John Silva Meehan (February 6, 1790 – April 24, 1863) was an American publisher, printer, and newspaper editor. Born in New York City, he served in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. He then moved to Philadelphia, publishing a Baptist religious journal. When the firm moved to Washington, D.C., in 1822, Meehan edited and published a Baptist weekly newspaper. In late 1825 he purchased the City of Washington Gazette, renaming it the United States' Telegraph and taking a partisan stance. He was appointed as Librarian of Congress in 1828. A large fire in December 1851 destroyed much of the Library of Congress's collection; Meehan oversaw its reconstruction. The election of Abraham Lincoln prompted Meehan's removal in 1861, and he died suddenly in 1863. Historians were critical of Meehan's tenure, noting that he deferred to the Joint Committee on the Library for policy, did not change the library's catalog system, and failed to make progress in transforming the institution into a true national library. (Full article...)

Woljeonggyo

• ... that Woljeonggyo (pictured) was an 8th-century bridge that was recreated in 2018?
• ... that Fatima Payman is the first elected woman to wear a hijab in Australia’s parliament?
• ... that Turkey approved the expansion of a coal-fired power station while also bidding to host the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference?
• ... that the Yiddish poet Shmuel Hurvits quit his job as a teacher to become a street paver due to an ideological appreciation for manual labor?
• ... that the majority of extrasolar planets in fiction are inhabited by native species?
• ... that Wu Yun wrote a treatise on immortality but apparently declined to discuss the subject with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?
• ... that Notre Dame's win in the 2025 Orange Bowl American football game made Marcus Freeman the first Asian and first Black head coach to earn a spot in an FBS national championship game?
• ... that Panchiko released their first studio album, Failed at Math(s), more than 20 years after the band's formation?
• ... that Scrat, who appears in many films in the Ice Age franchise, was originally intended to be killed in the introduction of the first film?

Fireball from the Learjet crash

• Eleven people are killed in a mass shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro, Sweden.
• A Learjet 55 crashes (explosion pictured) into multiple buildings in Philadelphia, United States, killing at least 7 people and injuring 22 others.
• A Beechcraft 1900 crashes in Unity State, South Sudan, killing 20 of the 21 people onboard.
• Ahmed al-Sharaa is appointed president of the Syrian transitional government.
• American Eagle Flight 5342 collides with an army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., United States, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft.

February 6: Sámi National Day (1917); Waitangi Day in New Zealand (1840)

Signing of the Washington Naval Treaty

• 590 – Vistahm and Vinduyih deposed their brother-in-law Hormizd IV, King of Kings of the Sasanian Empire.
• 1579 – Domingo de Salazar, a Spanish Dominican friar, was appointed the first bishop of Manila.
• 1865 – Finland established its modern system of secular municipalities, separate from church parishes.
• 1922 – Representatives from France, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom signed the Washington Naval Treaty (pictured), agreeing to limits on naval construction in the hopes of preventing an arms race.
• 1987 – Mary Gaudron became the first woman to be appointed a justice of the High Court of Australia.