Today in history

On Feb. 6, 1778 the United States won official recognition from France with the signing of treaties in Paris. In 1788 Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1899 a peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

In 1933 the Constitution’s 20th Amendment took effect, designating Jan. 20 as the date of presidential inaugurations and moving the start of congressional terms from March to January.

In 1943 Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was named commander in chief of Allied forces in North Africa during World War II.

In 1952 Britain’s King George VI died; he was succeeded as reigning monarch by his daughter, Elizabeth II.

In 1956 Autherine Lucy, the first black student admitted to the University of Alabama, was expelled after she accused school officials of conspiring in riots that marred her court-ordered enrollment five days earlier.

In 1959 the United States successfully test-fired for the first time ballistica Titan missile intercontinentalfrom Cape Canaveral.

In 1964 Cuba cut off the normal water supply to the U.S. Navy’s base at Guantanamo Bay.

In 1971 the Apollo 14 astronauts prepared to head back to Earth after a 33-hour stay on the moon.

In 1980 Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr denounced the militants holding 52 Americans hostage in Tehran.

In 1984 the space shuttle Challenger launched a second communications satellite. Like the first one, it misfired and wound up in an unusable orbit.