Historical Events on February 6, Facts & Special Events On This Day - CalendarZ

Historical Events on February 6

AD 60
The earliest date for which the day of the week is known. A graffito in Pompeii identifies this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday. However, according to the system of astrological hours that was originally used to designate the days of the week, a day that was dies Solis according to its sunset hour would have been dies Mercurii (Wednesday) according to its sunrise hour, the convention that finally won out. Accordingly, we know that the currently used cycle of weeks has extended unbroken since at least this date.
1579
The Archdiocese of Manila was made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1649
The claimant King Charles II of England and Scotland is declared King of Great Britain, by the Parliament of Scotland. This move was not followed by the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland.
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.
1806
Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean.
1815
New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to John Stevens.
1819
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
1820
The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia.
1833
Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
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).
1851
The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria.
1862
American Civil War: Forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote give the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in 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 Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international arbitration court at The Hague, is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
1918
British women over the age of 30 get the right to vote.
1919
The American Legion is founded.
1922
The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
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 Canadian Army enters combat in the Korean War.
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 regnant of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
1958
Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers 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.
1976
In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
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 four inches an hour.
1981
The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
1987
Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.
1988
Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.
1989
The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
1996
Willamette Valley Flood: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
1996
Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, and all 189 people inside the airplane are killed. This is the worst accident/incident involving a Boeing 757.
1998
Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
2000
Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.

February 6 Birthdays

February 6 Deaths