On This Day

[Altobelli]

06 FEBRUARY

1649 The claimant King Charles II of England and Scotland was declared King of Great Britain, by the Parliament of Scotland. This move was not followed by the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland.

1665 The birth of Queen Anne, the last Stuart ruler and second daughter of James II. She bore Prince George of Denmark 17 children, but 16 died in infancy and the remaining child died when aged 12. Her desire for national unity led to the union of the English and Scottish parliaments in 1707.

1685 Charles II, King of Great Britain and Ireland, died after several days of revelry with his concubines and his favourite mistresses. Charles acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses, but as illegitimate children were excluded from the succession, he was succeeded by his brother James. On his deathbed Charles asked his brother to look after his mistresses and told his courtiers: 'I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying.'

1783 Death of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the greatest English landscape gardener. His work lives on today throughout the great estates of England. He designed and assisted with many gardens, including Charlecote Park in Warwickshire and Wallington in Northumberland.

1804 The death of Joseph Priestley (FRS) the 18th-century English theologian and chemist. Priestley is generally credited with the discovery of oxygen. He was born at Birstall, near Leeds. a statue of Priestley is in Leeds City Square.

1840 The Treaty of Waitangi was signed, giving Britain sovereignty over New Zealand.

1918 The Representation of the People Act passed by the British Parliament received the Royal Assent, granting the vote to women over 30. Their first opportunity to use it would come at the General Election on 14th December 1918.



1931 Fred Trueman, Former Yorkshire and England cricketer was born. Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968. He represented England in 67 Test matches and was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career. British Prime Minister Harold Wilson described him as the 'greatest living Yorkshireman', yet Trueman was omitted from numerous Test teams because he was frequently in conflict with the cricket establishment. a statue of Fred (Freddie) Trueman is in the canal basin at Skipton, North Yorkshire, the town where he lived for many years.

1935 "Monopoly" board game goes on sale for 1st time

1948 Bradman retires hurt, 57 in his last Test Cricket innings in Australia

1952 Queen Elizabeth succeeded to the British throne. The Queen and Prince Philip were on tour in Kenya when they heard the news of the death of her father, King George VI.

1958 Seven Manchester United footballers (Busby’s Babes) died in their Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador when the plane crashed in thick snow on the runway at Munich airport during its third attempted take off. The team had just beaten Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup quarter-final. Duncan Edwards survived the crash but died 15 days later in hospital. Manager Matt Busby was seriously injured, but survived. Of the 44 passengers and crew on board, 8 United players were killed and there were 15 other fatalities, including 8 journalists.

1995 The National Trust for Scotland banned foxhunting on any of its land.

1997 The Court of Appeal made an historic judgement in favour of Diane Blood to be allowed to be inseminated with her dead husband's sperm.

1998 Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport

2005 Tony Blair marked 2,838 days in his post at Number 10, making him the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister. He would only surpass Margaret Thatcher's 11 years if he was still Prime Minister at the end of 2008 and he was not!

2015 26 year old Royal Marine, Andy Grant, woke up from an operation to remove his leg below the knee and found a key word missing from his You'll Never Walk Alone tattoo. He used the new wording "You'll Never Walk" as the inspiration for his rehabilitation. The marine learnt to walk and run, won two gold medals at the Invictus Games, abseiled the Shard and went on to work as a motivational speaker.

2017 Queen Elizabeth II became the first British Monarch to reach her Sapphire Jubilee. The Royal Mint is to mark the 65th anniversary of her accession with a range of specially designed Sapphire Jubilee commemorative coins, with the Royal Mail issuing a Sapphire Blue £5 stamp.

Famous Birthday's



Babe Ruth
(1895 - 1948)

Ronald Reagan
(1911 - 2004)

1917 Zsa Zsa Gabor [Zsa Sari], Hungarian-born actress (Queen of Outer Space), born in Budapest (d. 2016)



1924 Billy Wright, English soccer player (d. 1994)

1931 Fred Trueman, English cricketer ("Fiery Fred",307 wickets for England) (d. 2006)

1933 Leslie Crowther, English TV-comic and quizmaster (d. 1996)

Bob Marley
(1945 - 1981)



1950 Natalie Cole, American vocalist (Pink Cadillac, Miss You Like Crazy), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)

Jimmy Tarbuck, English comic/golfer
78th Birthday

Rick Astley, rock vocalist (Never Gonna Give You Up)
52nd Birthday

Famous Weddings

1843 Frontiersman Kit Carson (33) weds Josefa Jaramillo (14) at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church

1949 Diplomat Henry Kissinger (25) weds Ann Fleisher (23) in Washington Heights, Manhattan

1993 US Senator Mitch McConnell (51) weds economist Elaine Chao

1995 "The Beach Boys" leader and chief songwriter Brian Wilson (52) weds former model Melinda Ledbetter (47) at Palos Verdes in Peninsula, California

2009 "The L Word" actress Sarah Shahi (29) weds actor Steve Howey (31) in Las Vegas, Nevada

Famous Divorces

2007 "Married ... With Children" actor David Faustino (32) divorces actress Andrea Elmer Faustino (31) due to irreconcilable differences after 3 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

Charles II
(1630 - 1685)

1945 Jan Bos, Dutch resistance fighter, executed

1945 Paul Bos, Dutch resistance fighter, executed

George VI
(1895 - 1952)

Emilio Aguinaldo
(1869 - 1964)

1985 Dandy Nichols, actress (Confessions of a Window Cleaner), dies at 78

1993 Arthur Ashe, (Wimbledon 1975), dies of aids at 49

1998 Carl Wilson, American rock vocalist and guitarist (Beach Boys), dies of lung cancer at 51