TODAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 5TH

AD 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.

1778 – South Carolina becomes the second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

1840 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish businessman, co-founded Dunlop Rubber (d. 1921) is born.

1840 – Hiram Maxim, American engineer, invented the Maxim gun (d. 1916) is born.

1849 – University of Wisconsin–Madison's first class meets at Madison Female Academy.

1917 – The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

1917 – The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.

1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane; this is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.

1918 – SS Tuscania is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland; it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.

1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006) is born.

1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith launch United Artists.

1922 – Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer, invented the Mechanical pencil (b. 1871) dies.

1934 – Hank Aaron. American baseball player is born.

1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player, sportscaster, and businessman is born.

1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American engineer and businessman, founded Atari, Inc. is born.

1945 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.

1958 – 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.

1967 – Leon Leonwood Bean, American businessman, founded L.L.Bean (b. 1872) dies.

1971 – Astronauts land on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission.

1988 – Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.

1997 – The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.

2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills 57.