This day in history

[February 05, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2011. There are 329 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

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 Congress.)

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.

Ten years ago: Four disciples of Osama bin Laden went on trial in New York in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. (The four were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.) Flanked by a jumbo refund-check stage prop, President George W. Bush asked Americans to get behind his proposed tax cuts. A disgruntled former factory worker killed five people, including himself, at an engine plant near Chicago.

Five years ago: Jacob Robida, suspected of an attack at a Massachusetts gay bar, the killing of an Arkansas officer and the slaying of a mother of three, was mortally wounded in a shootout with authorities. Thousands of protesters in Beirut, Lebanon, enraged over Danish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, torched the Danish mission. Iran ended all voluntary cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Pittsburgh Steelers won a record-tying fifth Super Bowl with a 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Actor Franklin Cover ("The Jeffersons") died in Englewood, N.J., at age 77.

One year ago: Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, emerged from seclusion to apologize and address criticism that the automaker had mishandled a crisis over sticking gas pedals.

Today's birthdays: Country singer Claude King is 88. The Rev. Andrew M. Greeley is 83. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron is 77. Actor Stuart Damon is 74. Tony-winning playwright John Guare is 73. Financial writer Jane Bryant Quinn is 72. Actor David Selby is 70. Singer-songwriter Barrett Strong is 70. Football Hall-of-Famer Roger Staubach is 69. Singer Cory Wells (Three Dog Night) is 69. Movie director Michael Mann is 68. Rock singer Al Kooper is 67. Actress Charlotte Rampling is 65. Racing Hall-of-Famer Darrell Waltrip is 64. Actress Barbara Hershey is 63. Actor Christopher Guest is 63. Actor Tom Wilkinson is 63. Actor-comedian Tim Meadows is 50. Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh is 49. Actress Laura Linney is 47. Rock musician Duff McKagan (Velvet Revolver) is 47. World Golf Hall-of-Famer Jose Maria Olazabal is 45. Actor-comedian Chris Parnell is 44. Rock singer Chris Barron (Spin Doctors) is 43. Singer Bobby Brown is 42. Actor Michael Sheen is 42. Country singer Sara Evans is 40. Actor Jeremy Sumpter is 22.

Thought for today: "Many excellent words are ruined by too definite a knowledge of their meaning." -- Aline Kilmer, American poet (1888-1941)

[Associated Press]

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