On this day...

1626 Huguenot rebels & the French sign Peace of La Rochelle
1693 Royal charter granted College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA
1778 France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; first US treaty
1788 Massachusetts becomes 6th state to ratify constitution
1815 NJ issues first US railroad charter
1820 86 free black colonists sail from NYC to Sierra Leone, Africa
1820 US population announced at 9,638,453
1832 First appearance of cholera at Edinburgh, Scotland
1832 US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy
1865 Robert E. Lee appointed Confederate General in Chief
1899 Spanish-American War ends, peace treaty ratified by Senate
1918 Britain grants women (30 & over) the right to vote
1922 US, UK, France, Italy & Japan sign Washington naval arms limitation
1932 First Olympic dog sled race, Lake Placid, NY (demonstration sport)
1933 Highest recorded sea wave (not tsunami), 34 m, in Pacific hurricane
1935 Board game "Monopoly" goes on sale for the first time
1936 4th Winter Olympic games opens in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
1951 "Broker Special" train crashs in Woodbridge NJ, killing 84
1952 England replaces King George VI stamp series with Queen Elizabeth II
1956 Chicago's Daily Defender, begins publishing
1958 7 members on Manchester United football team die in an air crash
1959 US first successful Titan intercontinental ballistic missile
1968 10th Winter Olympic games opens in Grenoble, France
1968 Former President Dwight Eisenhower shot a hole-in-one
1971 First time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard)
1977 Alain Prieur jumps his motorcycle 65 m over 16 buses, near Paris
1984 Moslem militiamen take over West Beirut from Lebanese army
1987 No-smoking rules take effect in Federal buildings
1990 Brett Hull becomes first son of NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby) to score 50

Birthdays which occurred on February 6th:

1564 Christopher Marlowe, English poet/dramatist (Dr. Faustus)
1637 Toyotomi Hideyoshi, unified Japan
1665 Queen Anne, of England (1702-14)
1756 Aaron Burr, Newark, NJ, 3rd US VP (1801-05)
1778 Ugo Foscolo, Italy, writer (Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis)
1833 J.E.B. Stuart, Major General ( Commander of Cavalry, ANV)
1874 Milton Bennett Medary, US, architect (Washington Chapel)
1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth, Baltimore, baseball great
1902 Louis Nizer, lawyer/author (defended blacklisted stars in the '50s)
1904 Claudio Arrau, Chile, pianist (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
1911 Ronald Reagan, IL, actor, 40th president (R) (1981-89)
1912 Eva Braun, mistress of Adolph Hitler
1913 John Lund, Rochester NY, actor (Wackiest Ship in the Army)
1922 Patrick MacNee, London England, actor (Jonathan Steed-Avengers)
1931 Rip Torn, TX, actor (Coma, Summer Rental)
1939 Mike Farrell, St. Paul MN, actor (BJ Honeycutt-M*A*S*H)
1940 Tom Brokaw, Yankton SD, news anchor (NBC Nightly News)
1941 Gigi Perreau, LA Calif, actress (Journey to Center of Time)
1943 Fabian Forte, Philadelphia, singer (Turn Me Loose, Tiger)
1943 Gayle Hunnicutt, Ft Worth TX, actress (Legend of Hell House, Dallas)
1944 Michael Tucker, Baltimore, actor (Stuart Markowitz-LA Law)
1945 Bob Marley, reggae singer
1950 Natalie Cole, LA, singer (Pink Cadillac, Miss You Like Crazy)
1950 Punky Meadows, rocker (Angel)
1956 Jon Walmsley, Lancashire England, actor (Jason-Waltons)
1957 Jerry Marotta, rocker (Orleans-Love Takes Time)
1957 Robert Townsend, actor (Hollywood Shuffle, Ratboy)
1958 Barry Miller, LA, actor (Fame, Peggy Sue Got Married)
1960 Megan Gallagher, actress (Slap Maxwell)
1966 Rick Astley, rock vocalist (Never Gonna Give You Up)
1969 April Lerman, Chicago Ill, actress (Lila-Charles in Charge)

Deaths which occurred on February 6th:

743 Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik, 10th Moslem caliph
1612 Christopher Clavius, calendar reformer
1793 Carlo Goldoni, Italian author, dies at 85
1952 King George VI, of Britain
1970 Roscoe Karns, actor (Capt Shafer-Hennesey), dies at 78
1985 Charles Briggs, actor, dies at 53
1985 Dandy Nichols, actress, dies at 78
1991 Danny Thomas, comedian/actor, dies at 76