This is a list of selected February 5 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Before doing so, please review the selected anniversaries guidelines. If your suggestion is potentially controversial or relates to a day currently or soon to appear on the Main Page, post it on the talk page instead.
Please note:
- Events listed on the Main Page are selected based on article quality and to provide a diverse range of topics, rather than solely on the importance or significance of the events.
- Only four or five events are featured each day; therefore, not all important or significant events can be included.
- An event is generally excluded if it is already the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error in content currently on the Main Page, see Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors. If a listed event is inaccurate, please first seek consensus and update the corresponding article before making changes here.
| ← February 4 | February 6 → |
|---|
Staging area
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
Leopold II- Leopold II of Belgium
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte
USS Port Royal (CG-73) after having run aground on a coral reef
Alexandru Ioan Cuza
Obelisk commemorating the discovery of the Welcome Stranger nugget
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Kashmir Solidarity Day in Pakistan | multiple issues |
| ; Constitution Day in Mexico (1917) | neutrality issues |
| 1782 – Running out of medical supplies to combat scurvy, British troops surrendered to an allied Franco-Spanish force, completing the latter's invasion of the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean Sea. | {{refimprove}} |
| 1818 – Marshal of France Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascended to the thrones of Sweden and Norway. | Tagged {{more footnotes}} |
| 1862 – Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza merged his two principalities, Wallachia and Moldavia, to form the Danubian Principalities. | Danubian and Cuza both refimprove |
| 1885 – Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State as his personal possession in Africa through his organization International African Association and his private army, the Force Publique. | {{refimprove}} |
| 1909 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic. | unreferenced section |
| 1917 – The current constitution of Mexico was adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. | neutrality issues |
| 1924 – Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC. | multiple issues |
| 1988 – The first Red Nose Day raised £15 million in the United Kingdom for charity. | refimprove |
| 2004 – Twenty-three cockle pickers drowned after being trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England, an event that led to the establishment of the British government's Gangmasters Licensing Authority. | short |
Eligible
- 1783 – The first of five strong earthquakes hit the region of Calabria on the Italian Peninsula killing more than 32,000 people over a period of nearly two months.
- 1869 – Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the "Welcome Stranger".
- 1958 – A Mark 15 nuclear bomb disappeared off the shores of Tybee Island, Georgia, after it was jettisoned during a practice exercise when the bomber carrying it collided in midair with a fighter plane.
- 1963 – The European Court of Justice's ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen established the principle of direct effect, one of the basic tenets of European Union law.
- 2000 – Second Chechen War: As the Battle of Grozny came to a close, Russian forces summarily executed at least 60 civilians in the city's Novye Aldi suburb.
- 2009 – The United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal ran aground on a coral reef off the island of Oahu.
Notes
- 1169 Sicily earthquake appears on February 4, so Pompeii and Calabrian earthquakes should not appear in the same year
- Battle of Grozny (1999–2000) featured on February 6, so Novye Aldi massacre should not appear in the same year.
February 5: Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan begins (2014)
- 62 – Pompeii was severely damaged by a strong earthquake, which may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town 17 years later.
- 1923 – Australian cricketer Bill Ponsford (pictured) made 429 runs to break the world record for the highest first-class score.
- 1941 – Second World War: British and Free French forces began the Battle of Keren to capture the strategic town of Keren in Italian Eritrea.
- 2004 – The Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured Gonaïves, Haiti, starting a coup d'état against the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
- 2008 – Eighty-seven tornadoes occurred over the course of the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak across multiple U.S. states, causing 56 deaths and over $1 billion in damage.
More anniversaries: