Today
Today is Sunday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2011. There are 328 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Ill.
On this date:
In 1778, the United States won official recognition 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 1933, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the so-called “lame duck” amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.
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 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.
Ten years ago: Ariel Sharon (ah-ree-EL’ shah-ROHN’) was elected Israeli prime minister in a landslide win over Ehud Barak (EH’-hud bah-RAHK’).
Five years ago: President George W. Bush submitted a $2.77 trillion budget blueprint for fiscal 2007. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the Bush administration’s eavesdropping program before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hundreds of protesters hurled stones and fire bombs at the Danish Embassy in Tehran to denounce published caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada’s 22nd prime minister. Isabelle Dinoire, the Frenchwoman who’d received the world’s first partial face transplant, showed off her new features at a news conference.
One year ago: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, delivering the keynote address at the first national tea party convention in Nashville, Tenn., declared, “America is ready for another revolution.” Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith led a class of seven new members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is 94. Actor Patrick Macnee is 89. Actor Rip Torn is 80. Actress Mamie Van Doren is 80. Actor Mike Farrell is 72. Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 71. Singer Fabian is 68. Actress Gayle Hunnicutt is 68. Actor Michael Tucker is 67. Producer-director-writer Jim Sheridan is 62. Singer Natalie Cole is 61.
Actor Jon Walmsley is 55. Actress Kathy Najimy is 54. Rock musician Simon Phillips (Toto) is 54. Actor-director Robert Townsend is 54. Actor Barry Miller is 53. Actress Megan Gallagher is 51. Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses) is 49. Country singer Richie McDonald is 49. Singer Rick Astley is 45. Rock musician Tim Brown (Boo Radleys) is 42. Actor Brandon Hammond is 27.
Thought for Today: “Life is just one grand sweet song, so start the music.” – President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004).