August 6
August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining.
Events
- 1806 - Francis I, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates.
- 1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Peru.
- 1890 - First execution by electric chair
- 1926 - Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim the English Channel.
- 1945 - An atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy is dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
- 1962 - Jamaica becomes independent.
- 1970 - Yippie day at Disneyland
Births
- 1766 - William Hyde Wollaston, noted English chemist (+ 1828)
- 1776 - Amedeo Avogadro, chemist (+ 1856)
- 1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, poet: In Memoriam (+ 1892)
- 1868 - Paul Claudel, poet (+ 1955)
- 1880 - Hans Moser, actor (+ 1964)
- 1881 - Alexander Fleming, scientist (+ 1955)
- 1881 - Leo Carrillo, actor (+ 1961)
- 1881 - Louella Parsons, gossip columnist (+ 1972)
- 1892 - Hoot Gibson, cowboy actor (+ 1962)
- 1892 - Lowell Thomas, travel writer (+ 1981)
- 1902 - Dutch Schultz, bootlegger, gangster (+ 1935)
- 1911 - Lucille Ball, actress, comedian (+ 1989)
- 1916 - Richard Hofstadter, historian (+ 1970)
- 1917 - Robert Mitchum, actor: Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear (1961 version) (+ 1997)
- 1918 - Otto Wolff von Amerongen, industrialist
- 1922 - Sir Freddie Laker, entrepreneur
- 1928 - Andy Warhol, artist (+ 1987)
- 1928 - Jan Kucera, author
- 1928 - Chung Se Yung, cofounder of the Hyundai Motor Company
- 1932 - Howard Hodgkin, painter and print-maker
- 1943 - Jon Postel, creator of DNS
- 1970 - M. Night Shyamalan, film director, writer, producer, actor
- 1972 - Geri Halliwell, singer
Deaths
- 258 - Saint Pope Sixtus II
- 523 - Saint Pope Hormisdas
- 1221 - Saint Dominic
- 1946 - Tony Lazzeri, Major League Baseball player
- 1959 - Preston Sturges, playwright, screenwriter, director
- 1964 - Sir Cedric Hardwicke, actor
- 1966 - Cordwainer Smith, writer
- 1978 - Pope Paul VI
- 1991 - Harry Reasoner, reporter
- 2001 - Jorge Amado, Brazilian writer
- 2002 - Edsger Dijkstra, computer scientist
Holidays and observances
- Christianity - Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
- Bolivia - Independence Day
- Jamaica - Independence Day
- United Arab Emirates - H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Accession Day
See Also:
August 5 - August 7 - July 6 - September 6 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December