January 6

Events

• 871 - Alfred of England defeats the Danes in the Battle of Ashdown
• 1066 - Harold Godwinson crowned King of England
• 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans
• 1540 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
• 1661 - The fifth monarchy men unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.
• 1690 - Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I becomes King of the Romans
• 1720 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings
• 1838 - Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrates the electrical telegraph.
• 1870 - The inauguration of the Musikverein (Vienna).
• 1900 - It is reported that millions are starving in India.
• 1900 - Boers attack Ladysmith - over 1000 people killed
• 1907 - Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome (Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo).
• 1912 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.
• 1930 - The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed (Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).
• 1929 - King Alexander of Yugoslavia suspends his country's constitution.
• 1931 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
• 1936 - Supreme Court of the United States rules the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional in the case United States v. Butler et al. (297 U.S. 1); Porky Pig premieres
• 1940 - Mass execution of Poles, commited by Germans in the city of Poznan, Warthegau.
• 1942 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to have a flight go around the world.
• 1946 - William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) hanged for treason
• 1950 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China.
• 1967 - United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
• 1973 - Schoolhouse Rock premieres
• 1982 - William Bonin convicted of being the "freeway killer".
• 1994 - Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an assailant under orders from figure skating rival Tonya Harding.
• 1995 - A chemical fire occurs in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines. Police officers lead by watch commander Aida Fariscal and investigators find bomb-making materials and a laptop computer and disks that contain plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack. The mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, was arrested one month later. His friend Khalid Sheik Mohammed would not be arrested until March 2003.
• 1998 - The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the moon and later found evidence for frozen water on the moon's surface.
• 1999 - Bob Newhart receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• 2000 - The 2nd day of the 2000 Al Qaeda Summit
• 2001 - Al Gore, as President of the U.S. Senate, tallies the electoral votes and certifies George W. Bush as the winner of U.S. presidential election, 2000.

Births

• 1367 - King Richard II of England, (d. 1400)
• 1412 - Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic saint, (d. 1431)
• 1587 - Gaspar de Guzman, Count of Olivares, Duke of San Lucar, (d. 1645)
• 1822 - Heinrich Schliemann, archaeologist, (d. 1890)
• 1832 - Gustave Doré, painter and sculptor, (d. 1883)
• 1838 - Max Bruch, composer, (d. 1920)
• 1872 - Alexander Scriabin, composer, (d. 1915)
• 1878 - Carl Sandburg, poet, historian ,(d. 1967)
• 1880 - Tom Mix, actor, (d. 1940)
• 1881 - Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, (d. 1961)
• 1882 - Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop, poet and political figure, (d. 1965)
• 1883 - Khalil Gibran, poet, painter, novelist, (d. 1931)
• 1902 - Max Güde, attorney, (d. 1984)
• 1913 - Loretta Young, actress, (d. 2000)
• 1914 - Danny Thomas, singer, actor, comedian, (d. 1991)
• 1920 - Early Wynn, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1920 - Sun Myung Moon, evangelist
• 1921 - Louis Harris, pollster
• 1923 - Jacobo Timerman, writer, (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Earl Scruggs, bluegrass performer
• 1925 - John DeLorean, auto maker
• 1931 - E.L. Doctorow, author
• 1931 - Capucine, actress, (d. 1990)
• 1933 - Emil Steinberger, cabaretist
• 1933 - Oleg_Makarov, cosmonaut, (d. 2003)
• 1944 - Bonnie Franklin, actress
• 1946 - Syd Barrett, guitarist and singer
• 1951 - Kim Wilson, rock musician
• 1953 - Angus Young, guitarist
• 1954 - Anthony Minghella, director
• 1955 - Rowan Atkinson, comedian, actor
• 1957 - Nancy Lopez, golfer
• 1959 - Kathy Sledge, singer
• 1960 - Nigella Lawson, celebrity chef, writer
• 1960 - Howie Long, American football star
• 1964 - Henry Maske, German world champion boxer
• 1966 - Fernando Carrillo, Venezuelan actor
• 1968 - John Singleton, director and writer
• 1976 - Danny Pintauro, actor

Deaths

• 1840 - Fanny Burney, novelist and diarist, (b. 1752)
• 1852 - Louis Braille, teacher, developed writing system for the blind, (b. 1809)
• 1918 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician, (b. 1845)
• 1919 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, (b. 1858)
• 1928 - Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete
• 1937 - Brother Andre, Canadian religious figure, (b. 1845)
• 1942 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian IOC president
• 1949 - Victor Fleming, director, (b. 1883)
• 1981 - A.J. Cronin, writer, (b. 1896)
• 1993 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer, (b. 1938)
• 1993 - Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter, (b. 1917)
• 2004 - Charles Dumas, American high jumper

Holidays and observances

• Ancient Latvia - Zvaigznes Diena observed
• Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy - Epiphany of the Lord. (a.k.a. Theophany, Three Kings Day in some areas).
• In the Irish Calendar- Little Christmas, Women's Christmas and/or Twelfth Day.
• Rastafarianism - Celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie

January 5 - January 7 - December 6 - February 6 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

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