History events
1413 — (or February 6) (5 Adar-1 5173) A religious dispute began in Tortosa (Aragon, Spain) between rabbis and representatives of Christianity
1624 — (27th of Shevat 5384) The Jamestown City (Virginia) Census demonstrated that 38-year-old Elias Legardo, a Jew, came to America in 1621 on the ship Abigall. Legardo was one of the earliest Jews in the Colonies.
1685 — (13th of Adar-1 5445) A document written today, a copy of which found its way into the archives of Breslau, “advised against the establishment of a Hebrew press in Silesia, ‘because there are three very large Jewish printing establishments at Amsterdam in Holland, whence books are sent by sea to Danzig and Memel, thus abundantly providing for the Jews of Poland and Lithuania.’
1903 — (10th of Shevat 5663) “Jews Take Up Prairie Lands” published today described how 56 Jewish families from Chicago comprising 302 people have begun farming 5,440 acres of North Dakota land thanks to the support of the Jewish Agricultural Society led by its president. Adolph Loeb
1917 — (15th of Shevat 5677) The first draft of the Balfour Declaration was written at the Gaster home today in the presence of Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, Baron Rothschild, Sir Mark Sykes and Herbert Samuel
1939 — (18th of Shevat 5699) In Berlin, “reiterating the contention that ‘the Jewish problem in Germany will be solved only the last Jews has left the Reich, Nazi party leader Dr. Alfred Rosenberg declared that the “problem must be settled definitively not only for the German Jews, but later for the millions of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe.” Dr. Alfred Rosenberg offered a specific proposal to turn either British Guiana or Madagascar into a “Semitic reservation” which solve “the Jewish question.”
1942 — (20 Shevat 5702) The Holocaust. The «cleansing» of Odessa continued. On the same day, in Novo-Mirgorod (Kirovohrad region), Ukrainian militia shot 69 Jews
1943 — (16th of Adar-1 5703) The first armed struggle between Jews and Nazis takes place in the Warsaw ghetto. Most people connect the Warsaw Uprisings with Pesach (April) of 1943. Actually, the first fighting took place in February
1946 — (6th of Adar-1 5706) Arabs in Lebanon protested the British “decision to permit 1,500 Jewish immigrants to enter Palestine” each month by staging a general strike today
1947 — (17th of Shevat 5707) This date marks the official founding of the Jewish Agency, a world-wide organization centered in Israel. It is dedicated to the establishment of Israel as the Jewish Homeland, and to the encouragement and fulfillment of Jewish Aliyah from around the world
1948 — (27 Shevat 5708) The War of Independence. The first airplane landed in the center of the Gush Etzion settlements; from this day on, planes arrived almost daily, delivering weapons and evacuating the wounded. These settlements were isolated from the rest of the Yishuv, but the principle of never abandoning their land was strictly adhered to by the settlers, and the Gush Etzion garrison held the defense.
1950 — (20 Shevat 5710) The coldest weather in 20 years struck Israel. Snow fell even in Haifa and Tel Aviv. For two days, Jerusalem was cut off from the rest of the country. The snow cover reached a thickness of 30 mm. The day before the snowfall, Israel was drenched in rain. The immigrant camps were flooded. At the call of the newspapers, many children from these camps found refuge with native Israelis.
1961 — (21 Shevat 5721) Israel. Currency from the 1952 series was withdrawn from circulation.
1970 — (1 Adar-1 5730) The War of Attrition. In response to the Egyptian attack on February 6, the Israeli Air Force sank several Egyptian minesweepers in the Suez Canal.
1983 — (24 Shevat 5743) The commission investigating the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila camps accused Defense Minister Sharon and Chief of Staff Eitan. The commission recommended the dismissal of Sharon, while Eitan was allowed to remain in his position as his term was expiring.
1994 — (26 Shevat 5754) An attack by Hezbollah resulted in the deaths of three soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and five wounded.
2019 — (2 Adar-1 5779) A terrorist attack. In the Hebron area, Arab Arafat Arafaya fatally stabbed 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher, a resident of the settlement of Tekoa.
2024 — (28 Shevat 5784) War with Gaza. Day one hundred twenty-four. Operations against Hamas continued in Khan Younis. A strategic Hamas tunnel over a kilometer long was destroyed
People
1860 — (14 Shevat 5620) In Lithuania, Yitzhak Leib Goldberg was born—a Zionist leader and philanthropist. He died in 1935
1870 — Alfred Adler — was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. Date of death 28 May 1937
1911 — Shimon Avidan was born in Germany—a commander of the Givati Brigade in the War of Independence, a military and public figure in Israel. He died on September 11, 1994.
1926 — M.E. Taïmanov was born—a grandmaster, two-time champion of the USSR, and honored master of sports in chess. He died on November 28, 2016.
2024 — (28 Shevat 5784) War with Gaza. Day one hundred twenty-four. Senior reserve sergeant Hanan Drori, 26, from Jerusalem, who was wounded on December 17 during fighting in the northern sector, passed away in the hospital