This Day in History: Plane carrying Manchester United’s “Busby Babes” crashes killing 23

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on February 6:

1922 – Cardinal Achille Ratti was elected Pope Pius XI. He succeeded Benedict XV.

1952 – Britain’s King George VI died.

1952 – King George VI’s daughter, Elizabeth II, proclaimed Queen.

1958 – A plane carrying the Manchester United soccer team back from a European Cup match crashed on the runway at Munich Airport. Eight members of the side, nicknamed “The Busby Babes” after their manager Matt Busby, were among the 23 killed.

1993 – Arthur Ashe, U.S. tennis great and the first black to win the Wimbledon men’s title, died. He was 49.

1997 – Ecuador’s Congress voted to oust embattled President Abdala Bucaram on grounds of mental incompetence.

2003 – Colombia’s labour and health ministers were killed after their small plane crashed on a flight over high Andean mountains.

2004 – An apparent suicide bombing killed at least 40 people and injured more than 100 on an underground train during morning rush-hour in Moscow.

2011 – Formula One driver Robert Kubica in rally crash.

2016 – More than 100 people killed in Taiwan earthquake.

2018 – SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket makes maiden flight.

(Reuters)