Today in History, Quotes and Surprising Facts You Can’t Miss
This is why February 5 is such a great day.
Image: ChatGPT
Quote of the day
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world | Nelson Mandela
Did you know?
There’s no such thing as a straight line. Zoom in close enough to anything and you’ll spot irregularities. Even a laser light beam is slightly curved.
On this day in history, February 5
1869 The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called ’Welcome Stranger’ and weighing 97kg, is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
1885 King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo (and all who live in it) as his own.
1900 British General Sir Redvers Buller conquers Vaalkrans at the Tugela river, but shelling from both sides continues and his forces are forced to evacuate their positions.
1915 General Louis Botha leaves for South West Africa to take control of Union troops who will conquer the area from Germany.
1924 Alexander Matrosov, Hero of the Soviet Union, is born. During World War II, the 19-year-old sacrifices his life by blocking the fire of a German machine gun with his body to let comrades attack an enemy stronghold.
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.
1970 Off-spinner John Traicos makes his Test debut for South Africa, against Australia, in Durban. He was one of a few cricketers to play at the highest level for more than one country; Zimbabwe was the other team he was in.
1982 Trade union leader and anti-apartheid activist Neil Aggett, 29, is tortured to death by the Security Branch of the South African Police.
1992 Six ANC members are shot dead in Folweni, Natal.
1992 The Goldstone Commission of Inquiry has its first hearing on the SADF’s involvement in promoting Black on Black violence.
2004 Twenty-three Chinese people drown when a group of 35 cockle-pickers is trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered.
2016 Computer hackers try to steal $1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York using Bangladesh banking codes. They manage to get $81 million before a typo alerts authorities.
2025 Thailand cuts power to several areas bordering Myanmar to try curtail large scam-factories located there, that house thousands of employees held against their will.
2025 US President Donald Trump signs an executive order banning trans-gender women from competing in female sports.
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