On Feb. 6, 1778 the United States won official recognition from France.
In 1911 Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. president, was born in Tampico, Ill.
In 1917 actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungary.
In 1931 Elmore Rual Torn Jr., who became actor Rip Torn, was born in Temple, Texas.
In 1956 Autherine Lucy, the first black student at the University of Alabama, was expelled after she accused school officials of conspiring in riots that marred her court-ordered enrollment five days earlier.
In 1964 Cuba cut off the normal water supply to the U.S. Navy’s base at Guantanamo Bay.
In 1980 Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr denounced militants holding 52 Americans hostage in Tehran.
In 1991 Danny Thomas of TV’s “Make Room For Daddy” died in Los Angeles at 79.
In 1993 tennis Hall of Famer and human-rights advocate Arthur Ashe died of AIDS in New York; he was 49.
In 1994 actor Joseph Cotten died in Los Angeles at 88.
In 2001 Ariel Sharon was elected Israeli prime minister over Ehud Barak.
In 2003 ABC’s “20/20” aired a documentary on Michael Jackson in which he revealed he let children sleep in his bed.
In 2004 an explosion ripped through a Moscow subway car during rush hour, killing 41.
In 2005 the New England Patriots won its third Super Bowl in four years, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21.
