On this day: South African President Nelson Mandela retires in 1999

Following are some of the major events to have occurred on February 5:

1979 – Mehdi Bazargan, an opposition leader during the reign of the Shah, was appointed the first prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He resigned later in the year.

1987 – Former Nazi officer Klaus Barbie imprisoned in Lyon, France after being extradited from Bolivia (1983)

1989 – Princess Diana and reputed girlfriend of Prince Andrew Sarah Ferguson tour HMS Brazen.

1993 – Lord King steps down as chairman of British Airways.

1994 – A mortar bomb hit a street market in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, besieged by Serbs during the Bosnian war, killing 68 people.

1999 – South African President Nelson Mandela made his last State of the Nation speech to parliament before retiring.

2004 – Armed rebels take control of Haitian city Gonaives.

2005 – Togo’s President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa’s longest serving ruler, died after 38 years in power, aged 69. The army named his son Faure Gnassingbe as his successor.

2007 – Lisa Nowak, U.S. astronaut accused of trying to kidnap and murder a woman she considered a rival, was arrested and released on bail.

2008 – Pro-government deputies scuffle with opposition deputies in Ukraine’s parliament.

2014 – Egyptian police smash antiquities smuggling ring.

(Reuters)