is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining.
Events
- 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
- 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, thus ending the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1819 - Norwich University founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
- 1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Spain.
- 1845 - Russian Geographical Society is founded in Saint Petersburg.
- 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 USS Essex near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- 1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electric chair is performed, with murderer William Kemmler as the subject.
- 1901 - Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
- 1909 - Mrs. John R. Ramsie and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip.
- 1912 - The Bull Moose Party meets at the Chicago Coliseum.
- 1914 - Ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea, beginning the First Battle of the Atlantic.
- 1914 - Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia. World War I begins.
- 1914 - Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the Franch Foregin Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.
- 1915 - World War I: The Battle of Sari Bair begins - The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
- 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.
- 1941 - A curfew is imposed on gas stations in preparation for the upcoming war.
- 1942 - Queen Wilhelmina is the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States congress.
- 1945 - World War II: the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 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 with another 60,000 dead by the end of the year due to fallout sickness. Ultimately, about 200,000 die due to the atomic bomb.
- 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.
- 1966 - Braniff Airlines Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, NE killing all 42 on board.
- 1984 - Pop star Prince releases Purple Rain, the album which would launch him to superstardom.
- 1986 - A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney.
- 1988 - "Police riot" in New York City's Tompkins Square Park
- 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.
- 1991 - Doi Takako, chair of the Social Democratic Party (Japan), becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
- 1993 - Louis Freeh is confirmed by the United States Senate to be the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- 1993 - The Fugitive opens in theaters, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.
- 1996 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
- 1997 - Microsoft buys $150 million worth of shares of financially troubled Apple Computer.
- 1997 - Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228.
- 2000 - The Roman Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under Prefect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, publishes Dominus Iesus, notable for its lack of the filioque clause in the Latin text of the Nicene Creed.
- 2001 - White House briefing entitled Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S. delivered to George W. Bush. This document foreshadowed the September 11, 2001 attacks.
- 2002 - Marquis de la Fayette is made Honorary Citizen of the United States
- 2002 - Manindra Agrawal et al prove the long standing number theory conjecture in the article entitled "Primes in P".
Births
- 1180 - Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239)
- 1504 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1575)
- 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)
- 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)
- 1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892)
- 1844 - James Henry Greathead, British engineer (d. 1896)
- 1844 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900)
- 1868 - Paul Claudel, French poet (d. 1955)
- 1874 - Charles Fort, American writer and researcher (d. 1932)
- 1877 - Wallace H. White, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine (d. 1952)
- 1880 - Hans Moser, Austrian actor (d. 1964)
- 1881 - Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)
- 1881 - Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1955)
- 1881 - Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist (d. 1972)
- 1889 - John Middleton Murry, English poet (d. 1957)
- 1889 - George Kenney, American Air Force General
- 1892 - Hoot Gibson, American actor (d. 1962)
- 1893 - Wright Patman, American politician (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Cecil H. Green, American geophysicist and businessman (d.2003)
- 1902 - Dutch Schultz, American bootlegger and gangster (d. 1935)
- 1904 - Henry Iba, basketball coach (d. 1993)
- 1905 - Clara Bow, American actress and silent film star(d. 1965)
- 1908 - Helen Jacobs, American tennis player
- 1908 - Will Lee, American actor
- 1911 - Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (d. 1989)
- 1916 - Richard Hofstadter, American historian (d. 1970)
- 1916 - Dom Mintoff, Maltese politician and Prime Minister
- 1917 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1918 - Norman Granz, American jazz musician
- 1921 - Ella Raines, American actress
- 1922 - Sir Freddie Laker, English entrepreneur
- 1923 - Jess Collins, American artist (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Andy Warhol, American artist (d. 1987)
- 1930 - Abbey Lincoln, American jazz singer
- 1932 - Howard Hodgkin, British painter and print-maker
- 1934 - Piers Anthony, English writer
- 1937 - Barbara Windsor, English actress
- 1938 - Paul Bartel, American actor, writer, and director (d. 2000)
- 1938 - Peter Bonerz, American actor and director
- 1940 - Mukhu Aliyev, President of Dagestan
- 1941 - Lyle Berman, American poker player
- 1943 - Jon Postel, computer scientist
- 1945 - Andy Messersmith, baseball pitcher
- 1946 - Allan Holdsworth, British fusion guitarist and composer
- 1946 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea
- 1946 - Masaaki Sakai, Japanese comedian
- 1949 - Alan Campbell, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1949 - Clarence Richard Silva, Catholic Bishop of Honolulu
- 1950 - Dorian Harewood, American actor
- 1951 - Daryl Somers, Australian television personality
- 1951 - Catherine Hicks, American actress
- 1957 - Jim McGreevey, Governor of New Jersey
- 1957 - Bob Horner, baseball player
- 1962 - Michelle Yeoh, Malaysian actress
- 1963 - Kevin Mitnick, computer hacker
- 1965 - Yuki Kajiura, Japanese composer
- 1965 - David Robinson, Basketball Player
- 1967 - Archbishop Alexy (Bondarenko)
- 1969 - Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1969 - Cactvs Chris, American/British musician and writer
- 1970 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-born film director, writer, producer, and actor
- 1971 - Merrin Dungey, American actress
- 1972 - Geri Halliwell, British singer
- 1973 - Asia Carrera, American actress
- 1975 - Jamie McGonnigal, American actor, director, producer
- 1976 - Melissa George, Australian actress
- 1978 - Marisa Miller, American model
- 1978 - Billy Klippert, Canadian singer
- 1981 - Vitantonio Liuzzi, Formula One Driver
- 1981 - Liliana Domínguez, Mexican supermodel
- 1982 - Adrianne Curry, American model
- 1982 - Ryan Sypek, American actor
- 1983 - Robin van Persie, Dutch football player
- 1984 - Marcos Airosa, Angolan footballer
- 1985 - Steve Williams, single circuit Stock Car racer
- 1990 - JonBenét Ramsey, American beauty queen 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)
- 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), U.S. 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)
- 1904 - Eduard Hanslick, Austrian music critic (b. 1825)
- 1914 - Ellen Louise Wilson, First Lady of the United States, first wife of President Woodrow Wilson (b. 1860)
- 1931 - Bix Beiderbecke, American musician (b. 1903)
- 1942 - Jonathan Campbell, American film pioneer (b. 1875)
- 1945 - Prince Wu of Korea (b. 1912)
- 1945 - Richard Bong, America's all time Ace of Aces (b. 1920)
- 1946 - Tony Lazzeri, 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 - Fulgencio Batista, Cuban dictator (b. 1901)
- 1973 - Memphis Minnie, American blues singer (b. 1897)
- 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, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
- 1983 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (b. 1944)
- 1985 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (b. 1923)
- 1987 - Quinn Martin, American television producer (b. 1922)
- 1991 - Harry Reasoner, American reporter (b. 1923)
- 1993 - Tex Hughson, 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)
- 2002 - Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1930)
- 2004 - Rick James, American musician (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Keter Betts, American jazz bassist (b. 1928)
- 2005 - Robin Cook, British politician (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances
External links
Sources
August 5 - August 7 - July 6 - September 6 -- listing of all days
6 Augustus | 6 أغسطس | 6 d'agosto | 6 oût | 6 d'agostu | আগস্ট ৬ | 6 жніўня | 6. august | 6 август | 6 d'agost | Çурла, 6 | Agosto 6 | 6. srpen | 6 d'aostu | 6 Awst | 6. august | 6. August | 6. august | 6 Αυγούστου | 6 de agosto | 6-a de aŭgusto | Abuztuaren 6 | 6. august | 6 août | 6 augustus | 6 di Avost | 6 Lúnasa | 6 de agosto | 8월 6일 | 6. kolovoza | 6 di agosto | Agosto 6 | 6 Agustus | 6 de augusto | 6 august | 6. ágúst | 6 agosto | 6 באוגוסט | 6 Agustus | 6 აგვისტო | 6 zélnika | 6'ê gelawêjê | 6. August | Rugpjūčio 6 | 6 augustus | Augusztus 6 | 6 август | 6 Ogos | 6 augustus | 8月6日 | 6 'e aùsto | 6. august | 6. august | 6 d'agost | Agostu 6 | 6 sierpnia | 6 de Agosto | 6. Aujußß | 6 august | 6 августа | Agosto 6 | 6 August | 6 Gusht | 6 di austu | August 6 | 6. august | 6. avgust | 6. август | 6. elokuuta | 6 augusti | Agosto 6 | 6. August | ఆగష్టు 6 | 6 สิงหาคม | 6 tháng 8 | 6 Ağustos | 6 серпня | 6 d' awousse | 8月6日