Summary of the Day ✨ 6 February (06/02)
Devastating earthquakes struck multiple regions including Turkey-Syria, southern Taiwan, and the Philippines, killing thousands and causing widespread destruction. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suspended asylum agreements with Central American countries while SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for its maiden voyage.
Historical Events 📜
- 2023: Two earthquakes measuring Mww 7.8 and 7.5 struck near the border between Turkey and Syria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). The earthquakes resulted in numerous aftershocks and a death toll of 57,658 people.
- 2021: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suspends agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to send asylum seekers back to their home countries.
- 2018: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a super heavy launch vehicle, makes its maiden flight.
- 2016: An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes southern Taiwan, killing 117 people.
- 2012: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Negros, leaving 112 people dead.
- 2006: Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
- 2000: Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.
- 1998: Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
- 1996: Willamette Valley Flood: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
- 1996: Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 people on board. This is the deadliest aviation accident involving a Boeing 757.
- 1989: The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
- 1987: Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.
- 1981: The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
- 1978: The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of four inches an hour.
- 1976: In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
Famous Births 👶
- 2002: Ona Huczkowski, Finnish actress
- 2000: Conor Gallagher, English footballer
- 1998: Adley Rutschman, American baseball player
- 1996: Kevon Looney, American basketball player
- 1995: Nyck de Vries, Dutch racing driver
- 1995: Leon Goretzka, German footballer
- 1995: Sam McQueen, English footballer
- 1993: Teresa Scanlan, American beauty pageant titleholder, Miss America 2011
- 1992: Víctor Mañón, Mexican footballer
- 1991: Tobias Eisenbauer, Austrian ice dancer
- 1991: Aleksandar Katai, Serbian footballer
- 1991: Ida Njåtun, Norwegian speed skater
- 1991: Eva Wacanno, Dutch tennis player
- 1991: Fei Yu, Chinese footballer
- 1990: Adam Henrique, Canadian ice hockey player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Virginia Halas McCaskey, American football executive (born 1923)
- 2025: Nigel McCrery, English screenwriter, producer and writer (born 1953)
- 2024: Sebastian Piñera, former Chilean president (born 1949)
- 2023: Greta Andersen, Danish swimmer (born 1927)
- 2022: Lata Mangeshkar, Indian singer and music composer (born 1929)
- 2021: George Shultz, American politician, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labor (born 1920)
- 2020: Jhon Jairo Velásquez, Colombian hitman and drug dealer (born 1962)
- 2019: Manfred Eigen, German Nobel Prize winning biophysical chemist (born 1927)
- 2019: Rosamunde Pilcher, British author (born 1924)
- 2018: Donald Lynden-Bell, English astrophysicist (born 1935)
- 2017: Irwin Corey, American comedian and actor (born 1914)
- 2017: Inge Keller, German actress (born 1923)
- 2017: Alec McCowen, English actor (born 1925)
- 2017: Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby union footballer (born 1971)
- 2016: Dan Gerson, American screenwriter (born 1966)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Amand - Christian feast day:
Dorothea of Caesarea - Christian feast day:
Hildegund, O.Praem. - Christian feast day:
Jacut - Christian feast day:
Mateo Correa Magallanes (one of Saints of the Cristero War) - Christian feast day:
Mél of Ardagh - Christian feast day:
Paul Miki and Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan - Christian feast day:
Relindis (Renule) of Maaseik - Christian feast day:
Vedastus - Christian feast day:
February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
- Ronald Reagan Day (California, United States)
- Sami National Day (Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden)
- Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in 1840.