5 February 1849

A Monday in history

Weekday

Monday

Season

Winter (N. Hemisphere)

Century

19th century

Records

351

  1. 2009

    The United States Navy guided missile cruiser Port Royal ran aground (pictured) on a coral reef off the island of Oahu.

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  2. 2008

    Eighty-seven tornadoes occurred over the course of the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak across multiple U.S. states, causing 56 deaths and over $1 billion in damage.

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  3. 2004

    The National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti captured the city of Gonaïves, starting a coup d'état against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government.

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  4. 2004

    At least 21 cockle-gatherers were drowned by an incoming tide in Morecambe Bay, England, prompting the establishment of the British government's Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

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  5. 2000

    Second Chechen War: As the Battle of Grozny came to a close, Russian forces summarily executed at least 60 civilians in Grozny's Novye Aldi suburb.

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  6. 1985

    The mayors of Carthage and Rome signed a symbolic peace treaty to officially end the Third Punic War, 2,134 years after it began.

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  7. 1967

    Cultural Revolution: The January Storm revolt in Shanghai reached its apogee as Maoist rebels proclaimed the establishment of the Shanghai People's Commune, a move the previously supportive Mao Zedong criticized.

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  8. 1958

    After a mid-air collision with a fighter plane during a practice exercise off Tybee Island, Georgia, a U.S. Air Force bomber jettisoned a Mark 15 nuclear bomb, which was presumed lost.

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  9. 1923

    Australian cricketer Bill Ponsford made 429 runs to break the world record for the highest first-class score.

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  10. 1917

    The U.S. Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson's veto to pass the Immigration Act of 1917, establishing new restrictions on immigrants, including the wholesale ban of people from much of Asia.

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  11. 1913

    Claudio Monteverdi's last opera, L'incoronazione di Poppea, was performed theatrically for the first time in more than 250 years.

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  12. 1909

    Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced his invention of Bakelite (production device pictured), the world's first synthetic plastic.

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  13. 1869

    Prospectors in Moliagul, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the Welcome Stranger.

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  14. 1861

    In a speech before the U.S. Congress, Representative John Edward Bouligny refused to join his fellow Louisiana congressmen in heeding the state's secession convention and resigning.

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  15. 1818

    Charles XIV John (pictured) succeeded to the thrones of Sweden and Norway as the first monarch of the House of Bernadotte.

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  16. 1783

    The first of five strong earthquakes hit the region of Calabria on the Italian Peninsula, killing more than 32,000 people over a period of nearly two months.

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  17. 1597

    As part of enforcing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Christianity in Japan, twenty-six Catholics, a mix of European missionaries and Japanese converts, were executed (depicted) near Nagasaki by crucifixion and impalement.

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  18. 62

    Pompeii was severely damaged by a strong earthquake, which may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town 17 years later.

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Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.