February 6

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  1582: Mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher Mario Bettinus born. He will write Apiaria Universae Philosophiae Mathematicae, an encyclopedic collection of mathematical curiosities.

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  1804: Chemist, philosopher, educator, and clergyman Joseph Priestley dies. He is historically credited with the discovery of oxygen, having isolated it in its gaseous state, but his determination to defend phlogiston theory and to reject what would become the chemical revolution left him isolated within the scientific community.

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  1916: Mathematician and physicist John Crank born. He will work on the numerical solution of partial differential equations; his work with Phyllis Nicolson on the heat equation will result in the Crank–Nicolson method.

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  1927: Physicist and space activist Gerard K. O'Neill born. O'Neill will invent the particle storage ring for high-energy physics experiment, and the mass driver, a magnetic launcher. In the 1970s, he will develop a plan to build human settlements in outer space.

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  1958: Air Force and Navy personnel begin search for hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb, which was lost in an accident the day before.

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  1980: Premiere of The Shrubbing, an American landscape gardening horror film about a young gardener (Danny Torrance) who discovers that he has supernatural powers over shrubbery.