August 6 is the 218th day of the year (219th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 147 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
- 1661 - The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
- 1787 - Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention.
- 1806 - Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates ending the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
- 1819 - Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
- 1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Spain.
- 1845 - The Russian Geographical Society is founded in Saint Petersburg.
- 1861 - The British annex Lagos, Nigeria.
- 1862 - American Civil War: the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with USS Essex near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Wœrth is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory.
- 1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
- 1901 - Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
- 1909 - Alice Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip.
- 1912 - The Bull Moose Party meets at the Chicago Coliseum.
- 1914 - World War I: First Battle of the Atlantic - two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Helgoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
- 1914 - World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
- 1914 - Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.
- 1915 - World War I: Battle of Sari Bair - the Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
- 1917 - World War I: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins.
- 1923 - Henry Sullivan swims the English Channel.
- 1926 - Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim across the English Channel.
- 1926 - In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
- 1926 - Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
- 1942 - Queen Wilhelmina becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
- 1945 - World War II: Hiroshima is devastated when an atomic bomb, "Little Boy", is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people were killed instantly, and some tens of thousands died in subsequent years due to burns and radiation poisoning.
- 1956 - After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.
- 1958 - Australian runner Herb Elliot breaks the world record for the mile at the Morton Stadium in Dublin, with a time of 3:54.5.
- 1960 - Cuban Revolution: in response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
- 1961 - Cosmonaut Gherman Titov makes the second successful manned orbital flight for the (USSR).
- 1962 - Jamaica becomes independent.
- 1964 - Prometheus, the world's oldest tree, is cut down.
- 1965 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
- 1966 - Braniff Airlines Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, NE killing all 42 on board.
- 1976 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi.
- 1986 - A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney.
- 1988 - The Tompkins Square Park Police Riot in New York City spurs reform of the NYPD, who were responsible for the melee that transpired the night of August 6-7.
- 1990 - Gulf War: the United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
- 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
- 1991 - Doi Takako, chair of the Social Democratic Party (Japan), becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
- 1993 - According to a Japanese government and Tokyo Broadcasting System networks report, heavy rains and debris kill 72 in the Kagoshima and Aira areas, of Kyūshū, Japan.
- 1996 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
- 1997 - Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228.
- 2008 - A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'etat in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi
Births
- 1180 - Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239)
- 1504 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1575)
- 1609 - Richard Bennett, British Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1675)
- 1619 - Barbara Strozzi, Italian singer and composer (d. 1677)
- 1638 - Nicolas Malebranche, French philosopher (d. 1715)
- 1644 - Louise de la Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
- 1656 - Claude de Forbin, French naval commander (d. 1733)
- 1666 - Maria Sofia of the Palatinate, queen of Portugal (d. 1699)
- 1697 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1745)
- 1715 - Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer (d. 1747)
- 1766 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (d. 1828)
- 1768 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (d. 1813)
- 1775 - Daniel O'Connell, Irish politician (d. 1847)
- 1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892)
- 1826 - Thomas Alexander Browne, Australian writer (d. 1915)
- 1844 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900)
- 1844 - James Henry Greathead, British engineer (d. 1896)
- 1861 - Edith Roosevelt, American First Lady of the United States (d. 1948)
- 1866 - Matthew Henson, Arctic explorer (d. 1955)
- 1868 - Paul Claudel, French poet (d. 1955)
- 1874 - Charles Fort, American writer and researcher (d. 1932)
- 1877 - Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (d. 1952)
- 1880 - Hans Moser, Austrian actor (d. 1964)
- 1881 - Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)
- 1881 - Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1955)
- 1881 - Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist (d. 1972)
- 1887 - Dudley Benjafield, British racing driver (d. 1957)
- 1888 - Heinrich Schlusnus, German baritone (d. 1952)
- 1889 - George Kenney, American Air Force General (d. 1977)
- 1889 - John Middleton Murry, English poet (d. 1957)
- 1891 - William Slim, British general (d. 1970)
- 1892 - Hoot Gibson, American actor (d. 1962)
- 1893 - Wright Patman, American politician (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Cecil H. Green, American geophysicist (d. 2003)
- 1902 - Dutch Schultz, American bootlegger (d. 1935)
- 1904 - Henry Iba, American basketball coach (d. 1993)
- 1906 - Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (d. 1984)
- 1908 - Helen Jacobs, American tennis player (d. 1997)
- 1908 - Will Lee, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1910 - Charles Crichton, British film director (d. 1999)
- 1911 - Lucille Ball, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1911 - Norman Gordon, South African cricketer
- 1914 - Arthur Charles Dobson, British racing driver (d. 1980)
- 1916 - Richard Hofstadter, American historian (d. 1970)
- 1916 - Dom Mintoff, Maltese Prime Minister
- 1917 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1918 - Norman Granz, American record producer (d. 2001)
- 1920 - Ella Raines, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1922 - Sir Freddie Laker, English entrepreneur (d. 2006)
- 1923 - Jess Collins, American artist (d. 2004)
- 1925 - Barbara Bates, American actress (d. 1969)
- 1926 - Clem Labine, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1926 - Frank Finlay, British actor
- 1926 - Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (d. 1999)
- 1928 - Herb Moford, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1928 - Andy Warhol, American artist (d. 1987)
- 1929 - Roch La Salle, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
- 1930 - Abbey Lincoln, American jazz singer
- 1932 - Howard Hodgkin, British painter
- 1933 - A. G. Kripal Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 1987)
- 1934 - Piers Anthony, English writer
- 1934 - Billy Boston, Welsh rugby league footballer
- 1937 - Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist (d. 2000)
- 1937 - Barbara Windsor, English actress
- 1938 - Paul Bartel, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1938 - Peter Bonerz, American actor
- 1940 - Mukhu Aliyev, Russian politician, President of Dagestan
- 1940 - Louise Sorel, American actress
- 1941 - Lyle Berman, American poker player
- 1941 - Ray Culp, American baseball player
- 1942 - George Jung, American convicted drug felon
- 1943 - Jon Postel, American computer scientist (d. 1998)
- 1945 - Ron Jones, British TV director (d. 1995)
- 1945 - Andy Messersmith, American baseball player
- 1946 - Allan Holdsworth, British musician
- 1946 - Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean politician
- 1946 - Masaaki Sakai, Japanese comedian
- 1947 - Tony Dell, Australian cricketer
- 1949 - Dino Bravo, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1993)
- 1949 - Alan Campbell, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1949 - Clarence Richard Silva, Catholic Bishop of Honolulu
- 1950 - Dorian Harewood, American actor
- 1951 - Catherine Hicks, American actress
- 1951 - Daryl Somers, Australian television personality
- 1952 - Vinnie Vincent, American musician (Kiss)
- 1953 - Iqbal Qasim, Pakistani cricketer
- 1954 - Paul Steigerwald, American sports announcer
- 1957 - Bob Horner, American baseball player
- 1957 - Jim McGreevey, American politician
- 1960 - Dale Ellis, American basketball player
- 1962 - Marc Lavoine, French singer and actor
- 1962 - Michelle Yeoh, Chinese-Malaysian actress
- 1963 - Kevin Mitnick, American computer hacker
- 1964 - Moosie Drier, American actor and director
- 1965 - Yuki Kajiura, Japanese composer
- 1965 - Juliane Köhler, German actress
- 1965 - David Robinson, American basketball player
- 1965 - Mark Speight, British television presenter (d. 2008)
- 1965 - Vincent Wells, England cricketer
- 1967 - Archbishop Alexy (Bondarenko), Ukrainian-born theologian
- 1967 - Mike Greenberg, American sportscaster
- 1967 - Julie Snyder, Quebec talk show host and producer
- 1969 - Simon Doull, New Zealand cricketer
- 1969 - Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1970 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian/American film director
- 1970 - Erwin Thijs, Belgian cyclist
- 1971 - Merrin Dungey, American actress
- 1971 - Scott Minto, English footballer
- 1971 - Piyal Wijetunge, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1972 - Geri Halliwell, British singer (Spice Girls)
- 1973 - Vera Farmiga, American actress
- 1973 - Max Kellerman, American sportscaster
- 1973 - Stuart O'Grady, Australian cyclist
- 1974 - Ever Carradine, American actress
- 1974 - Luis Vizcaino, Dominican baseball player
- 1975 - Victor Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1975 - Renate Götschl, Austrian alpine skier
- 1975 - Jamie McGonnigal, American actor
- 1976 - Melissa George, Australian actress
- 1976 - Soleil Moon Frye, American actress
- 1977 - Leandro Amaral, Brazilian footballer
- 1977 - Jennifer Lyons, American actress
- 1977 - Jimmy Nielsen, Danish footballer
- 1977 - Luciano Zavagno, Argentine footballer
- 1978 - Marisa Miller, American model
- 1980 - Danny Collins, Welsh footballer
- 1980 - Wilber Pan, American/Taiwanese singer
- 1981 - Travis McCoy, American alternative hip-hop artist
- 1982 - Adrianne Curry, American model and reality television personality
- 1982 - Karl Davies, British actor
- 1982 - Justin Germano, American baseball player
- 1982 - Kevin van der Perren, Belgian figure skater
- 1982 - Ryan Sypek, American actor
- 1983 - Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer
- 1985 - Garrett Weber-Gale, American Olympic swimmer
- 1990 - Jon Benet Ramsey, American beauty pageant contestant and murder victim (d. 1996)
Deaths
- 258 - Saint Pope Sixtus II
- 523 - Saint Pope Hormisdas
- 1162 - Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona
- 1195 - Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria (b. 1129)
- 1221 - Saint Dominic, Spanish founder of the Dominicans (b. 1170)
- 1272 - King Stephen V of Hungary
- 1414 - King Ladislas of Naples (b. 1377)
- 1458 - Pope Callixtus III (b. 1378)
- 1623 - Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare's wife) (b. 1556)
- 1628 - Johannes Junius, Mayor of Bamberg (b. 1573)
- 1637 - Ben Jonson, English writer (b. 1572)
- 1645 - Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, English merchant (b. 1575)
- 1657 - Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Polish-Lithuanian noble
- 1660 - Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter (b. 1599)
- 1679 - John Snell, English royalist (b. 1629)
- 1694 - Antoine Arnauld, French philosopher and mathematician (b. 1612)
- 1695 - François de Harlay de Champvallon, French Catholic archbishop (b. 1625)
- 1753 - Georg Wilhelm Richmann, Russian physicist (struck by lightning) (b. 1711)
- 1759 - Eugene Aram, English philologist (b. 1704)
- 1794 - Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, British politician (b. 1714)
- 1815 - James A. Bayard (elder), United States Senator from Delaware (b. 1767)
- 1828 - Konstantin von Benckendorff, Russian general and statesman
- 1850 - Edward Walsh, Irish poet (b. 1805)
- 1866 - John Mason Neale, English divine, scholar and hymnwriter (b. 1818)
- 1881 - James White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (b. 1821)
- 1884 - Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman (b. 1812)
- 1893 - Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1811)
- 1904 - Eduard Hanslick, Austrian music critic (b. 1825)
- 1914 - Ellen Louise Wilson, first wife of President Woodrow Wilson (b. 1860)
- 1920 - Stefan Bastyr, Polish aviator, first flight in independent Poland (b. 1890)
- 1931 - Bix Beiderbecke, American musician (b. 1903)
- 1945 - Richard Bong, American ace fighter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1920)
- 1945 - Hiram Johnson, American politician (b. 1866)
- 1945 - Prince Wu of Korea (b. 1912)
- 1946 - Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1959 - Preston Sturges, American playwright, screenwriter, and director (b. 1898)
- 1964 - Sir Cedric Hardwicke, English actor (b. 1893)
- 1966 - Cordwainer Smith, American writer (b. 1913)
- 1969 - Theodor Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903)
- 1973 - Memphis Minnie, American blues singer (b. 1897)
- 1973 - Fulgencio Batista, Cuban president and de facto leader (b. 1901)
- 1974 - Gene Ammons, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
- 1976 - Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist (b. 1903)
- 1978 - Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
- 1979 - Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1911)
- 1983 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (b. 1944)
- 1986 - Emilio Fernández, Mexican actor, screenwriter and film director (b. 1904)
- 1987 - Ira Eaker, American Air Force leader (b. 1896)
- 1990 - Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist (b. 1912)
- 1991 - Roland Michener, Canadian politician and governor general (b. 1900)
- 1991 - Shapour Bakhtiar, Iranian prime minister, assassinated in Paris (b. 1915)
- 1991 - Harry Reasoner, American television reporter (b. 1923)
- 1993 - Tex Hughson, American baseball player (b. 1916)
- 1994 - Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1998 - Andre Weil, French mathematician (b. 1906)
- 2001 - Jorge Amado de Faria, Brazilian writer (b. 1912)
- 2001 - Dorothy Tutin, English actress (b. 1930)
- 2001 - Wilhelm Mohnke, one of the original 120 members of the Nazi SS-Staff Guard (b. 1911)
- 2002 - Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1930)
- 2004 - Rick James, American musician (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (b. 1927)
- 2005 - Keter Betts, American jazz bassist (b. 1928)
- 2005 - Robin Cook, British politician (b. 1946)
- 2007 - Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian rock guitarist (Bikini, Omen, Carpathia Project Tirana Rockers, solo) (b. 1969)
- 2007 - Heinz Barth, German convicted war criminal (SS) (b. 1920)
Holidays and observances
Roman Catholicism
Eastern Orthodoxy
External links
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