Historical Events on February 6

  • 1788: The State of Massachusetts becomes the 6th State in the Union to ratify the U.S Constitution.
  • 1806: British naval forces defeat the French at the Battle of San Domingo.
  • 1815: John Stevens gets the first American railroad charter from New Jersey.
  • 1820: The American Colonization Society sponsors 86 African-Americans to emigrate to Liberia to start a new settlement.
  • 1843: The Virginia Minstrels opens at the Bowery Amphitheater in New York.
  • 1862: Led by Naval Commander Andrew H. Foot and General Ulysses S. Grant, Union forces capture Fort Henry in Tennessee. Known as the Battle of Fort Henry, it would become the first Union victory of the war.
  • 1899: The U.S Senate ratifies the Treaty of Paris during the Spanish American War.
  • 1918: In Great Britain, women over the age of 30 get the right to vote.
  • 1942: The U.K declares war on Thailand during WWII.
  • 1951: In the Korean War, the Canadian Army begin combat operation.
  • 1951: Near Woodbridge Township in New Jersey, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train named The Broker comes off of the rails, killing over 80+ people and injuring over 500 more. This accident is one of the worst rail disasters in U.S history.
  • 1959: The first patent for an integrated circuit (IC) is filed by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments.

Famous Birthdays on February 6

  • American Colonel and 3rd Vice President of the U.S., Aaron Burr is born in 1756.
  • Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart is born in 1833.
  • American baseball player Babe Ruth is born in 1895.
  • American actor Ben Lyon is born in 1901.
  • American actor and screenwriter, Michael Maltese is born in 1908.
  • American actor and 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan is born in 1911.
  • German wife of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun is born in 1912.
  • American actor Rip Torn is born in 1931.
  • Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley is born in 1945.
  • American singer-songwriter Natalie Cole is born in 1950.