Today is Thursday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2026. There are 329 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Feb. 5, 1994, white separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, Mississippi, of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Also on this date:
In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, an act that severely curtailed Asian immigration and mandated immigrant literacy testing.
In 1918, more than 200 people were killed during World War I when the Cunard liner SS Tuscania, which was transporting over 2,000 American troops to Europe, was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland.
In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell stepped onto the moon’s surface in the first of two lunar excursions.
In 1973, services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for U.S. Army Col. William B. Nolde, the last official American combat casualty in the Vietnam War before a ceasefire took effect.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, granting workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies.
In 2008, an outbreak of 87 tornadoes fired up across nine states, killing 57 people in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama during a span of 12 hours. One Arkansas twister left a 122-mile path of damage along the ground.
In 2017, Tom Brady led one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, highlighted by a spectacular Julian Edelman catch that helped lift New England from a 25-point deficit against the Atlanta Falcons to the Patriots’ fifth Super Bowl victory, 34-28; it was the first Super Bowl to end in overtime.
In 2020, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial. Most senators expressed unease with Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine that prompted the impeachment, but just one Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, broke party ranks and voted to convict. In 2021, the Senate acquitted Trump in a second trial for allegedly inciting the violent Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol.
In 2023, Beyoncé won her 32nd Grammy to become the most decorated artist in the history of the award.
Today’s birthdays:
- Tony-winning playwright John Guare is 88.
- Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach is 84.
- Film director Michael Mann is 83.
- Racing Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip is 79.
- Actor Barbara Hershey is 78.
- Actor-comedian Tim Meadows is 65.
- Actor Jennifer Jason Leigh is 64.
- Rock musician Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) is 62.
- Golf Hall of Famer Jose Maria Olazabal is 60.
- Actor-comedian Chris Parnell is 59.
- Actor Michael Sheen is 57.
- Country singer Sara Evans is 55.
- Actor-singer Darren Criss is 39.
- Actor Henry Golding is 39.
- Soccer star Neymar is 34.
