On February 6th...

Waitani Day (New Zealand)

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1508 Maximilian I was proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor.

1665 Queen Anne of England was born.

1685 King Charles II of Great Britain and Ireland died.

1693 A Royal charter was granted to the College of William and Mary.

1695 Ahmed II, the 21st Sultan of Turkey, died.

1740 Pope Clement XII died.

1756 Aaron Burr, 3rd Vice-President of the United States, was born.

1765 The Stamp Act was introduced before the British Parliament.

1778 France officially recognized the United States of America.

1785 Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, the "Duchess of Baltimore," was born.

1788 Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1804 Chemist Joseph Priestley died.

1815 New Jersey issued the first railroad charter in the United States, to John Stevens.

1819 Stamford Raffles founded Singapore as a British trading post.

1820 The first 86 African-American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia.

1833 Confederate General Jeb Stuart was born.

1840 The Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 40 Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown.

1843 The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opened at the Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City, New York.

1894 The bottle opener was patented by William Painter.

1895 Baseball player Babe Ruth was born.

1899 The U. S. Senate ratified the treaty ending the Spanish-American War.

1902 The Young Women's Hebrew Association was organized.

1905 Polish politician Wladyslaw Gomulka was born.

1908 Italian politician Amintore Fanfani was born.

1911 Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the United States, was born.

1912 Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler, was born.

1913 Anthropologist Mary Leakey was born.

1917 Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was born.

1918 Great Britain granted women (over the age of 30) the right to vote.

1922 Cardinal Achille Ratti was elected Pope Pius XI.

1926 The NFL ruled college students ineligible until after their respective college classes graduate.

1931 Comedian Rip Torn was born.

1935 The board game Monopoly went on sale for the first time.

1936 The 4th Winter Olympic Games opened in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

1939 The Spanish government fled to France.
1939 Actor Mike Farrell was born.

1940 Television newsman Tom Brokaw was born.

1941 The Italian 10th Army was destroyed at the Battle of Beda Fomm.
1941 British troops captured Bengazi, Libya.

1943 Frank Sinatra made his professional singing career debut on the radio show "Your Hit Parade."
1943 Singer Fabiano Anthony Forte was born.

1945 The Russian Army crossed the Oder River.
1945 Singer Bob Marley was born.

1950 Singer Natalie Cole was born.

1952 King George VI of Great Britain died.

1958 A British airliner crashed soon after taking off from Munich, Germany, killing 23 persons.

1962 Singer Axl Rose was born.

1964 Musician Richie Hayward was born.
1964 Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the Philippines, died.

1966 Singer Rick Astley was born.

1967 Muhammad Ali successfully defended his World Heavyweight Title with a lopsided 15-round decision over Ernie Terrell.
1967 Henry Morgenthau, Jr., U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, died.

1968 The 10th Winter Olympic Games opened in Grenoble, France.

1971 Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golf ball on the Moon.

1981 Composer Hugo Montenegro died.

1991 Actor Danny Thomas died.

1993 Tennis player Arthur Ashe died.

1994 Actor Joseph Cotten died.
1994 Cartoonist Jack Kirby died.

1998 Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport in honor of the former President.
1998 Musician Carl Wilson died.

2005 The New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX.

2007 Singer Frankie Laine died.

2009 Actor James Whitmore died.

2011 The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 32-25 in Super Bowl XLV.

2012 A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the central Philippines, killing 43 persons.

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This page was last updated on February 06, 2019.