February 6

February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 328 days remaining until the end of the year (329 in leap years).

Events

• 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
• 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 John Stevens.
• 1817 – The Argentinian San Martín crosses the Andes with an army in order to liberate Chile from Spanish rule.
• 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
• 1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia.
• 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.
• 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, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.
• 1899 – Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris, 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 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
• 1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal offices, goes into effect.
• 1934 – Far right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.
• 1942 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Thailand.
• 1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
• 1952 – Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
• 1958 – Eight Manchester United F.C. players are killed in the Munich air disaster.
• 1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
• 1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
• 1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor'easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of 4" an hour.
• 1987 – Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed.
• 1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
• 1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
• 1998 – In Corsica, the prefect Claude Erignac is assassinated in Ajaccio, presumably by Yvan Colonna.

Births

• 1347 – Dorothea of Montau, Catholic saint (d. 1394)
• 1461 – Džore Držić, Croatian poet and playwright (d. 1501)
• 1465 – Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician (d. 1526)
• 1577 – Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman (d. 1599)
• 1582 – Mario Bettinus, Italian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1657)
• 1605 – Bernard of Corleone, Catholic saint (d. 1667)
• 1608 – Antonio Vieira, Portuguese writer (d. 1697)
• 1611 – Chongzhen Emperor, Emperor of China (d. 1644)
• 1612 – Antoine Arnauld, French theologian, philosopher and mathematician (d. 1694)
• 1639 – Daniel Georg Morhof, German writer and scholar (d. 1691)
• 1664 – Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1703)
• 1665 – Anne of Great Britain, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (d. 1714)
• 1695 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1726)
• 1721 – Christian Friedrich Heinecken, German child prodigy (d. 1725)
• 1726 – Patrick Russell, Scottish surgeon and naturalist (d. 1805)
• 1732 – Charles Lee, British-born American Revolutionary War figure (d. 1782)
• 1736 – Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, German-Austrian sculptor (d. 1783)
• 1744 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (d. 1795)
• 1748 – Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher (d. 1811)
• 1753 – Évariste de Parny, French poet (d. 1814)
• 1756 – Aaron Burr, American politician (d. 1836)
• 1757 – Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Polish scholar and statesman. (d. 1841)
• 1769 – Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Austrian general (d. 1862)
• 1772 – Karl von Kügelgen, German landscape and history painter (d. 1832)
• 1772 – Sir George Murray, Scottish soldier and politician (d. 1830)
• 1778 – Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer and poet (d. 1827)
• 1781 – John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, British noble and officer (d. 1844)
• 1796 – John Stevens Henslow, English botanist and geologist (d. 1861)
• 1797 – Joseph von Radowitz, Prussian statesman and general (d. 1853)
• 1799 – Imre Frivaldszky, Hungarian botanist and entomologist (d. 1870)
• 1800 – Achille Devéria, French painter and lithographer (d. 1857)
• 1802 – Charles Wheatstone, English scientist and inventor (d. 1875)
• 1811 – Henry George Liddell, father of Alice Liddell (d. 1898)
• 1818 – William M. Evarts, American lawyer and statesman (d. 1901)
• 1818 – Jenaro Quesada y Matheus, Spanish nobleman and politician (d. 1889)
• 1818 – Henry Charles Litolff, British musician and composer (d. 1891)
• 1829 – Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer, French architect (d. 1914)
• 1830 – Daniel Oliver, British botanist (d. 1916)
• 1832 – John Brown Gordon, American politician (d. 1904)
• 1833 – James Ewell Brown Stuart, American Civil War figure (d. 1864)
• 1833 – José María de Pereda, Spanish novelist (d. 1906)
• 1834 – Edwin Klebs, German-born Swiss pathologist (d. 1913)
• 1834 – Ema Puksec, Croatian singer (d. 1889)
• 1834 – Wilhelm von Scherff, German general and military writer (d. 1911)
• 1838 – Sir Henry Irving, British actor (d. 1905)
• 1838 – Yisrael Meir Kagan, Chofetz Chayim (d. 1933)
• 1839 – Eduard Hitzig, German neurologist and neuropsychiatrist (d. 1907)
• 1842 – Mary Rudge, English chess master (d. 1919)
• 1843 – Inoue Kowashi, Japanese statesman (d. 1895)
• 1843 – Frederic William Henry Myers, English poet and essayist (d. 1901)
• 1847 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect (d. 1918)
• 1852 – C. Lloyd Morgan, British zoologist and psychologist (d. 1936)
• 1852 – Vasily Safonov, Russian pianist, teacher, conductor and composer (d. 1918)
• 1853 – Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (d. 1901)
• 1854 – Tommaso Alberto Vittorio of Savoy-Genoa, Italian prince (d. 1931)
• 1859 – Wilhelm Cohn, German chess master (d. 1913)
• 1861 – Nikolay Zelinsky, Russian chemist (d. 1953)
• 1864 – John Henry Mackay, Scottish individualist anarchist, thinker and writer (d. 1933)
• 1866 – Karl Sapper, German explorer and linguist (d. 1945)
• 1872 – Robert Maillart, Swiss bridge engineer (d. 1940)
• 1875 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (d. 1915)
• 1876 – Henry Blogg, English lifeboatman, George Cross and British Empire Medal recipient (d. 1954)
• 1878 – Walter B. Pitkin, American lecturer (d. 1953)
• 1879 – Othon Friesz French artist (d. 1949)
• 1879 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic politician (d. 1937)
• 1879 – Carl Ramsauer, German physicist (d. 1955)
• 1880 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25^th Yokozuna (d. 1931)
• 1883 – Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1938)
• 1887 – Josef Frings, German Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1978)
• 1892 – William Parry Murphy, American physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1987)
• 1893 – Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Pakistani diplomat (d. 1985)
• 1894 – Eric Partridge, New Zealand lexicographer (d. 1979)
• 1894 – Kirpal Singh, Indian religious figure (d. 1974)
• 1895 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player (d. 1948)
• 1897 – Louis Buchalter, American organized crime figure (d. 1944)
• 1899 – Ramón Novarro, Mexican actor (d. 1968)
• 1901 – Ben Lyon, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1902 – George Brunies, American musician (d. 1974)
• 1903 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (d. 1991)
• 1905 – Władysław Gomułka, Polish leader (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Amintore Fanfani, Italian politician (d. 1999)
• 1908 – Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Irmgard Keun, German author (d. 1982)
• 1910 – Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-born gangster (d. 1993)
• 1911 – Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Eva Braun, German mistress and wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)
• 1912 – Christopher Hill, English historian (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Mary Leakey, British anthropologist (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (d. 2005)
• 1916 – John Crank, British mathematician (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gábor, Hungarian-born actress
• 1918 – Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Takashi Yanase, Japanese manga artist
• 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Patrick Macnee, British actor
• 1922 – Denis Norden, British television personality
• 1922 – Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
• 1923 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian football player and manager (d. 1981)
• 1924 – Billy Wright, English footballer (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Jin Yong, Chinese-language novelist
• 1925 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Walker Edmiston, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1927 – Gerard K. O'Neill, American physicist (d. 1992)
• 1929 – Pierre Brice, French actor
• 1929 – Oscar Sambrano Urdaneta, Venezuelan writer
• 1929 – Valentin Yanin, Russian historian
• 1930 – Jun Kondo, Japanese theoretical physicist
• 1931 – Rip Torn, American actor
• 1931 – Mamie Van Doren, American actress
• 1931 – Ricardo Vidal, Filipino Roman Catholic Cardinal
• 1932 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1959)
• 1932 – François Truffaut, French film director (d. 1984)
• 1932 – Heinz-Klaus Metzger, German music critic and theorist (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Leslie Crowther, British comedian (d. 1996)
• 1934 – Bernard Erhard, American voice actor (d. 2000)
• 1936 – Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
• 1936 – J. Howard Marshall III, American businessman
• 1939 – Mike Farrell, American actor
• 1939 – Orlando Parga, Puerto Rican politician
• 1940 – Tom Brokaw, American news anchorman
• 1940 – Jimmy Tarbuck, British comedian
• 1940 – Petr Hájek, Czech mathematician
• 1941 – Gigi Perreau, American actress
• 1941 – Spencer Silver, American chemist
• 1942 – Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist
• 1942 – James Loewen, American sociologist and historian
• 1943 – Fabian Forte, American singer
• 1943 – Gayle Hunnicutt, American actress
• 1944 – Christine Boutin, French politician
• 1944 – Willie Tee, American singer and songwriter (d. 2007))
• 1944 – Michael Tucker, American actor
• 1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican musician (d. 1981)
• 1946 – Jim Turner, American politician
• 1946 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian singer and songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1946 – Richie Hayward, American musician (Little Feat) (d. 2010)
• 1947 – Bill Staines, American singer and songwriter
• 1949 – Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
• 1949 – Mike Batt, British composer
• 1950 – Natalie Cole, American singer
• 1951 – Marco Antônio, Brazilian footballer
• 1951 – Margo O'Donnell, Irish singer
• 1951 – Jacques Villeret, French film actor (d. 2005)
• 1951 – Kevin Whately, English actor
• 1952 – Ricardo Lavolpe, Argentine football coach
• 1952 – Viktor Giacobbo, Swiss writer, comedian, moderator and actor
• 1955 – Michael Pollan, American journalist
• 1955 – Bruno Stolorz, French rugby coach
• 1957 – Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedienne
• 1957 – Simon Phillips, drummer of Toto
• 1957 – Robert Townsend, American actor
• 1958 – Cecily Adams, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1958 – Barry Miller, American actor
• 1959 – Ken Nelson, English record producer
• 1960 – Megan Gallagher, American actress
• 1961 – Bill Lester, American racecar driver
• 1962 – Stavros Lambrinidis, Greek politician
• 1962 – W. Axl Rose, American singer (Guns N' Roses)
• 1963 – Kevin Trudeau, American entrepreneur
• 1964 – Gordon Downie, Canadian musician (The Tragically Hip)
• 1964 – Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russian film director and actor
• 1965 – Jan Svěrák, Czech film director
• 1966 – Rick Astley, British singer
• 1967 – Anita Cochran, American singer
• 1967 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer (Zard) (d. 2007)
• 1968 – Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer
• 1968 – Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer
• 1969 – David Hayter, American voice actor
• 1969 – Masaharu Fukuyama, Japanese singer
• 1969 – Tim Sherwood, English footballer
• 1970 – Per Frandsen, Danish footballer
• 1971 – Dana Eskelson, American actress
• 1971 – Brad Hogg, Australian cricket player
• 1971 – Brian Stepanek, American actor
• 1972 – Stefano Bettarini, Italian footballer
• 1972 – David Binn, American football player
• 1975 – Orkut Büyükkökten, Turkish software engineer
• 1975 – Brett Hawke, Australian swimmer
• 1975 – Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer
• 1975 – Svend-Allan Sørensen, Danish artist
• 1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder
• 1976 – Colin Teo, Singaporean race car driver
• 1976 – Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast
• 1976 – Kasper Hvidt, Danish handball goalkeeper
• 1976 – Princess Marie of Denmark
• 1977 – Jason Euell, English-born footballer
• 1977 – Josh Stewart, American actor
• 1979 – Dan Bălan, Moldovan singer (O-Zone)
• 1980 – Mamiko Noto, Japanese seiyu
• 1980 – Kim Poirier, Canadian actress
• 1980 – Luke Ravenstahl, American politician
• 1981 – Calum Best, American model
• 1981 – Jens Lekman, Swedish musician
• 1981 – Ty Warren, American football player
• 1981 – Alison Haislip, American actress and TV personality
• 1981 – Shim Eun Jin, South Korean singer (Baby V.O.X.)
• 1982 – Alice Eve, English actress
• 1982 – Tank Lu, Taiwanese singer (Mandopop)
• 1982 – Jade Edmistone, Australian swimmer
• 1983 – Brodie Croyle, American football player
• 1983 – Dimas Delgado, Spanish footballer
• 1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer
• 1983 – Jamie Whincup, Australian racing driver
• 1983 – Myron Wolf Child, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
• 1983 – Melrose Bickerstaff, American fashion model
• 1984 – Darren Bent, English footballer
• 1984 – Piret Järvis, Estonian singer
• 1984 – Antoine Wright, American basketball player
• 1985 – Kris Humphries, American basketball player
• 1985 – Yang Yu, Chinese swimmer
• 1985 – Joji Kato, Japanese speedskater
• 1986 – Alice Greczyn, American actress
• 1986 – Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1986 – Jung Yunho, South Korean singer (TVXQ)
• 1988 – Bailey Hanks, American actress
• 1988 – Allison Holker, American dancer
• 1989 – Craig Cathcart, Irish footballer
• 1992 – Víctor Mañon, Mexican footballer

Deaths

• 891 – St. Photius I the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople
• 1378 – Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V of France (b. 1338)
• 1497 – Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer (b. c.1410)
• 1515 – Aldus Manutius, Italian printer
• 1585 – Edmund Plowden, English legal scholar (b. 1518)
• 1593 – Jacques Amyot, French writer (b. 1513)
• 1593 – Emperor Ogimachi of Japan (b. 1517)
• 1617 – Prospero Alpini, Italian scientist (b. 1553)
• 1685 – King Charles II of England (b. 1630)
• 1740 – Pope Clement XII (b. 1652)
• 1775 – William Dowdeswell, English politician (b. 1721)
• 1783 – Capability Brown, English landscape gardener (b. 1716)
• 1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright (b. 1707)
• 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, French general and father of author Alexandre Dumas, père (b. 1762)
• 1807 – John Reid, British army general and composer (b. 1721)
• 1816 – Maria Ludwika Rzewuska, Polish szlachcianka (b. 1744)
• 1833 – Pierre André Latreille, French entomologist (b. 1762)
• 1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer (b. 1804)
• 1855 – Josef Munzinger, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1791)
• 1899 – Leo von Caprivi, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1831)
• 1899 – Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Edinburgh (b. 1874)
• 1910 – Alfonso Maria Fusco. Beatified Italian Roman Catholic priest and founder (b. 1839)
• 1916 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan writer (b. 1867)
• 1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter (b. 1862)
• 1927 – Sam Maguire, Irish Republican and Gaelic footballer (b. 1879)
• 1938 – Marianne von Werefkin, Russian-Swiss painter (b. 1860)
• 1950 – Georges Imbert, Alsatian chemist (b. 1884)
• 1951 – Gabby Street, former MLB player (b. 1882)
• 1952 – George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
• 1958 – David Pegg, English footballer (b. 1935)
• 1958 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (b. 1932)
• 1958 – Geoff Bent, English footballer (b. 1932)
• 1958 – Roger Byrne, English footballer (b. 1929)
• 1958 – Eddie Colman, English footballer (b. 1936)
• 1958 – Mark Jones, English footballer (b. 1933)
• 1958 – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (b. 1913)
• 1958 – Walter Crickmer, English football club secretary and manager
• 1963 – Abd el-Krim, Moroccan politician
• 1964 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and President (b. 1869)
• 1966 – Narcisa de Leon, Filipino film mogul (b. 1877)
• 1967 – Martine Carol, French film actress (b. 1920)
• 1976 – Vince Guaraldi, American musician (b. 1928)
• 1976 – Ritwik Ghatak, Bengali Indian film maker and scriptwriter (b. 1925)
• 1981 – Hugo Montenegro, American film music composer (b. 1925)
• 1981 – Frederika of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece (b. 1917)
• 1985 – James Hadley Chase, English writer (b. 1906)
• 1986 – Frederick Coutts, Salvation Army general (b. 1899)
• 1986 – Minoru Yamasaki, American architect (b. 1912)
• 1986 – Dandy Nichols, English actress (b. 1907)
• 1988 – Nuno Oliveira, Bass Player (b. 1925)
• 1989 – André Cayatte, French filmmaker (b. 1909)
• 1989 – Barbara Tuchman, American historian (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Chris Gueffroy, East German attempted defector (b. 1968)
• 1989 – Osbourne Ruddock, Jamaican Dub music performer (b. 1941)
• 1991 – Salvador Luria, Italian biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1912)
• 1991 – Danny Thomas, American singer, comedian, and actor (b. 1914)
• 1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player (b. 1943)
• 1994 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1994 – Jack Kirby, American comic book writer (b. 1917)
• 1995 – James Merrill, American poet (b. 1926)
• 1996 – Guy Madison, American actor (b. 1922)
• 1997 – Roger Laurent, Belgian racing driver (b. 1913)
• 1998 – Falco, Austrian singer (b. 1957)
• 1998 – Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b. 1946)
• 1998 – Haroun Tazieff, French vulcanologist and geologist (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino Communist revolutionary (b. 1953)
• 2001 – Fulgence Charpentier, Quebec journalist (b. 1897)
• 2002 – Max Perutz, Austrian molecular biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1914)
• 2005 – Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Karl Haas, American radio presenter (b. 1913)
• 2007 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player (b. 1926)
• 2007 – Lee Hoffman, American author (b. 1932)
• 2007 – Len Hopkins, Canadian politician (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Frankie Laine, American singer (b. 1913)
• 2007 – Willye White, American athlete (b. 1939)
• 2008 – John McWethy, American journalist (b. 1947)
• 2008 – Tony Rolt, English racing driver (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Amand
  • Dorothea of Caesarea
  • Paul Miki
  • Titus
  • Vedastus
  • February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
• Ronald Reagan Day (California)
• Sami National Day (Finland and Scandinavia)
• Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in in 1840.

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada