban of people from much of Asia. Read more: United States Congress Woodrow Wilson Immigration Act of 1917
• 1923 – Australian cricketer Bill Ponsford made 429 runs to break the world record for the highest first-class score. Read more: Cricket Bill Ponsford Run (cricket)

Born on this day

• 1941 – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss engineer and politician, 85th President of the Swiss Confederation Read more: Kaspar Villiger List of presidents of the Swiss Confederation
• 1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American engineer and businessman, founded Atari, Inc. Read more: Nolan Bushnell Atari, Inc.
• 1945 – Douglas Hogg, English lawyer and politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Read more: Douglas Hogg Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
• 1947 – Clemente Mastella, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Justice Read more: Clemente Mastella Minister of Justice (Italy)
• 1951 – Nikolay Merkushkin, Mordovian engineer and politician, 1st Head of the Republic of Mordovia Read more: Nikolay Merkushkin Head of the Republic of Mordovia
• 1959 – Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Michigan Read more: Jennifer Granholm Governor of Michigan
• 1960 – Bonnie Crombie, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 6th Mayor of Mississauga Read more: Bonnie Crombie Mayor of Mississauga
• 1970 – Jeremy Rockliff, Australian politician, 47th Premier of Tasmania Read more: Jeremy Rockliff Premier of Tasmania
• 1980 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer, created LiveJournal Read more: Brad Fitzpatrick LiveJournal
• 2002 – Jisung, South Korean rapper Read more: Jisung
• 2002 – Taehyun, South Korean singer-songwriter Read more: Taehyun (singer)
• 2016 – Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutanese prince Read more: Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck

Text from Wikipedia: Selected anniversaries / February 5 and the linked articles, via the Wikimedia “On this day” feed, under CC BY-SA 4.0. We leave out entries about wars, violence and disasters to keep this page family-friendly.