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...)

Sidney Lanier Bridge after its 1972 collapse

• ... that the 1972 collapse of the Sidney Lanier Bridge (pictured), which was caused by a collision with a cargo ship, caused ten deaths and over a million dollars in damages?
• ... that Christian death metal has been called the least likely musical development at the close of the 20th century?
• ... that the second edition of An Introduction to Non-Classical Logic more than doubled the length of the original text?
• ... that Wolseley Haig noted that it was not the "city's huge mosque" but the "far less pretentious" Jama Masjid that served as the congregational mosque in Hyderabad?
• ... that the violent end of a bog body might be related to the cult of the Celtic god Esus?
• ... that the three costliest tornadoes in Oklahoma's history hit the same town in 2013, in 1999 and in 2003?
• ... that a TV station in Windsor, Ontario, was spared from closure even though it lost money for ten consecutive years?
• ... that the leaves of the herb spiked savoury, although protected under Israeli law, are foraged by local people to make a spice mix?
• ... that the earliest black holes in fiction appeared decades before the term black hole was coined?

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 24 others.
• Following the approval of a constitutional reform, Rosario Murillo becomes co-president of Nicaragua alongside her husband Daniel Ortega.
• 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.

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.