History of 5 February
- 1982 – Great Britain imposed economic sanctions against Poland and Russia in protest against martial law in Poland.
- 1987 – The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 2,200-point for the first time. The market closed at 2201.49.
- 1988 – A pair of indictments were unsealed in Florida, accusing Panama’s military leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, of bribery and drug trafficking.
- 1994 – White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, MS, of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
- 1997 – Switzerland’s “Big Three” banks announced they would create a $71 million fund for Holocaust victims and their families.
- 1997 – Investment bank Morgan Stanley announced a $10 billion merger with Dean Witter.
- 1999 – Mike Tyson was sentenced to a year in jail for assaulting two people after a car accident on August 31, 1998. Tyson was also fined $5,000, had to serve 2 years of probation, and had to perform 200 hours of community service upon release.
- 2001 – It was announced the Kelly Ripa would be Regis Philbin’s cohost. The show was renamed to “Live! With Regis and Kelly.”
- 2001 – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman announced their separation.
- 2003 – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence to the U.N. concerning Iraq’s material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441.
- 2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
- 2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills 57.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1982 – Laura del Rio, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Kevin Everett, American football player
- 1982 – Tomáš Kopecký, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1982 – Rodrigo Palacio, the Argentinian footballer
- 1983 – Anja Hammerseng-Edin, Norwegian handball player
- 1984 – Carlos Tevez, the Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Lloyd Johansson, Australian rugby player
- 1985 – Laurence Maroney, American football player
- 1985 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
- 1986 – Vedran Ćorluka, Croatian footballer, center back
- 1986 – Kevin Gates, American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur
- 1986 – Sekope Kepu, Australian rugby player
- 1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer
- 1986 – Reed Sorenson, American race car driver
- 1986 – Carlos Villanueva, Chilean footballer
- 1987 – Darren Criss, American actor, singer, and entrepreneur
- 1987 – Curtis Jerrells, American basketball player
- 1987 – Alex Kuznetsov, Ukrainian-American tennis player
- 1987 – Linus Omark, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1987 – Donald Sanford, American-Israeli sprinter
- 1988 – Karin Ontiveros, Mexican model
- 1989 – Marina Melnikova, a Russian tennis player
- 1990 – Dmitry Andreikin, Russian chess player
- 1990 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Indian cricketer
- 1990 – Jordan Rhodes, Scottish footballer
- 1991 – Nabil Bahoui, Swedish footballer
- 1991 – Gerald Tusha, Albanian footballer
- 1992 – Stefan de Vrij, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Neymar, Brazilian footballer
- 1993 – Leilani Latu, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Ty Rattie, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1995 – Adnan Januzaj, Belgian-Albanian footballer
- 1996 – Stina Blackstenius, Swedish footballer
- 1997 – Patrick Roberts, English footballer
- 2016 – Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutanese prince