Events
★
46 BC -
Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of
Pompeian followers and
Numidians under
Metellus Scipio and
Juba at
Thapsus.
★
337 -
Julius I is elected
pope.
★
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 a
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, 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, known as the
Battle of Fort Henry.
★
1899 -
Spanish-American War: The
Treaty of Paris (1898), 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.
★ 1922 - The
Washington Naval Treaty was signed in
Washington, DC, limiting the
naval armaments of
United States,
Britain,
Japan,
France, and
Italy.
★
1933 - The
20th Amendment to the United States Constitution goes into effect.
★
1934 -
February 6, 1934 political crisis in France. The
far right leagues rally in front of the
Palais Bourbon, an attempted
coup against the
Third Republic.
★
1936 -
Olympic Games:
Winter Olympic Games -
IV Olympic Winter Games open in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany.
★
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.
★
1952 -
Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of Canada at
Rideau Hall,
Ottawa,
Ontario.
★
1958 -
Bobby Charlton survived the
Munich air disaster in
Germany, which killed eight of his teammates with
Manchester United F.C..
★
1959 -
Jack Kilby of
Texas Instruments filed 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.
★
1971 -
Apollo program:
Apollo 14 Mission -
Alan Shepard becomes the first person to hit a golf ball on the Moon.
★
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.
★
1992 - The
Saami people of the
Nordic countries have an official day celebrating their existence.
★
1996 - A Birgen Air
Boeing 757 crashes into the
Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of
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. The blast is blamed on
Chechen separatist groups.
★
2006 - The
Conservative Party of Canada becomes a minority
government in Canada's Parliament, replacing the
Liberals after 13 years in power.
Stephen Harper becomes the 22nd
Prime Minister of Canada.
Births
★
1577 -
Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman (d.
1599)
★
1608 -
Antonio Vieira, Portuguese writer (d.
1697)
★
1611 -
Chongzhen Emperor, Emperor of China (d.
1644)
★
1639 -
Daniel Georg Morhof, German writer and scholar (d.
1691)
★
1664 -
Mustafa II,
Ottoman Sultan (d,
1703)
★
1665 -
Queen Anne of England (d.
1714)
★
1695 -
Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d.
1726)
★
1732 -
Charles Lee, General in the American Revolution (d.
1782)
★
1744 -
Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (d.
1795)
★
1748 -
Adam Weishaupt, founder of the
Bavarian Illuminati (d.
1811)
★
1756 -
Aaron Burr, 3rd
Vice President of the United States (d.
1836)
★
1757 -
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz,
Polish scholar and statesman. (d.
1841)
★
1811 -
Henry George Liddell, father of the
Alice in ''
Alice in Wonderland'' (d.
1898)
★
1833 -
James Ewell Brown Stuart, American Confederate general (d.
1864)
★ 1833 -
José María de Pereda, Spanish novelist (b.
1906)
★
1834 -
Ema Puksec, Croatian singer (d.
1889)
★
1838 -
Sir Henry Irving, British actor (d.
1905)
★ 1838 -
Yisrael Meir Kagan, Chofetz Chayim (d.
1933)
★
1853 -
Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (d.
1901)
★
1887 -
Josef Frings, German Archbishop of Cologne (d.
1978)
★
1875 -
Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (d.
1915)
★
1892 -
William Parry Murphy, American physician,
Nobel laureate (d.
1987)
★
1894 -
Eric Partridge, New Zealand lexicographer (d.
1979)
★
1895 -
Babe Ruth, American baseball player (d.
1948)
★
1897 -
Louis Buchalter, Jewish American mobster (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)
★
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 of
Adolf Hitler (d.
1945)
★
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 Gabor, Hungarian-born actress
★
1918 -
Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author (d.
2007)
★
1922 -
Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer
★ 1922 -
Patrick Macnee, British actor
★ 1922 -
Denis Norden, British television personality
★
1924 -
Billy Wright, English former footballer (d.
1994)
★
1925 -
Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author (d.
2006)
★
1926 -
Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
★ 1926 -
Walker Edmiston, American actor (d.
2007)
★
1929 -
Pierre Brice, French actor
★
1931 -
Rip Torn, American actor
★ 1931 -
Mamie Van Doren, American actress
★
1932 -
Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (d.
1959)
★ 1932 -
François Truffaut, French film director (d.
1984)
★
1933 -
Leslie Crowther, British comedian (d.
1996)
★
1936 -
Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player
★ 1936 -
J. Howard Marshall III, American businessman
★
1939 -
Mike Farrell, American actor
★ 1939 -
Orlando Parga, Vice President of the
Puerto Rico Senate
★
1940 -
Tom Brokaw, American news anchorman
★ 1940 -
Jimmy Tarbuck, British comedian
★
1941 -
Gigi Perreau, American actress
★
1942 -
Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist
★
1943 -
Fabian, American singer
★ 1943 -
Gayle Hunnicutt, American actress
★
1944 -
Michael Tucker, American actor
★ 1944 -
Christine Boutin, French politician
★
1945 -
Bob Marley, Jamaican musician (d.
1981)
★
1946 -
Jim Turner, American politician
★ 1946 -
Kate McGarrigle, Canadian folk music singer and songwriter
★
1949 -
Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
★
1950 -
Natalie Cole, American singer
★
1951 -
Marco Antônio, Brazilian footballer
★ 1951 -
Jacques Villeret, French film actor (d.
2005)
★
1952 -
Ricardo Lavolpe, Argentine football coach
★
1955 -
Michael Pollan, American journalist
★
1957 -
Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedienne
★ 1957 -
Robert Townsend, American actor
★
1958 -
Barry Miller, American actor
★ 1958 -
Cecily Adams, American actress (d.
2004)
★
1959 -
Ken Nelson, English record producer
★
1960 -
Megan Gallagher, American actress
★
1961 -
Bill Lester, American racecar driver
★
1962 -
Axl Rose, American singer (
Guns N' Roses)
★
1963 -
Kevin Trudeau, American entrepreneur
★
1966 -
Rick Astley, British singer
★
1967 -
Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer (
Zard) (d.
2007)
★ 1967 -
Anita Cochran, American singer
★
1968 -
Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer
★ 1968 -
Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer
★
1970 -
Per Frandsen, Danish footballer
★ 1970 -
Kitty Yung, American pornographic actress
★
1971 -
Brad Hogg, Australian cricket player
★ 1971 -
Brian Stepanek, American actor
★
1972 -
David Binn, American football player
★
1975 -
Svend-Allan Sørensen, Danish artist
★ 1975 -
Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer
★ 1975 -
Brett Hawke, Australian swimmer
★
1976 -
Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast
★ 1976 -
Colin Teo, Singaporean Grand Prix driver
★ 1976 -
Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder
★
1977 -
Jason Euell, English-born footballer
★
1979 -
Dan Bălan, Moldovan singer and musician
O-Zone
★
1980 -
Mamiko Noto, Japanese
seiyu
★ 1980 -
Kim Poirier, Canadian actress
★
1981 -
Jens Lekman, Swedish musician
★ 1981 -
Calum Best, American model
★
1982 -
Alice Eve, English actress
★
1983 -
Brodie Croyle, American football player
★ 1983 -
Myron Wolf Child, Canadian politician
★ 1983 -
Jamie Whincup, Australian racing driver
★
1984 -
Darren Bent, English footballer
★ 1984 -
Daisy Marie, American pornographic actress
★ 1984 -
Piret Järvis, Estonian singer
★
1985 -
Kris Humphries, American basketball player
★ 1985 -
Yang Yu, Chinese swimmer
★
1986 -
Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwean cricketer
★ 1986 -
Alice Greczyn, American actress
★
1988 -
Allison Holker, American dancer
★
1989 -
Craig Cathcart, Irish football player
★
2004 -
Princess Louise of Belgium
Deaths
★
891 -
Photius, 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)
★
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 Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (b.
1874)
★
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)
★
1952 -
George VI of the United Kingdom (b.
1895)
★
1963 -
Abd el-Krim, Moroccan politician
★
1964 -
Emilio Aguinaldo, First President of the 1st Philippines Republic (b.
1869)
★
1967 -
Martine Carol, French film actress (b.
1920)
★
1976 -
Vince Guaraldi, American musician (b.
1928)
★
1981 -
Hugo Montenegro, American film music composer and orchestra leader (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)
★
1989 -
Chris Gueffroy, last person killed escaping over the Berlin wall (b.
1968)
★ 1989 -
Barbara Tuchman, American historian (b.
1912)
★ 1989 -
André Cayatte, French filmmaker (b.
1909)
★
1991 -
Salvador Luria, Italian-born 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, editor and publisher (b.
1897)
★
2002 -
Max Perutz, Austrian-born 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 -
Len Hopkins, Canadian politician (b.
1930)
★ 2007 -
Frankie Laine, American singer (b.
1913)
★ 2007 -
Willye White, American athlete (b.
1939)
Holidays and observances
★
Bob Marley Day in
Rastafarianism (
Jamaica and
Ethiopia)
★
Waitangi Day (National Holiday) in
New Zealand
★
Sami National Day (in Finland and Scandinavia)
Liturgical feasts
★
Feast day of the following
saints in the
Roman Catholic Church (per the
Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints):
★
★
Saint Amand,
Apostle of the Franks
★
★
Saint Vedastus
★
★
Saint Dorothea, patron saint of
florists
★
★
Saint Paul Miki
★ In the
Traditional Catholic Calendar it is the
Feast day of:
★
★
Saint Titus
★
February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
External links
★
BBC: On This Day
★
★
On This Day in Canada
----