December 6

For the novel, see December 6 (novel).

December 6 in recent years

2024 (Friday)

2023 (Wednesday)

2022 (Tuesday)

2021 (Monday)

2020 (Sunday)

2019 (Friday)

2018 (Thursday)

2017 (Wednesday)

2016 (Tuesday)

2015 (Sunday)

December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 25 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1060 – Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary.
• 1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev under Danylo of Halych and Voivode Dmytro falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
• 1534 – The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
• 1648 – Colonel Pride of the New Model Army purges the Long Parliament of MPs sympathetic to King Charles I of England, in order for the King's trial to go ahead; came to be known as "Pride's Purge".
• 1704 – Battle of Chamkaur.
• 1745 – Charles Edward Stewart's army begins retreat during the second Jacobite Rising.
• 1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
• 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1849 – American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
• 1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
• 1877 – The first edition of the Washington Post is published.
• 1877 – Thomas Edison, using his new phonograph, makes one of the earliest recordings of a human voice, reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
• 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is completed.
• 1897 – London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs.
• 1907 – A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia kills 362 workers.
• 1916 – World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
• 1917 – Finland declares independence from Russia.
• 1917 – Halifax Explosion: In Canada, a munitions explosion kills more than 1,900 people and destroys part of the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.
• 1928 – The government of Colombia sent military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.
• 1922 – One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
• 1933 – U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene.
• 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War.
• 1947 – The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
• 1956 – A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
• 1957 – Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.
• 1965 – Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduate level.
• 1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performed the first human heart transplant in the United States.
• 1969 – Meredith Hunter is killed by the Hells Angels during a The Rolling Stones's concert at the Altamont Speedway in California.
• 1971 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi's recognition of Bangladesh.
• 1973 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3).
• 1975 – Balcombe Street Siege: An IRA Active Service Unit takes a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London.
• 1977 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
• 1978 – Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
• 1982 – Droppin Well bombing: The Irish National Liberation Army detonate a bomb in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven British soldiers and six civilians.
• 1988 – The Australian Capital Territory is granted self-government.
• 1989 – The École Polytechnique Massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
• 1991 – In Croatia, forces of the Yugoslav People's Army bombard Dubrovnik after laying siege to the city since May.
• 1992 – The Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1500 people.
• 1997 – A Russian Antonov An-124 cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
• 2001 – The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador.
• 2005 – Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.
• 2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
• 2008 – The 2008 Greek riots break out upon the murder of a 15-year-old boy, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, by a police officer.

Births

• 846 – Hasan al-Askari, Shia Imam (d. 874)
• 1285 – King Ferdinand IV of Castile (d. 1312)
• 1421 – King Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
• 1478 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian diplomat and author (d. 1529)
• 1550 – Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (baptism) (d. 1605)
• 1586 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer (d. 1670)
• 1608 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (d. 1670)
• 1637 – Sir Edmund Andros, English governor in North America (d. 1714)
• 1640 – Claude Fleury, French historian (d. 1723)
• 1642 – Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (d. 1703)
• 1685 – Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, mother of Louis XV of France (d. 1712)
• 1721 – James Elphinston, British philologist (d. 1809)
• 1721 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (d. 1794)
• 1752 – Gabriel Duvall, American jurist, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1844)
• 1778 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (d. 1850)
• 1792 – King William II of the Netherlands (d. 1849)
• 1805 – Adolf Reubke, German organ builder (d. 1875)
• 1805 – Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, French magician (d. 1861)
• 1812 – Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman (d. 1884)
• 1823 – Friedrich Max Müller, German orientalist (d. 1900)
• 1833 – John S. Mosby, American Civil War figure (d. 1916)
• 1841 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter (d. 1870)
• 1849 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal (d. 1945)
• 1853 – Haraprasad Shastri, Indian scholar and historian (d. 1931)
• 1863 – Charles Martin Hall, American chemist (d. 1914)
• 1872 – Arthur Henry Adams, Australian writer (d. 1936)
• 1872 – William S. Hart, American actor (d. 1946)
• 1875 – Evelyn Underhill, British poet (d. 1941)
• 1876 – Fred Duesenberg, German-born American automobile maker (d. 1932)
• 1886 – Joyce Kilmer, American poet (d. 1918)
• 1887 – Joseph Lamb, American ragtime composer (d. 1960)
• 1887 – Lynn Fontanne, British-American actress (d. 1983)
• 1888 – Will Hay, English comedian and actor (d. 1949)
• 1890 – Dion Fortune, British occultist (d. 1946)
• 1890 – Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist (d. 1951)
• 1890 – Rudolf Schlichter, German artist and writer (d. 1955)
• 1892 – Sir Osbert Sitwell, British author (d. 1969)
• 1896 – Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (d. 1983)
• 1898 – Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-born American photojournalist (d. 1995)
• 1898 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics (d. 1987)
• 1900 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (d. 1974)
• 1903 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player (d. 1946)
• 1904 – Ève Curie, French writer (d. 2007)
• 1908 – Pierre Graber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 2003)
• 1908 – Baby Face Nelson, American bank robber (d. 1934)
• 1913 – Karl Haas, German-American music educator (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Kristján Eldjárn, Icelandic museum curator and politician (d. 1982)
• 1917 – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese leader of the Lebanese Druze (d. 1977)
• 1917 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-born American entrepreneur (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Paul de Man, Belgian literary critic (d. 1983)
• 1920 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer
• 1920 – George Porter, British chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Otto Graham, American football player (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Piero Piccioni, Italian musician and composer (d. 2004)
• 1922 – John Brunt, English soldier, Victoria Cross holder (d. 1944)
• 1922 – Benjamin A. Gilman, American politician
• 1924 – Wally Cox, American actor (d. 1973)
• 1928 – Bobby Van, American singer (d. 1980)
• 1929 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt, German conductor
• 1929 – Frank Springer, American comics artist
• 1929 – Alain Tanner, Swiss filmmaker
• 1930 – Daniel Lisulo, Zambian Prime Minister of Zambia
• 1931 – Zeki Müren, Turkish, singer, actor, and composer (d. 1996)
• 1933 – Henryk Górecki, Polish composer (d. 2010)
• 1934 – Nick Bockwinkel, American professional wrestler
• 1935 – Jean Lapointe, Quebec singer and senator
• 1936 – Kenneth Copeland, American televangelist
• 1936 – David Ossman, American comedian
• 1937 – Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2006)
• 1938 – Patrick Bauchau, Belgian actor
• 1940 – Lawrence Bergman, Quebec politician
• 1940 – Richard Edlund, American special effects photographer
• 1940 – Fred Goldman, American father of Ronald Goldman
• 1941 – Richard Speck, American murderer (d. 1991)
• 1941 – Bill Thomas, American politician
• 1942 – Peter Handke, Austrian writer
• 1945 – Larry Bowa, American baseball player and manager
• 1945 – Dan Harrington, American poker player
• 1945 – Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmaker
• 1946 – Frankie Beverly, American singer-songwriter and record producer
• 1947 – Lawrence Cannon, Canadian politician
• 1947 – Miroslav Vitous, Czech jazz musician
• 1948 – Marius Müller-Westernhagen, German actor and musician
• 1948 – Don Nickles, American politician
• 1948 – Keke Rosberg, Finnish race car driver
• 1948 – JoBeth Williams, American actress
• 1949 – Linda Creed, American songwriter (d. 1986)
• 1949 – Doug Marlette, American editorial cartoonist (d. 2007)
• 1949 – Gregory Venables, British Anglican bishop
• 1950 – Joe Hisaishi, Japanese composer
• 1950 – Sonia Manzano, American actress and writer
• 1950 – Karlheinz Subklewe, German footballer
• 1951 – Gerry Francis, English football player and manager
• 1952 – Ric Charlesworth, Australian field hockey player
• 1952 – Craig Newmark, American internet entrepreneur
• 1953 – Tom Hulce, American actor
• 1953 – Gary Ward, American baseball player
• 1953 – Gary Goodman, Australian cricket player
• 1955 – Rick Buckler, British drummer (The Jam)
• 1955 – Steven Wright, American comedian
• 1956 – Peter Buck, American guitarist (R.E.M.)
• 1956 – Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)
• 1957 – Adrian Borland, English musician (The Sound) (d. 1999)
• 1958 – Nick Park, British filmmaker and animator
• 1959 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese video game industry executive
• 1961 – David Lovering, American drummer (Pixies)
• 1961 – Manuel Reuter, German race car driver
• 1962 – Janine Turner, American actress
• 1963 – Ulrich Thomsen, Danish actor
• 1965 – Gordon Durie, Scottish footballer
• 1966 – Natascha Badmann, Swiss triathlete
• 1967 – Hacken Lee, Hong Kong singer
• 1967 – Judd Apatow, American film director, and screenwriter
• 1967 – Lucia Rijker, Dutch boxer and actress
• 1969 – Torri Higginson, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Isabelle Arnould, Belgian swimmer
• 1970 – Jeff Rouse, American swimmer
• 1970 – Adrian Fenty, American politician
• 1970 – Ulf Ekberg, Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
• 1970 – Michaela Schaffrath, German actress
• 1971 – José Contreras, Cuban baseball player
• 1971 – Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
• 1971 – Naozumi Takahashi, Japanese seiyuu
• 1971 – Ryan White, American AIDS victim (d. 1990)
• 1972 – Heather Mizeur, American politician
• 1972 – Monica Santa Maria, Peruvian model and TV host (Nubeluz) (d. 1994)
• 1972 – Rick Short, American baseball player
• 1974 – Jens Pulver, American mixed martial artist
• 1974 – Nick Stajduhar, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Noel Clarke, English actor and writer
• 1976 – Colleen Haskell, American television personality
• 1976 – Alicia Machado, Venezuelan actress and former Miss Universe
• 1976 – Lindsay Price, American actress
• 1977 – Kevin Cash, American baseball player
• 1977 – Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer
• 1977 – Paul McVeigh, Irish footballer
• 1978 – K. D. Aubert, American actress
• 1978 – Chris Basak, American baseball player
• 1978 – Darrell Jackson, American football player
• 1978 – Ramiro Pez, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
• 1979 – Tim Cahill, Australian footballer
• 1979 – Yanina González, Paraguayan model
• 1980 – Steve Lovell, British footballer
• 1980 – Ehren Wassermann, American baseball player
• 1982 – Ryan Carnes, American actor
• 1982 – Alberto Contador, Spanish cyclist
• 1982 – Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 – Robbie Gould, American football player
• 1982 – Susie Stoddart, Scottish racing driver
• 1984 – Syndric Steptoe, American football player
• 1985 – Shannon Bobbitt, American basketball player
• 1985 – Dulce María, Mexican actress and singer
• 1985 – Aristeidis Grigoriadis, Greek swimmer
• 1985 – Rudra Pratap Singh, Indian cricketer
• 1986 – Matt Niskanen, American hockey player
• 1986 – Georgia Horsley, Miss England 2007
• 1988 – Sandra Nurmsalu, Estonian musician
• 1990 – Tamira Paszek, Austrian tennis player
• 1995 – Joy Gruttmann, German singer
• 2000 – Pablo Nicolás Urdangarín y de Borbón, Spanish royal

Deaths

• 343 – Saint Nicholas (b. 270)
• 1185 – King Afonso I of Portugal (b. 1109)
• 1352 – Pope Clement VI (b. 1291)
• 1562 – Jan van Scorel Dutch painter and architect (b. 1495)
• 1618 – Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556)
• 1658 – Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (b. 1601)
• 1672 – King John II Casimir of Poland (b. 1609)
• 1675 – John Lightfoot, English churchman (b. 1602)
• 1716 – Benedictus Buns, Dutch Carmelite and composer (b. 1642)
• 1718 – Nicholas Rowe, English poet and dramatist (b. 1674)
• 1746 – Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (b. 1665)
• 1771 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (b. 1682)
• 1779 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (b. 1699)
• 1788 – Jonathan Shipley, British bishop and politician (b. 1714)
• 1855 – William John Swainson, English naturalist and artist (b. 1789)
• 1867 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physician (b. 1794)
• 1868 – August Schleicher, German linguist (b. 1821)
• 1879 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American industrialist (b. 1814)
• 1882 – Anthony Trollope, British author (b. 1815)
• 1882 – Alfred Escher, Swiss politician and railroad entrepreneur (b. 1819)
• 1889 – Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808)
• 1892 – Ernst Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist (b. 1816)
• 1924 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (b. 1863)
• 1934 – Duke Charles Michael of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1863)
• 1949 – Leadbelly, American musician (b. 1888)
• 1951 – Harold Ross, American magazine editor (b. 1892)
• 1955 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player (b. 1874)
• 1956 – B. R. Ambedkar, social reformer and architect of the Constitution of India (b. 1891)
• 1961 – Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (b. 1925)
• 1964 – Consuelo Vanderbilt American socialite (b. 1877)
• 1972 – Janet Munro, British actress (b. 1934)
• 1976 – João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
• 1976 – Brian Lieberman, Miami Beach Restauranteurl (b. 1979)
• 1983 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer (b. 1903)
• 1985 – Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (b. 1917)
• 1988 – Roy Orbison, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (b. 1936)
• 1989 – Frances Bavier, American actress (b. 1902)
• 1989 – Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (b. 1902)
• 1989 – John Payne, American actor (b. 1912)
• 1990 – Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Greek singer and songwriter (b. 1948)
• 1990 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister (b.1903)
• 1991 – Sir Richard Stone, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
• 1991 – Mimi Smith, maternal aunt and guardian of John Lennon (b. 1906)
• 1993 – Don Ameche, American actor (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League (b. 1926)
• 1998 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor. (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Werner Klemperer, German actor (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Aziz Mian, Pakistani singer (b. 1942)
• 2001 – Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand sailor and environmentalist (b. 1948)
• 2001 – Charles McClendon, Hall of Fame college football coach (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Philip Berrigan, American civil rights activist (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (b. 1909)
• 2003 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Jerry Tuite, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
• 2004 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (b. 1921)
• 2005 – William P. Yarborough, Lieutenant General of the US Army and designer of "jump wings" (b. 1912)
• 2005 – Charly Gaul, Luxembourger cyclist (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Devan Nair, 3rd President of Singapore (b. 1923)
• 2005 – Danny Williams, South African singer (b. 1942)
• 2006 – John Feeney, New Zealand documentary film-director (b. 1922)
• 2007 – Katy French, Irish supermodel and socialite (b. 1983)
• 2008 – Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15-year-old Greek student killed by the police (b. 1993)
• 2010 – Mark Dailey, Canadian television journalist and announcer (b. 1953)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Abraham of Kratia
  • Aemilianus (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Nicholas of Myra
• Christkind traditionally gives Christmas gifts on this day. (Central and Southern Europe)
• Constitution Day (Spain)
• Independence Day, celebrate the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917.
• National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada)
• Saint Nicholas Day, where St. Nicholas/Santa Claus leaves little presents in children's shoes. (International)
• Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Day (Sindh)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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