February 4, 1789
George Washington is elected president with 100% of the electoral vote. He was the first and only president to do so.
February 5, 1958
A nuclear bomb is lost by the U.S. Air Force when a B-47 bomber carrying the bomb collides mid-air with an F-86 fighter. The Mk 15 nuclear bomb was jettisoned near the coast of Savannah, Georgia. Despite a massive search, the bomb was never found.
The B-47 bomber was on a simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida when it collided with the F-86. The F-86 pilot safely ejected, but the B-47 remained airborne. The crew ejected the bomb to reduce weight and prevent the bomb from exploding during an emergency landing. The B-47 then landed safely at Hunter Air Force Base. At the time, the Air Force claimed that, although the bomb contained 400 pounds (180kg) of high explosives and highly enriched uranium, it was lacking the nuclear capsule needed to initiate the nuclear reaction. But, congressional testimony by then Assistant Secretary of Defense W.J. Howard in 1966 said the bomb was a “complete weapon, a bomb with a nuclear capsule.”
February 6, 1935
The board game Monopoly first goes on sale. The game was created by Charles B. Darrow and sold to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers initially rejected the game, citing 52 fundamental errors. Now published in 23 languages and a Braille version, more than 200,000,000 games have been sold, making Darrow the first millionaire game designer in history.
Darrow derived Monopoly from The Landlord’s Game created by Lizzie Magie in 1903. Magie’s game had two sets of rules: an anti-monopolist set in which all were rewarded when wealth was created, and a monopolist set in which the goal was to create monopolies and crush opponents. After Darrow sold the rights to the game to Parker Brothers, they found out he was not the sole inventor and bought the rights from Magie for $500.
The properties are named after streets and properties in Atlantic City.