Today in history

Published 12:01 am Saturday, February 5, 2011

Today is Saturday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2011. There are 329 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On Feb. 5, 1811, George, the Prince of Wales, was named Prince Regent due to the mental illness of his father, Britain’s King George III.

On this date:

In 1631, the co-founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and his wife, Mary, arrived in Boston from England.

In 1783, Sweden recognized the independence of the United States.

In 1887, Verdi’s opera “Otello” premiered at La Scala.

In 1911, Missouri’s second Capitol building in Jefferson City burned down after being struck by lightning. Opera singer Jussi Bjoerling was born in Borlange, Dalarna, Sweden.

In 1917, Congress passed, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, an immigration act severely curtailing the influx of Asians. Mexico’s constitution was adopted.

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices; critics accused Roosevelt of attempting to “pack” the court.(The proposal failed.)

In 1940, Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded “Tuxedo Junction” for RCA Victor’s Bluebird label.

In 1958, Gamal Abdel Nasser was formally nominated to become the first president of the new United Arab Republic (a union of Syria and Egypt).

In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell stepped onto the surface of the moon in the first of two lunar excursions.

In 1989, the Soviet Union announced that all but a small rear-guard contingent of its troops had left Afghanistan.

Associated Press