August 6

Events

• 1806 - Francis I, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates, thus ending the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Peru.
• 1861 - British annexation of Lagos, Nigeria.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with the USS Essex near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electric chair is performed (murderer William Kemmler was the subject).
• 1915 - World War I: Battle of Sari Bair begins - The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
• 1926 - Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim the English Channel.
• 1926 - In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
• 1945 - World War II: An atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy is dropped by the American B-29 Enola Gay on the city of Hiroshima in Japan at 8:16 a.m., killing 80,000 outright (another 60,000 will die by the end of the year due to fallout sickness).
• 1960 - Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
• 1962 - Jamaica becomes independent.
• 1965 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into United States law.
• 1985 - In Hiroshima, tens of thousands mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
• 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"
• 1993 - Louis Freeh is confirmed by the United States Senate to be the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• 1996 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms
• 1997 - Microsoft buys a $150 million worth of shares of financially troubled Apple Computer
• 1997 - A Korean Air Boeing 747-300 crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228
• 2002 - Marquis de la Fayette is made Honorary Citizen of the United States

Births

• 1766 - William Hyde Wollaston, noted English chemist († 1828)
• 1776 - Amedeo Avogadro, chemist († 1856)
• 1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, poet: In Memoriam († 1892)
• 1844 - James Henry Greathead, engineer († 1896)
• 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)
• 1900 - Cecil H. Green, Texas Instruments founder († 2003)
• 1902 - Dutch Schultz, bootlegger, gangster († 1935)
• 1904 - Jean Desses, French couturier († 1970)
• 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
• 1990 - JonBenét Ramsey, young beauty queen and young victim of crime († 1996)

Deaths

• 258 - Saint Pope Sixtus II
• 523 - Saint Pope Hormisdas
• 1221 - Saint Dominic
• 1904 - Eduard Hanslick, music critic
• 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

August 5 - August 7 - July 6 - September 6 -- listing of all days

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Referenced By