This Day in History
August 6

Copyright © 2006-2024 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
URL: http://kpolsson.com/thisday/
(this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing a single day's events)

What happened in history on this day: August 6?

On August 6 in ...

  • 258 - Saint Sixtus II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 523 - Saint Hormisdas ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 1181 - Supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers.
  • 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
  • 1651 - Birth of Francois Fenelon France, writer (Playing for Time).
  • 1697 - Birth of Charles VII Holy Roman emperor (1742-45).
  • 1806 - Holy Roman Empire ends; it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.
  • 1809 - Birth of Alfred Lord Tennyson; poet laureate of England.
  • 1815 - US flotilla ends piracy by Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
  • 1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Peru.
  • 1854 - US Congress passes Confiscation Act.
  • 1862 - CSA ironclad Arkansas is badly damaged in USA attack.
  • 1867 - Faustin-Élie Soulouque, emperor of Haiti, dies.
  • 1868 - Birth of Paul Claudel in France; diplomat/poet (L'Otage - 1909).
  • 1870 - White conservatives suppress black vote and capture Tennessee legislature.
  • 1881 - Birth of Alexander Fleming; cashed in on penicillin (Nobel Prize 1954).
  • 1881 - Birth of Leo Carrillo in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Pancho - Cisco Kid TV show).
  • 1881 - Birth of Louella Parsons in Freeport, Illinois, USA; gossip columnist (Hollywood Hotel and Hollywood Premiere on radio).
  • 1883 - Birth of Scott Nearing; US sociologist/pacifist/author (The Good Life).
  • 1890 - First use of electric chair execution, on convicted murderer William Kemmler, at Auburn Prison, New York.
  • 1893 - Birth of Guthrie McClintic in Seattle, Washington, USA; Broadway producer/director (Winterset).
  • 1906 - Birth of Ken Strong; NFL, AFL halfback (Staten Island Stapletons, New York Yankees, New York Giants).
  • 1908 - Birth of Helen Jacobs; US tennis champion (1932-35).
  • 1910 - Birth of Charles Crichton; director (Battle of the Sexes).
  • 1911 - Birth of Lucille Ball in Jamestown, New York, USA; comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, Mame) (dies 1989).
  • 1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war against Russia.
  • 1914 - Ellen Louise Wilson, US President Woodrow Wilson's wife, dies at age 54.
  • 1914 - Serbia declares war against Germany.
  • 1916 - Birth of Michael Burke; sports executive (New York Yankees, New York Knicks).
  • 1917 - Birth of Robert Mitchum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA; actor (The Winds of War TV mini-series, War and Remembrance TV mini-series, North and South).
  • 1919 - First air flight over a major body of water in Australia (by Harry Butler).
  • 1921 - Birth of Ella Raines in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, USA; actress (Janice Dean RN).
  • 1922 - Birth of Freddie Laker; entrepreneur (Laker airlines).
  • 1922 - Death of Alexander Graham Bell at age 75 at his home on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada; telephone inventor.
  • 1923 - Birth of Jack Parnell in London, England; orchestra leader (Englebert Humperdick Show).
  • 1923 - Birth of Jackie Kelk in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Homer - Aldrich Family).
  • 1923 - Birth of William B Williams in Babylon, New York, USA; DJ (WNEW, Sammy and Company).
  • 1925 - Birth of Barbara Bates in Denver, Colorado, USA; actress (Kathy - It's a Great Life).
  • 1926 - Gertrude Ederle of New York swims across the English Channel in 14 hours 31 minutes; first woman, first American, and new record time.
  • 1926 - Warner Bros premieres Vitaphone sound-on-disc movie system (New York), Don Juan with John Barrymore shown.
  • 1927 - Birth of William David Ford; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Michigan).
  • 1928 - Birth of Andy Warhol; pop artist, movie producer (Frankenstein, Bad).
  • 1928 - Birth of Janice Lee York Romary; American fencer (Olympics-1952-1968).
  • 1929 - Birth of Anneliese Kuppers in Germany; equestrian dressage (Olympics-silver-1956).
  • 1930 - Birth of Abbey Lincoln; actress/singer ("Nothing But a Man").
  • 1932 - (to August 21) First film festival, held in Venice, Italy. Films are shown from USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Soviet Russia.
  • 1934 - Birth of John Storey Bonington in the United Kingdom; mountain climber (Annapurna I in 1970).
  • 1937 - Cleveland Indians overturn New York Yankees' 7-6 win by a protest.
  • 1938 - Birth of Peter Bonerz in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA; actor (Jerry - Bob Newhart Show, 9 to 5, Murphy Brown).
  • 1940 - Birth of Louise Sorel in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (BS I Love You, Crimes of Passion).
  • 1943 - Birth of Michael Anderson Junior in London, USA; actor (Clayt - The Monroes).
  • 1943 - Birth of Ray Buktenica in Greenwich Village, New York City, USA; actor (Rhoda, House Calls).
  • 1944 - Birth of Swoosie Kurtz; actress (Vice Versa, The World According to Garp).
  • 1944 - Deportation of 70,000 Jews from Lodz, Poland to Auschwitz begins.
  • 1945 - American Colonel Paul Tibbets and the crew of the Enola Gay, flying at 31,600 feet altitude, drop a 4400kg uranium-based atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, set to detonate at 1850 feet above the city. The blast has the impact of a 500-mph wind, leveling almost everything within a two-mile radius, destroying 70,000 buildings, sixty percent of the city. 70,000 people are killed, and 80,000 wounded. The atomic bomb becomes the largest man-made explosion in history, and largest single killer in history.
  • 1946 - US officially submits to jurisdiction of World Court.
  • 1948 - Bob Mathias, US, wins decathlon at London Olympics.
  • 1948 - Fanny Blankers-Koen (Netherlands) is first women to win three golds at Olympics.
  • 1950 - Birth of Dorian Harewood in Dayton, Ohio, USA; actor (Earl - Glitter, Trauma Center, Roots: the Next Generations, Boomtown, 7th Heaven).
  • 1950 - Birth of Nathan Purdee; actor (Nathan - The Young and the Restless).
  • 1950 - Birth of Winston E Scott in Miami, Florida, USA; US Navy Commander/astronaut.
  • 1951 - Birth of Catherine Hicks in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; actress (Star Trek IV, Child's Play, Seventh Heaven).
  • 1951 - Typhoon floods kill 4,800 in Manchuria.
  • 1952 - Birth of Carl C Perkins; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Kentucky).
  • 1952 - Birth of Wojiech Fortuna in Poland; ski jumper (Olympic-gold-1972).
  • 1952 - Birth of Pat MacDonald; singer (Timbuk 3).
  • 1956 - Birth of Stephanie Kramer in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Claudia - We Got it Made, Hunter).
  • 1956 - Birth of Vinnie Vincent; heavy metal rocker (Solo - "Ashes to Ashes").
  • 1957 - Birth of Faith Prince; actress (Huff, Spin City).
  • 1958 - Glenn Davis sets record of 49.2s in 400-metre hurdles.
  • 1958 - Birth of Randy DeBarge; singer (DeBarge).
  • 1959 - Birth of Joyce Sims; rocker (All and All).
  • 1960 - Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League) 43-16 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • 1960 - Birth of Leland Orser; actor (ER).
  • 1961 - Gherman S Titov, second Russian in space aboard Vostok 2 (17 orbits), first case of motion sickness in space reported.
  • 1962 - Jamaica gains independence from Britain.
  • 1964 - Birth of Moosie Drier in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Laugh-in).
  • 1964 - Sir Cedric Hardwicke, actor (Captain Hook - Peter Pan), dies at age 71.
  • 1964 - Birth of Peggy and Patsy Lynn; country singers (The Lynns).
  • 1965 - Beatles release "Help" album in United Kingdom.
  • 1965 - Birth of David Robinson; NBA center (San Antonio Spurs).
  • 1965 - US President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, which makes it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to blacks.
  • 1965 - Nancy Carroll, actress (Alice - Aldrich Family), dies at age 60.
  • 1965 - Birth of Jeremy Ratchford; actor (Cold Case).
  • 1967 - Minnesota Twins' Dean Chance pitches a perfect game against Boston Red Sox, 2-0 in five innings.
  • 1969 - Baltimore Orioles pull their third triple play (5-4-3 versus Kansas City Royals).
  • 1971 - Birth of Merrin Dungey; actress (Summerland, Alias).
  • 1972 - Birth of Geri Halliwell; singer (Spice Girls).
  • 1973 - Death of Fulgencio Batista, former dictator of Cuba, in Spain at age 72.
  • 1973 - Stevie Wonder, one of Motown's most popular recording artists, almost dies in a freak auto accident, which puts him in a coma for 10 days.
  • 1973 - Roberto Clemente is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Monte Irvin.
  • 1974 - Sixth time Philadelphia Phillies get just one assist in game; no other team did it twice.
  • 1974 - Explosion and fire destory Great Northern railroad yard in Wenatchee, Washington.
  • 1976 - Birth of Soleil Moon Frye; actress (Punky Brewster, Sabrina The Teenage Witch).
  • 1976 - Death of Betty Clooney at age 46 of a brain aneurism; singer (Clooney Sisters, Robert Q. Lewis Show TV show, Jack Paar Show).
  • 1978 - Pope Paul VI dies at age 80 of heart attack at summer residence in Castelgandolfo (born 1897).
  • 1979 - Kurt Kaszner, actor (Commander Fitzhugh - Land of the Giants), dies at age 65.
  • 1979 - Death of Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1911).
  • 1980 - American University administration declares five Pac-10 schools ineligible for conference titles and post-season play due to transcript and curriculum abuses.
  • 1981 - NASA launches Fltsatcom-5, it fails.
  • 1981 - Birth of Travis McCoy; singer (Gym Class Heroes).
  • 1983 - A fire breaks out on the Spanish oil tanker Castillo de Bellver off the coast at Cape Town, South Africa, and 286 million litres of light crude burn.
  • 1983 - Minnesota Vikings beat Saint Louis Cardinals 28-10 in London, England (NFL expo).
  • 1983 - Presidential election in Nigeria: 47 percent vote for Alhaji Shegu Shagari of National Party of Nigeria,30.8 percent vote for Chief Obafemi Awolowo of United Party of Nigeria, 13.7 percent vote for Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigerian People's Party. This is the first civilian-organized presidential election since 1964.
  • 1984 - In Kyushu, Japan, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs.
  • 1984 - Carl Lewis wins his second (long jump) gold medal in Summer Olympics.
  • 1984 - Birth of Eric Roberts; bassist (Gym Class Heroes).
  • 1985 - 19th space shuttle mission (51-F), Challenger 8, lands at Edwards Air Force Base.
  • 1985 - In Bolivia, Víctor Paz Estenssoro is sworn in as president.
  • 1985 - Death of Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (born 1923).
  • 1986 - Baltimore Orioles (Dwyer and Sheets) and Texas Rangers (Harrah) hit record three grand slams.
  • 1986 - A low-pressure system moving from South Australia and redeveloping off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres of rain in a day on Sydney.
  • 1986 - William J Schroeder, second person to receive permanent artificial heart, dies at age 54 in Louisville, Kentucky, after 620 days with Jarvik VII man-made pump.
  • 1988 - In Myanmar, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs. Five people killed, 42 injured. Felt throughout Bangladesh and northeastern India.
  • 1988 - (to August 7) A riot erupts in Tompkins Square Park (New York City) when police attempt to enforce a newly-passed curfew for the park. Bystanders, artists, residents, homeless people and political activists are caught up in the police action.
  • 1989 - Boston Red Sox retire Carl Yastrezemski's number 8.
  • 1990 - New York Yankees' player Kevin Mass sets record with 11th home run in first 86 at bats.
  • 1990 - Birth of JonBenét Ramsey, American beauty queen and murder victim (dies 1996).
  • 1990 - United Nations Security Council votes 13-0 (two abstentions Cuba and Yemen) to place economic sanctions against Iraq in response to its invasion of Kuwait.
  • 1991 - Death of Harry Reasoner from a blood clot on the brain following a fall; TV newsman (ABC evening news, 60 Minutes).
  • 1993 - Louis Freeh is confirmed by the United States Senate as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  • 1993 - The CBS TV network airs the last episode of The Golden Palace.
  • 1993 - Warner Bros. releases the film The Fugitive to theaters.
  • 1994 - Death of Domenico Modugno at age 66 from a heart attack; singer ("Volare", "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu").
  • 1996 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
  • 1997 - At the Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates announce a five-year alliance of Apple Computer with Microsoft. Terms include: cross-licensing of existing patents plus new patents over the next five years, Microsoft will release Office for Macintosh over next five years, Apple will make Internet Explorer the default browser on all shipping Macintosh systems, Apple and Microsoft will collaborate on Java compatibility, Microsoft will invest US$150 million in Apple stock and hold it for at least three years.
  • 1997 - 228 die as Korean Air Flight 801 crash lands at Guam International Airport.
  • 1998 - The last episode of Magic Johnson's TV talk show The Magic Hour airs.
  • 1999 - Buena Vista releases the film The Sixth Sense to theaters.
  • 2004 - A United Nations report blaming the government of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur is released.
  • 2004 - Death of Rick James at age 56; American musician (Super Freak (1981)).
  • 2005 - An ATR-72 heading from Italy to Tunisia crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, killing 16 of 39 on board.
  • 2006 - BP oil company in Alaska announces it would have to replace 16 miles of feeder lines in its North Slope oil facility, shutting down about 50 percent of Prudhoe Bay's production.
  • 2007 - The Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County, Utah collapses, trapping six miners.
  • 2007 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives in historic Palestianian town of Jericho, becoming the first Prime Minister of Israel to visit the West Bank or Gaza Strip in over seven years. Olmert meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
  • 2007 - American Home Mortgage files for bankruptcy.
  • 2007 - Death of Philip Keatley at age 77; writer/producer (The Beachcombers, Cariboo Country, Cold Case).
  • 2008 - Military coup in Mauritania, lead by Colonel Muhammed Ould Abdelaziz, as President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is arrested and relieved of duties.
  • 2009 - Great Britain's second biggest robbery in history: a pair of robbers steal nearly 40 million pounds of items from the Graff jewellery store in London.
  • 2012 - Curiosity, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, successfully lands on Mars.

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