February 5: In 1631 English Protestant theologian Roger Williams, founder of Providence Plantation and an early proponent of church-state separation, emigrates to Massachusetts; in 1778 South Carolina becomes the second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation; in 1849 the University of Wisconsin-Madisons first class meets at Madison Female Academy; in 1852 the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public; in 1869 the largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the Welcome Stranger, is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia; in 1917 the U.S. Congress passes the Immigration Act of 1917, forbidding immigration from most of SE Asia, over President Woodrow Wilsons veto; in 1919 Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists; in 1924 the Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the BBC pips; in 1957 a hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered; in 1971 Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell land on the Moon; in 1994 Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Birthdays: Abes mother Nancy Lincoln (1984); actor John Carradine (1906); author William S. Burroughs (1914); actor Red Buttons (1919); baseball player Hank Aaron (1934); NHL coach and broadcaster (Coachs Corner) Don Cherry (1934); Dark Shadows actor David Selby (1941); Three Dog Night singer Corey Wells (1942); singer/songwriter Al Kooper (1944); race driver Darrell Waltrip (1947); actor Christopher Guest (1948); actress Barbara Hershey (1948); Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Cliff Martinez (1954); actress Jennifer Jason Leigh (1962); Guns N Roses bassist Duff McKagan (1964). Music: In 1957 Bill Haley arrives in London for his first British tour, the first by any American rock star; in 1998 Elton John and Stevie Wonder perform at the White House for US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair; in 1961 Mary Wells releases Bye Bye Baby, in 1972 Paul Simon releases Mother and Child Reunion and Neil Young releases Heart Of Gold; in 1966 The Marketts Batman Theme enters the pop charts and Petula Clarks My Love hits #1.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Feb 2014 14:18:23 +0000
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