On This Day in History - February 6th - Almanac

Today is Thursday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2025 with 328 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include England's Queen Anne in 1665; U.S. statesman Aaron Burr in 1756; Baseball Hall of Fame member George Herman "Babe" Ruth in 1895; U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1911; Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler, in 1912; actor Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1917; actor Rip Torn in 1931; actor Mamie Van Doren in 1931 (age 94); filmmaker Francois Truffaut in 1932; actor Mike Farrell in 1939 (age 86); TV newsman Tom Brokaw in 1940 (age 85); handgun control activist Sarah Brady in 1942; musician Fabian Forte in 1943 (age 82); actor Michael Tucker in 1945 (age 80); musician Bob Marley (Wailers) in 1945; musician Natalie Cole in 1950; actor Kevin Whately in 1951 (age 74); actor/filmmaker Robert Townsend in 1957 (age 68); actor Kathy Najimy in 1957 (age 68); musician Simon Phillips (Toto/Judas Priest) in 1957 (age 68); musician W. Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses) in 1962 (age 63); musician Gordon Downie (Tragically Hip) in 1964; musician Rick Astley in 1966 (age 59); actor Brian Stepanek in 1971 (age 54); TV journalist Amy Robach in 1973 (age 52); actor Josh Stewart in 1977 (age 48); actor Alice Eve in 1982 (age 43); actor Crystal Reed in 1985 (age 40); actor Dane DeHaan in 1986 (age 39); actor Dominic Sherwood in 1990 (age 35); musician Tinashe Kachingwe in 1993 (age 32); actor Charlie Heaton in 1994 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was appointed commander in chief of the armies of the Confederacy, two months before surrendering to the Union to end the American Civil War.

In 1928, a young woman claiming to be Anastasia, daughter of the slain Russian Czar Nicholas, arrived in the United States. In the 1990s, DNA testing conducted on the woman's remains concluded she wasn't a member of the Romanov family, which was executed in 1918. The woman's story inspired a French play and a later American movie.

In 1943, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of Allied expeditionary forces in North Africa.

In 1952, Princess Elizabeth became sovereign of Great Britain upon the death of her father, King George VI. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.

In 1958, a British airliner crashed upon takeoff from a Munich, Germany, airport. The crash killed 23 people, including eight members of the Manchester United soccer team.

In 1987, broad no-smoking rules took effect for 890,000 employees in 6,800 U.S. federal buildings nationwide.

In 1992, a military transport plane crashed into a restaurant and hotel in Evansville, Ind., killing 16 people.

In 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel.

In 2004, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a suitcase on a Moscow subway car, killing 39 people and injuring about 200.

In 2006, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress that President George W. Bush was within his legal rights when he authorized warrantless surveillance of people in the United States by the National Security Agency.

In 2014, Jay Leno ended his 22-year stint as host of The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon took over hosting duties, moving the talk show from Burbank, Calif., to New York City.

In 2016, a magnitude-6.4 earthquake rocked Taiwan, leaving at least 117 dead and 550 people injured when several buildings collapsed.

In 2018, SpaceX launched the world's most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy, for the first time, sending Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster -- complete with a dummy in a spacesuit listening to David Bowie's "Space Oddity" -- into space.

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to mark 70 years on the throne, celebrating the milestone later in the year with a Platinum Jubilee.

In 2023, two earthquakes -- magnitude-7.7 and -7.8 -- struck Turkey and Syria, killing some 60,000 people and causing more than $160 billion in damage.

In 2024, Jennifer Crumbley became the first U.S. parent in history to be held legally accountable for a shooting committed by their child when she was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Her son, Ethan Crumbley, opened fire at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021, killing four students.

A thought for the day: U.S. President Ronald Reagan said democracy "is worth dying for because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man."