February 6

1778 –In Paris, the Treaty of Alliance, and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed between the United States and France

1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in  Liberia, Africa

1899 – The Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate officially ending the Spanish American War.

1919 – The American Legion is founded.

1922 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

1951 – Travelling at 50 mph, twice the speed limit for the location under repair construction, The Broker # 733, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train, derails on a curve near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, killing 85 passengers and injuring over 500 more. The wreck is still to date one of the worst rail disasters in American history.

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. The longest reigning monarch, so far, of the UK.

1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.

1976 – Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian,  in testimony before a Senate subcommittee, admits that the company had paid out around $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.

1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easter storms in New England history, hits the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and in snowfall of 4 inches an hour, dropping from 20 to 27 inches of snow over the region and causing the deaths of over 100 people.

1991 – Over Iraq, USAF Pilots Thomas Dietz and Bob Hehemann, each flying F-15 fighters, shoot down 2 MiG-21s and 2 SU-25s. USAF Pilot Robert Swain, flying an A-10 attack jet, shoots down a Messerschmitt B0-15 helicopter and USN pilots Stuart Broce and Ron McElraft flying an F-14 fighter shoot down a Mil Mi-8 helicopter.

1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.

2018 – SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a super heavy launch vehicle, makes its maiden flight.