6 February

Events

• 1778 - American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
• 1788 - Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
• 1815 - New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to a John Stevens.
• 1819 - Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
• 1820 - 86 free African American colonists sail from New York City to Freeport, Sierra Leone.
• 1840 - Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, founding document of New Zealand.
• 1843 - The first minstrel show in the United States The Virginia Minstrels opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
• 1862 - American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee.
• 1899 - Spanish-American War: A peace treaty between the United States and Spain is ratified by the United States Senate.
• 1900 - The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
• 1922 - Achille Ratti becomes Pope Pius XI.
• 1933 - The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution goes into effect.
• 1936 - 1936 Winter Olympic Games open in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
• 1952 - Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI.
• 1958 - Munich Air Disaster occurs.
• 1959 - At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
• 1968 - 1968 Winter Olympic Games open in Grenoble, France.
• 1985 - Steve Wozniak leaves Apple Computer.
• 1996 - A Turkish Airlines Boeing 757 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast off Dominican Republic killing 189
• 1998 - Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
• 2004 - In Russia, a suicide-attack in a Moscow metro kills 40 commuters, and injures a hundred and twenty-nine more. The blast, which was followed by a raging fire, is blamed on Chechen separatist groups.

Births

• 1564 - Christopher Marlowe, playwright, (d. 1593)
• 1665 - Queen Anne I of the United Kingdom, (d. 1714)
• 1756 - Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States, (d. 1836)
• 1887 - Josef Frings, archbishop of Cologne, (d. 1978)
• 1889 - Elmo Lincoln, actor, (d. 1952)
• 1894 - Eric Partridge, lexicographer (d. 1979)
• 1895 - Babe Ruth, Baseball Hall of Famer, (d. 1948)
• 1899 - Ramon Novarro, actor, (d. 1968)
• 1903 - Claudio Arrau, pianist, (d. 1991)
• 1910 - Irmgard Keun, author, (d. 1982)
• 1911 - Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States
• 1912 - Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's mistress, (d. 1945)
• 1913 - Mary Leakey, anthropologist, (d. 1996)
• 1914 - Thurl Ravenscroft, voice-over actor ("Tony the Tiger")
• 1917 - Zsa Zsa Gabor, actress
• 1918 - Lothar-Günther Buchheim, author of Das Boot
• 1922 - Patrick Macnee, actor
• 1926 - Haskell Wexler, cinematographer
• 1929 - Pierre Brice, actor
• 1931 - Rip Torn, actor, director
• 1932 - François Truffaut, film director, (d. 1984)
• 1939 - Mike Farrell, actor
• 1940 - Tom Brokaw, news anchorman
• 1943 - Fabian Forte, singer
• 1945 - Bob Marley, Jamaican roots rock reggae singer and musician, (d. 1981)
• 1950 - Natalie Cole, singer
• 1951 - Princess Daphné of Belgium
• 1954 - Argusto Emfazie, occultist, author
• 1957 - Kathy Najimy, actress, comedian
• 1957 - Robert Townsend, comedian, actor, director, producer
• 1962 - Axl Rose, musician ("Guns N'Roses")
• 1975 - Svend-Allan Sørensen, danish conceptual artist
• 1976 - Kim Zmeskal, U.S. gymnast

Deaths

• 1685 - King Charles II of England, (b. 1630)
• 1793 - Carlo Goldoni, playwright, (b. 1707)
• 1916 - Rubén Darío, writer
• 1918 - Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter, (b. 1862)
• 1952 - King George VI of the United Kingdom, (b. 1895)
• 1976 - Vince Guaraldi, musician, (b. 1928)
• 1989 - Barbara Tuchman, historian, (b. 1912)
• 1991 - Danny Thomas, singer, comedia, actor, (b. 1914)
• 1993 - Arthur Ashe, tennis star, (b. 1943)
• 1993 - Joseph Mankiewicz, director, producer, writer
• 1994 - Jack Kirby, comic book writer, (b. 1917)
• 1994 - Joseph Cotten, actor, (b. 1905)
• 1995 - James Merrill, poet (b. 1926)
• 1996 - Guy Madison, actor
• 1998 - Carl Wilson, musician ("The Beach Boys")
• 1998 - Falco, singer, (b. 1957)
• 2002 - Guy Stockwell, actor

Holidays and observances

• Catholicism - Feast day of St Paul Miki and his companions.
• National holiday for the Saami people.
• Waitangi day - New Zealand

February 5 - February 7 - January 6 - March 6 -- listing of all days

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Referenced By