TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2018. There are 328 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 6, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the United States won official recognition and military support from France with the signing of a Treaty of Alliance 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 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Illinois.
In 1922, Cardinal Archille Ratti was elected pope; he took the name Pius XI. In 1933, the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the so-called “lame duck” amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.
In 1943, a Los Angeles jury acquitted actor Errol Flynn of three counts of statutory rape.
In 1952, Britain’s King George VI, 56, died at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; he was succeeded as monarch by his 25-year-old elder daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1968, the Winter Olympic Games were opened in Grenoble, France, by French President Charles de Gaulle.
In 1973, Dixy Lee Ray was appointed by President Richard Nixon to be the first woman to head the Atomic Energy Commission.
In 1993, tennis Hall of Famer and human rights advocate Arthur Ashe died in New York at age 49.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Carl Wilson, a founding member of The Beach Boys, died in Los Angeles at age 51.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Rip Torn is 87. Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 78. Producer-directorwriter Jim Sheridan is 69. Actor Jon Walmsley is 62. Actress Kathy Najimy is 61. Rock musician Simon Phillips (Toto) is 61. Actor-director Robert Townsend is 61. Actor Barry Miller is 60. Actress Megan Gallagher is 58. Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses) is 56. Singer Rick Astley is 52. “Good Morning America” co-host Amy Robach is 45. Actor Josh Stewart is 41. Actress Crystal Reed (TV: “Teen Wolf”) is 33. Actress Alice Greczyn is 32. Actress Anna Diop is 30. Rhythm and blues singer/actress Tinashe is 25.