TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, FEB. 6, the 37th day of 2016. There are 329 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Ill.
In 1778, the United States won official recognition from France with the signing of a Treaty of Alliance in Paris. A Treaty of Amity and Commerce was also signed the same day.
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 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the so-called “lame duck” amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.
In 1945, reggae musician Bob Marley was born.
In 1952, Britain’s King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.
In 1959, the United States successfully test-fired for the first time a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile from Cape Canaveral.
In 1978, Muriel Humphrey took the oath of office as a United States senator from Minnesota, filling the seat of her late husband, former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
In 1991, comedian and television performer Danny Thomas died in Los Angeles at age 79.
In 1992, 16 people were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Evansville, Ind.
In 1996, a Turkish-owned Boeing 757 jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from the Dominican Republic, killing 189 people, mostly German tourists.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is 99. Cinematographer and filmmaker Haskell Wexler (Film: “Medium Cool”) is 94. Actor Rip Torn and actress Mamie Van Doren are 85. Actor Mike Farrell is 77. Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 76. Singer Fabian and actress Gayle Hunnicutt are 73. Actor Jon Walmsley is 60. Actress Kathy Najimy, rock musician Simon Phillips (Toto) and actor-director Robert Townsend are 59. Actor Barry Miller is 58. Actress Megan Gallagher is 56. Rock singer Axl Rose ( Guns N’ Roses) and country singer Richie McDonald are 54. Singer Rick Astley is 50. Rock musician Tim Brown ( Boo Radleys) is 47. “Good Morning America” co-host Amy Robach is 43. Actress Alice Greczyn is 30.