1851 – Black Thursday, the largest Australian bushfire in a populous region in recorded history took place on the 6th February 1851, in the state of Victoria.

1895 – Babe Ruth the American baseball player was born on the 6th February 1895 (died 1948).

1911 – Ronald Reagan the American actor and 40th President of the United States was born on the 6th February 1911 (died 2004).

1912 – Eva Braun the German wife of Adolf Hitler was born on the 6th February 1912 (died 1945).

1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor the Hungarian-American actress was born on the 6th February 1917.

1918 – British women over the age of 30 got the right to vote on the 6th February 1918.

1949 – Mike Batt the English singer-songwriter and producer of The Wombles was born on the 6th February 1949.

1950 – Natalie Cole the American singer-songwriter and actress was born on the 6th February 1950.

1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments filed the first patent for an integrated circuit on the 6th February 1959.

1962 – Axl Rose the American singer-songwriter from Guns N’ Roses was born on the 6th February 1962.

1981 – Jens Lekman the Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist was born on the 6th February 1981.

0960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song was on the 4th February 960, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that lasted more than three centuries.

1169 – A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily on the 4th February 1169, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in the city of Catania.

1789 – George Washington was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States on the 4th February 1789, by the U.S. Electoral College.

1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus was discovered in Egypt on the 4th February 1859.

1941 – The United Service Organization (USO) was created to entertain American troops on the 4th February 1941.

1948 – Alice Cooper the American singer-songwriter was born on the 4th February 1948.

1948 – Ceylon (know known as Sri Lanka) became independent within the British Commonwealth on the 4th February 1948.

1963 – Noodles the American guitarist from The Offspring was born on the 4th February 1963.

1973 ~ James Hird the professional Australian rules footballer and coach of the Essendon Football Club was born on the 4th February 1973.

1976 – The 1976 Winter Olympics opened in Innsbruck, Austria on the 4th February 1976.

1996 – Major snowstorm paralyzed Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 4th February 1996, and tied all-time record low temperature at -26°F (-32.2°C).

1998 – An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan on the 4th February 1998, killed over 5,000 people.

2002 – Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest independent cancer research charity, was founded on the 4th February 2002.

2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was officially renamed Serbia & Montenegro on the 4th February 2003.

2004 – Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg on the 4th February 2004.

2013 ~ Scientist confirmed the find of RiCHARD III Of ENGLAND, found under a car park in the city of Leicester on the 4th February 2013, after 500 years. See Reuters news: England’s King Richard III found after 500 years 

Researchers confirm that a skeleton found under a city centre car park in
Leicester is that of King Richard III, on TelegraphTV video: 

Sign the Richard lll Petitions: King Richard III and the Princes in the Tower & Return King Richard III to Yorkshire

1468 – Johannes Gutenberg the German publisher and inventor of the Printing press died on the 3rd February 1468 (born 1398).

1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America on the 3rd February 1690.

1809 – Felix Mendelssohn the German pianist, composer, and conductor was born on the 3rd February 1809 (died 1847).

1809 – The Illinois Territory was created on the 3rd February 1809.

1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on the 3rd February 1870, guaranteeing voting rights to citizens regardless of race.

1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd the American gangster was born on the 3rd February 1904 (died 1934).

1916 – Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burnt down on the 3rd February 1916.

1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California began service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world on the 3rd February 1918, at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

1927 – Val Doonican the Irish singer was born on the 3rd February 1927.

1931 – The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, New Zealand‘s worst natural disaster was on the 3rd February 1931, killing 258 people.

1945 ~ Bob Bright from Bobby & Laurie, the Australian singing duo of the 1960s, was born on the 3rd February 1945.

1947 – Dave Davies the English singer-songwriter and guitarist from The Kinks was born on the 3rd February 1947.

1947 – The lowest temperature in North America was recorded in Snag, Yukon on the 3rd February 1947.

1950 – Morgan Fairchild the American actress was born on the 3rd February 1950.

1956 – Lee Ranaldo the American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Sonic Youth was born on the 3rd February 1956.

1959 – A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson on the 3rd February 1959, which became known as The Day the Music Died.

1966 – The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon on the 3rd February 1966.

1967 – Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia, was hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne on the 3rd February 1967.

1971 ~ Gabriel Rossi the Italian Australian comedian was born on the 3rd February 1971. The official Gabriel Rossi website: www.GabrielRossi.com & The Gabriel Rossi Facebook Fan Page 

1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard was on the 3rd February 1972, which killed at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.

1976 – Isla Fisher the Omani-Australian actress was born on the 3rd February 1976.

1984 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announcde history’s first embryo transfer on the 3rd February 1984, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.

1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B was launched using Space Shuttle Challenger on the 3rd February 1984.

1986 – Rebel Wilson the Australian actress was born on the 3rd February 1986.

1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle on the 3rd February 1995, as mission STS-63 got underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

1998 – Karla Faye Tucker was executed in Texas on the 3rd February 1998, becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.

1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States Military pilot caused the death of 20 people on the 3rd February 1998, when his low-flying plane cut the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 2nd February 1536.

1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) was incorporated on the 2nd February 1653.

1848 – During the start of the California Gold Rush, The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrived in San Francisco, California on the 2nd February 1848.

1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne on the 2nd February 1899, decided to locate Australia‘s capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.

1901 – The Funeral of Queen Victoria was on the 2nd February 1901.

1913 – Grand Central Terminal was opened in New York City on the 2nd February 1913.

1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce was published on the 2nd February 1922.

1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reached Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum on the 2nd February 1925, inspiring the Iditarod race.

1935 – Leonarde Keeler tested the first polygraph machine on the 2nd February 1935.

1941 – Lee Redmond the American Guinness World Record holder for longest fingernails was born on the 2nd February 1941.

1942 – Graham Nash the English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist  from The Hollies, Crosby & Nash, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was born on the 2nd February 1942.

1949 – Duncan Bannatyne the Scottish businessman and author was born on the 2nd February 1949.

1963 – Eva Cassidy the American singer and guitarist was born on the 2nd February 1963 (died 1996).

1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flew for the first time on the 2nd February 1974.

1977 – Shakira the Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress was born on the 2nd February 1977.

2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player on the 2nd February 2004, a position he held for a record 237 weeks.

2007 – The worst flooding in Indonesia in 300 years began on the 2nd February 2007.

2014 ~ Philip Seymour Hoffman the American actor and director died on the 2nd February 2014 aged 46 (born in Fairport, New York on 23rd July 1967).  He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is remembered for his film roles in Scent of a Woman (1992), Twister (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Big Lebowski (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Almost Famous (2000), Red Dragon (2002), 25th Hour (2002), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and Cold Mountain (2003).