February 6

Historic Events

2023

Two earthquakes measuring Mww 7.8 and 7.5 struck near the border between Turkey and Syria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). The earthquakes resulted in numerous aftershocks and a death toll of 57,658 people. ›

2021

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suspends agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to send asylum seekers back to their home countries. ›

2018

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, a super heavy launch vehicle, makes its maiden flight. ›

2016

An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes southern Taiwan, killing 117 people. ›

2012

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Negros, leaving 112 people dead. ›

2006

Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister of Canada. ›

2000

Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile. ›

1998

Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport. ›

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, killing all 189 people on board. This is the deadliest aviation accident involving a Boeing 757. ›

1989

The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe. ›

1987

Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia. ›

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. ›

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. ›

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. ›

1973

The Ms 7.6 Luhuo earthquake strikes Sichuan Province, causing widespread destruction and killing at least 2,199 people. ›

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. ›

1958

Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster. ›

1952

Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth 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. ›

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. ›

1944

World War II: The Great Raids Against Helsinki begins. ›

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. ›

1922

The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy. ›

1919

The five-day Seattle General Strike begins, as more than 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington, walk off the job. ›

1918

British women over the age of 30 who meet minimum property qualifications, get the right to vote when Representation of the People Act 1918 is passed by Parliament. ›

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. ›

1899

Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate. ›

1865

The municipal administration of Finland is established. ›

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. ›

1851

The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria. ›

1843

The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City). ›

1840

Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony. ›

1833

Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece. ›

1820

The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia. ›

1819

The Treaty of Singapore was signed by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Hussein Shah of Johor, and Temenggong Abdul Rahman, and it is now recognised as the founding of modern Singapore. ›

1806

Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean. ›

1788

Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution. ›

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. ›

1778

New York became the third state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. ›

1694

Dandara dos Palmares, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rather than be returned to a life of slavery. ›

1685

James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of his brother Charles II. ›

1579

The Diocese of Manila is erected by papal bull, with Domingo de Salazar appointed its first bishop. ›

590

Hormizd IV, king of the Sasanian Empire, is overthrown and blinded by his brothers-in-law Vistahm and Vinduyih. ›

337

Election of Pope Julius I. ›