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Today February 6th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
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 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, 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 (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 – 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.
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.
1958 – Eight Manchester United players are killed in the Munich air disaster.
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.
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.
1992 – The Saami people of the Nordic countries have an official day celebrating their existence.
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
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 – Anne of Great Britain (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)
1832 – John Brown Gordon, general, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Georgia
1833 – James Ewell Brown Stuart, American Confederate cavalry general (d. 1864)
1833 – José María de Pereda, Spanish novelist (d. 1906)
1834 – Ema Puksec, Croatian singer (d. 1889)
1838 – Sir Henry Irving, British actor (d. 1905)
1838 – Yisrael Meir Kagan, Chofetz Chayim (d. 1933)
1847 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect (d. 1918)
1853 – Ignacij Klemencic, 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 – Wladyslaw Gomulka, 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 and wife 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 Gábor, 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 footballer (d. 1994)
1925 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author (d. 2006)
1926 – Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
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
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)
1934 – Bernard Erhard, American voice actor (d. 2000)
1936 – Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player
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
1941 – Gigi Perreau, American actress
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
1949 – Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
1950 – Natalie Cole, American singer
1951 – Marco Antônio, Brazilian footballer
1951 – Margo O Donnell , Irish singer
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 – Simon Phillips. Drummer of Toto (band)
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 – Axl Rose, American singer (Guns N Roses)
1963 – Kevin Trudeau, American entrepreneur
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
1970 – Per Frandsen, Danish footballer
1971 – Dana Eskelson, American actress
1971 – Brad Hogg, Australian cricket player
1971 – Brian Stepanek, American actor
1972 – David Binn, American football player
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 Grand Prix driver
1976 – Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast
1977 – Jason Euell, English-born footballer
1979 – Dan Balan, 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
1982 – Alice Eve, English actress
1982 – Tank Lu, Mandopop singer
1983 – Brodie Croyle, American football player
1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer
1983 – Jamie Whincup, Australian racing driver
1983 – Myron Wolf Child, Canadian politician
1983 – Melrose Bickerstaff, American fashion model
1984 – Darren Bent, English footballer
1984 – Piret Järvis, Estonian singer
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
1988 – Allison Holker, American dancer
1988 – Bailey Hanks, American actress
1989 – Craig Cathcart, Irish footballer
2004 – Princess Louise of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Princess of Belgium
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)
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)
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)
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
International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation
Bob Marley Day in Rastafarianism (Jamaica and Ethiopia)
Waitangi Day (National Holiday) in New Zealand main holiday in New Zealand – also called New Zealand Day.
Sami National Day (in Finland and Scandinavia)
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
Saint Titus
February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
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