This Day In History : February 5

1987 Russian Federation

Soyuz TM-2 launches

Soyuz TM-2, a Soviet spacecraft, launched on February 5, 1987. It carried a crew of three cosmonauts, including commander Yuri Romanenko and flight engineers Aleksandr Laveykin and Jean-Loup Chrétien of France. Soyuz TM-2 docked with the Mir space station, beginning the second long-duration expedition to Mir and marking a milestone in international space cooperation.

Also on This Day in History February 5

Discover what happened on February 5 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, February 5
  • 1878 André Citroën

    French engineer, businessman, founded Citroën

  • 1985 Cristiano Ronaldo

    Portuguese footballer

  • 1840 John Boyd Dunlop

    Scottish inventor who invented pneumatic rubber tires

  • 1914 Alan Hodgkin

    British biophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1963 for his work on the central nervous system

  • 1947 Mary Louise Cleave

    American engineer and NASA astronaut (STS 61-B, STS 30)

Deaths on This Day, February 5
  • 1973 John H. Gibbon Jr.

    American surgeon who invented the heart-lung machine

  • 1790 William Cullen

    Scottish physician and chemist

  • 2008 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

    Indian guru who developed Transcendental Meditation

  • 1754 Nicolaas Kruik

    Dutch hydraulic engineer (Haarlemmermeer)

  • 1927 Inayat Khan

    Indian singer, philosopher, musicologist and founder of Sufi Order

1919

United Artists Founded

On February 5, 1919, United Artists (UA) was founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith. It was established to give artists more control over their work and became a pioneering force in the film industry, producing and distributing some of the most iconic movies of the 20th century.
1924

Greenwich Time Signal First Broadcast

On February 5, 1924, the Greenwich Time Signal, also known as the "BBC pips," was broadcast for the first time from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. This signal, indicating the exact time, became a standard for timekeeping in the United Kingdom and beyond, helping synchronize clocks and schedules across the country.
1869

Discovery of the Largest Gold Nugget in History

In 1869, the largest gold nugget in history, known as the Welcome Stranger, was discovered in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia. It weighed approximately 2,520 troy ounces (about 78 kilograms) and measured about 24 inches long by 12 inches wide. This remarkable find attracted considerable attention during the Australian gold rush and remains one of the largest single pieces of gold ever discovered.
1936

National Wildlife Federation Forms

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) was founded in 1936 in the United States. It is the largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization in the country, dedicated to protecting wildlife and habitats through education, advocacy, and on-the-ground conservation initiatives. The NWF works to engage individuals, businesses, and government in conservation efforts to ensure a sustainable future for wildlife and the natural world.
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