TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

On this day in history:

1778 - The United States gained official recognition from France as the two nations signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris.

1832 - The Swan River colony is officially renamed “Western Australia”.

1900 - The Holland Senate ratified the 1899 peace conference decree that created in international arbitration court at The Hague.

1926 - The South Australian nickname “crow-eater” is first explained in the Adelaide newspaper, the Register. 1932 - Dog sled racing happened for the first time in Olympic competition.

1938 - Hundreds of swimmers are washed out to sea at Bondi Beach, and four drown, on ‘Black Sunday’.

1952 - Britain’s King George VI died. His daughter, Elizabeth II, succeeded him.

1985 - The French mineral water company, Perrier, debuted its first new product in 123 years. The new items were water with a twist of lemon, lime or orange. 1987 - President Ronald Reagan turned 76 years old this day and became the oldest U.S. President in history. 1989 - The town of Rosewood, near Ipswich, Queensland, experiences a shower of sardine-sized fish.

1989 - The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.

1996 - Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, and all 189 people inside the airplane are killed.

1999 - King Hussein of Jordan transferred full political power to his oldest son the Crown Prince Abdullah.

1999 - Heavy fighting resumed along the common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. 2000 - Russia’s acting President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian forces had captured Grozny, Chechnya. The capital city had been under the control of Chechen rebels.

2000 - In Finland, Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen became the first woman to be elected president.

2001 - Ariel Sharon was elected Israeli prime minister.