King George VI dies; Elizabeth becomes queen

During the Revolutionary War, representatives from the United States and France sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce recognized the United States as an independent nation and encouraged trade between France and the America, while the Treaty of Alliance provided for a […]

On February 6, 1865, Confederate General John Pegram, age 33, is killed at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run (also called Dabney’s Mill), Virginia. Pegram graduated from West Point in 1854, and served in various posts in the West before resigning his commission at the start of the Civil War. Pegram then received an appointment as […]

On February 6, future president Ronald Reagan is born in Tampico, Illinois. As the 40th president of the United States, the former movie star was called the “Great Communicator” for his ability to get through to ordinary Americans and give them hope and optimism for their own future and that of their country. Despite his […]

John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the story of the bond between two migrant workers, is published. He adapted the book into a three-act play, which was produced the same year. The story brought national attention to Steinbeck’s work, which had started to catch on in 1935 with the publication of his first successful […]

A British European Airways flight crashes just after takeoff from the Munich Airport. Twenty-three people died in the crash, including eight players from the Manchester United soccer team, which had just qualified for the semifinals of the European Cup. The Manchester United team was returning from Belgrade, where they had played the Red Star team. […]

On February 6, 1993, tennis champion Arthur Ashe, the only African American man to win Wimbledon and the U.S. and Australian Opens, dies of complications from AIDS, at age 49 in New York City. Ashe’s body later laid in state at the governor’s mansion in Richmond, Virginia, where thousands of people lined up to pay […]

On February 6, 1998, Austrian pop star Falco is killed when his rental car is struck by a bus while he was vacationing in the Dominican Republic. The accident that killed Johann Hölzel went largely unnoticed in the English-speaking world. But in his native Vienna, February 6, 1998, was something like the Day die Musik […]