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HISTORY & TIMELINE
6 February

A journey through
6 February in history

The sixth day of February has seen the great powers agree to limit their battleships, the first patent for an integrated circuit and the air crash in Munich that killed eight Manchester United players. This timeline follows 6 February from the eighteenth century to the twentieth.

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III
A CHANGING WORLD

Early Modern Era

Exploration, political change, scientific development and expanding global connections.

1778
The signature page of the Treaty of Alliance between France and the United States, 6 February 1778, with its seals.The signature page of the Treaty of Alliance between France and the United States, 6 February 1778, with its seals.Image: Benjamin Franklin · Public domain
politics · Europe

France signs an alliance with the rebel American colonies

Since 1776 Benjamin Franklin had been in Paris, charming French society and quietly securing money and arms for the American rebels. The French government, eager to weaken Britain after losing the Seven Years’ War, held back from open support until it was sure the Americans could win. News of the American victory at Saratoga in October 1777 decided the matter. On 6 February 1778 Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee signed two treaties with France: one of friendship and trade, and one of alliance, in which each side promised not to make peace with Britain until American independence was secured. French troops, money and above all the French fleet proved decisive at Yorktown in 1781.

Source: US National Archives: Treaty of Alliance with France (1778) ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1819
The signature page of the 1819 Singapore Treaty, signed by Stamford Raffles, Sultan Hussein and Temenggong Abdul Rahman.The signature page of the 1819 Singapore Treaty, signed by Stamford Raffles, Sultan Hussein and Temenggong Abdul Rahman.Image: Sir Raffles, Temenggong Abdul Rahman, Sultan Hussein · Public domain
politics · Asia

Stamford Raffles gains Singapore for the British East India Company

Britain’s East India Company wanted a base at the southern end of the Strait of Malacca, the sea lane between India and China, where the Dutch controlled most of the ports. Stamford Raffles, a Company official, landed on the island of Singapore in late January 1819 and found it lightly settled under the Temenggong, a local Malay chief. To make an agreement legal, Raffles recognised Hussein, the elder brother of the reigning sultan of Johor, as sultan. On 6 February 1819 Raffles, Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong signed a treaty allowing the Company to set up a trading post in return for yearly payments, and the British flag was raised. Declared a free port, Singapore grew within a few decades into one of the busiest harbours in Asia.

Source: National Library Board Singapore, Infopedia: 1819 Singapore Treaty ↗
1840
The Treaty House at Waitangi, the home of the British Resident James Busby, in front of which the treaty was signed.The Treaty House at Waitangi, the home of the British Resident James Busby, in front of which the treaty was signed.Image: Winstonwolfe at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Oceania

Māori chiefs and the British Crown sign the Treaty of Waitangi

By the late 1830s British settlers were arriving in New Zealand in growing numbers, land was being bought up on a large scale, and there were fears that France might claim the islands. The British government sent Captain William Hobson to negotiate with Māori leaders for sovereignty. On 6 February 1840, at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, Hobson and more than forty rangatira (chiefs) signed the treaty; copies then travelled the country and some 540 chiefs signed in all. The English and Māori texts differ on the central point: the English speaks of ceding sovereignty, the Māori of granting kāwanatanga (governance) while keeping tino rangatiratanga (full authority). The treaty is New Zealand’s founding document, and 6 February is Waitangi Day, the national day.

Source: NZHistory, Ministry for Culture and Heritage: Waitangi, 6 February 1840 ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1922
Delegates at the Conference on the Limitation of Armament in Washington, photographed by Harris and Ewing.Delegates at the Conference on the Limitation of Armament in Washington, photographed by Harris and Ewing.Image: Harris & Ewing, photographer · Public domain
politics · Global

Five powers sign the Washington Naval Treaty

After the First World War the United States, Britain and Japan faced a ruinous race to build battleships. At a conference in Washington they and France and Italy agreed to scrap many warships and to limit their battleships and aircraft carriers in the ratio 5:5:3:1.75:1.75. The treaty was signed on 6 February 1922 and held for over a decade, until Japan withdrew from it in 1934.

Source: US Department of State, Office of the Historian: the Washington Naval Conference, 1921-1922 ↗
1952
Queen Elizabeth II in her official portrait for her 1959 tour.Queen Elizabeth II in her official portrait for her 1959 tour.Image: Donald McKague · Public domain
politics · Europe

Elizabeth II becomes queen

In early 1952 King George VI, weakened by lung cancer, sent his elder daughter Princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip on a tour of the Commonwealth in his place. Their first stop was Kenya. The king died in his sleep at Sandringham in the early hours of 6 February 1952. The news reached the couple at Sagana Lodge that afternoon, and the 25-year-old princess, now queen, flew home at once. She reigned for 70 years, the longest of any British monarch, until her death in 2022.

Source: The Royal Family: Queen Elizabeth II’s accession and coronation ↗
1958
The inscription on the memorial stone near the site of the crash in Munich.The inscription on the memorial stone near the site of the crash in Munich.Image: Flo Sorg · Public domain
sport · Europe

The Munich air disaster kills eight Manchester United players

Manchester United’s young side, the ‘Busby Babes’ built by manager Matt Busby, were English champions and were chasing the European Cup. On 5 February 1958 a draw against Red Star in Belgrade took them into the semi-finals. Flying home the next day, their chartered plane stopped to refuel in Munich. On its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway on 6 February it failed to leave the ground and crashed. Twenty-three people died, among them eight players, including Duncan Edwards, three club staff and eight journalists. Busby survived severe injuries and rebuilt the team, which won the European Cup ten years later with the survivor Bobby Charlton in the side.

Source: Manchester United: Munich remembered ↗
1959
Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in Dallas in the early 1960s.Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in Dallas in the early 1960s.Image: James R. Biard · CC BY-SA 4.0
science · Americas

Jack Kilby files the first patent for an integrated circuit

In the 1950s electronic circuits were built from separate transistors, resistors and capacitors wired together by hand, and the more complex a machine became, the more its connections failed. In the summer of 1958 Jack Kilby, a new engineer at Texas Instruments, worked out how to make all the parts of a circuit from a single piece of semiconductor. His first working chip, on a sliver of germanium, ran in September 1958, and on 6 February 1959 Texas Instruments filed his patent for ‘miniaturized electronic circuits’. Robert Noyce at Fairchild independently developed a silicon version months later that proved easier to mass-produce. The integrated circuit is the basis of every modern computer and phone, and Kilby shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000.

Source: Computer History Museum: Kilby files patent for integrated circuit ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 6 February, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

EXPLORED THE DEEPER STORY?

Return to the highlights of 6 February

Discover the lighter side of the date with famous birthdays, culture, firsts and lives remembered.

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