What happened today December 6th?

Offered by:

Events
963 - Leo VIII is elected Pope.
1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev under Danylo of Halych and Voivode Dmytro falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
1534 - The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
1768 - The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
1790 - The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1845 - Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is founded at Yale College.
1849 - American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
1877 - The Washington Post newspaper is first published.
1884 - The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is completed.
1897 - London becomes the world's first city to host motorised taxicabs.
1907 - A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia kills 362 workers.
1916 - Bucharest was captured by the Central Powers
1916 - David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of United Kingdom.
1917 - Finland gains independence from Bolshevist Russia.
1917 - Halifax Explosion: In Canada, a munitions explosion kills more than 1900 people and destroys part of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1921 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives
1922 - One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
1933 - U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce novel Ulysses is not obscene.
1947 - The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
1956 - The water polo Blood In The Water match between Hungary and the former USSR took place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, representative of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
1957 - Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth.
1965 - Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduation level.
1969 - Meredith Hunter is killed by Hell's Angels during The Rolling Stones's concert at the Altamont Speedway in California.
1971 - Pakistan snaps diplomatic ties with India following New Delhi's recognition of Bangladesh.
1973 - The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3).
1975 - Balcombe Street Siege: An IRA Active Service Unit takes a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London.
1977 - South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country
1978 - Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
1989 - École Polytechnique Massacre: Marc Lépine kills 14 young women in Montreal, Quebec.
1991 - In Croatia, forces of the Yugoslav People's Army bombard Dubrovnik after laying siege there since May.
1992 - Extremist Hindu activists demolish Babri Masjid - a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya, India which had been used as temple since 1949. Hindus believe this structure was built on the site which is the birthplace of Lord Rama.
1997 - A Russian Antonov An-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
2001 - Name of the Canadian province of Newfoundland changed to Newfoundland and Labrador.
2005 - Several villagers shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.

Births
846 -Hasan al-Askari, Shia Imam (d. 874)
1285 - King Ferdinand IV of Castile (d. 1312)
1421 - King Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
1478 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian diplomat and author (d. 1529)
1550 - Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (baptism) (d. 1605)
1586 - Niccolo Zucchi, Italian astronomer (d. 1670)
1608 - George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (d. 1670)
1637 - Sir Edmund Andros, English governor in North America (d. 1714)
1640 - Claude Fleury, French historian (d. 1723)
1642 - Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (d. 1703)
1721 - James Elphinston, British philologist (d. 1809)
1721 - Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (d. 1794)
1778 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (d. 1850)
1792 - King William II of the Netherlands (d. 1849)
1805 - Adolf Reubke, German organ builder (d. 1875)
1805 - Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, French magician (d. 1861)
1823 - Friedrich Max Müller, German orientalist (d. 1900)
1833 - John Singleton Mosby, American Confederate guerrilla leader (d. 1916)
1841 - Frédéric Bazille, French painter (d. 1870)
1849 - August von Mackensen, German field marshal (d. 1945)
1863 - Charles Martin Hall, American chemist (d. 1914)
1872 - William S. Hart, American actor (d. 1946)
1875 - Evelyn Underhill, British poet (d. 1941)
1886 - Joyce Kilmer, American poet (d. 1918)
1890 - Rudolf Schlichter, German artist and writer (d. 1955)
1890 - Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist (d. 1951)
1890 - Dion Fortune, British occultist (d. 1946)
1892 - Sir Osbert Sitwell, British author (d. 1969)
1896 - Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (d. 1983)
1898 - Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-born photojournalist (d. 1995)
1898 - Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics (d. 1987)
1900 - Agnes Moorehead, American actress (d. 1974)
1903 - Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player (d. 1946)
1905 - James J. Braddock, American boxer (d. 1974)
1908 - Pierre Graber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 2003)
1908 - Baby Face Nelson, American bank robber (d. 1934)
1913 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (d. 2004)
1916 - Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1986)
1917 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (d. 1977)
1919 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (d. 1983)
1920 - Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer
1920 - George Porter, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
1921 - Otto Graham, American football player (d. 2003)
1921 - Piero Piccioni - Italian musician and composer (d. 2004)
1921 - William " Bill" Moore - Canadian artist, sportsman, veteran
1924 - Wally Cox, American actor (d. 1973)
1928 - Bobby Van, American singer (d. 1980)
1929 - Alain Tanner, Swiss filmmaker
1929 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt, German conductor
1930 - Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia
1933 - Henryk Górecki, Polish composer
1935 - Jean Lapointe, Quebec comedian, singer and senator
1936 - David Ossman, American comedian
1940 - Lawrence Bergman, Quebec politician
1942 - Peter Handke, Austrian writer
1945 - Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmaker
1945 - Larry Bowa, baseball player and Major League manager
1947 - Lawrence Cannon, Canadian politician
1948 - JoBeth Williams, American actress
1948 - Keke Rosberg, Finnish race car driver
1950 - Joe Hisaishi, Japanese composer
1952 - Rick Charlesworth, Australian Hockey player
1952 - Craig Newmark, Founder of craigslist
1953 - Tom Hulce, American actor
1953 - Gary Ward, baseball player
1955 - Steven Wright, American comedian
1955 - Rick Buckler, British drummer (The Jam)
1956 - Peter Buck, American guitarist (R.E.M.)
1956 - Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)
1958 - Nick Park, British filmmaker and animator
1961 - David Lovering, American drummer (the Pixies)
1962 - Janine Turner, American actress
1967 - Hacken Lee, Hong Kong singer
1970 - Éric Lemieux, Quebec keyboardist (La Chicane)
1971 - Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
1971 - Ryan White, American AIDS activist (d. 1990)
1971 - Nicole Coste, Togo-born ex-girlfriend of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
1972 - Rick Short, Baseball player
1975 - Noel Clarke, English actor and writer
1976 - Colleen Haskell, American television personality
1977 - Kevin Cash, baseball player
1977 - Andrew Flintoff, England cricketer
1977 - Paul McVeigh, Irish footballer
1978 - Darrell Jackson, American Football Player
1979 - Tim Cahill, Australia footballer
1979 - Stephenie LaGrossa, American game show contestant
1980 - Steve Lovell, British footballer
1982 - Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer
1982 - Ryan Carnes, American actor
1983 - Bryan Habana, South African rugby player
1985 - Dulce Maria, Singer in the Latin Pop group RBD
1986 - Cintia Dicker, Brazilian model
1993 - Elián González, Cuban subject of child custody battle

Deaths
343 - Saint Nicholas
1185 - King Afonso I of Portugal (b. 1109)
1352 - Pope Clement VI (b. 1291)
1562 - Jan van Scorel Dutch painter and architect
1618 - Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556)
1658 - Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (b. 1601)
1672 - King John II Casimir of Poland (b. 1609)
1675 - John Lightfoot, English churchman (b. 1602)
1718 - Nicholas Rowe, English poet and dramatist (b. 1674)
1746 - Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (b. 1665)
1771 - Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (b. 1682)
1779 - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (b. 1699)
1788 - Jonathan Shipley, British bishop and politician (b. 1714)
1867 - Jean Pierre Flourens, French physician (b. 1794)
1868 - August Schleicher, German linguist (b. 1821)
1879 - Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American industrialist (b. 1814)
1882 - Anthony Trollope, British author (b. 1815)
1882 - Alfred Escher, Swiss politician and railroad entrepreneur (b. 1819)
1889 - Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808)
1892 - Ernst Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist (b. 1816)
1924 - Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (b. 1863)
1949 - Leadbelly, American musician (b. 1885)
1951 - Harold Ross, American magazine editor (b. 1892)
1955 - Honus Wagner, baseball player (b. 1874)
1956 - Dr. Bhimji Ramji Ambedkar, Indian Minister of Law and architect of The Constitution of India (b. 1891)
1961 - Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (b. 1925)
1972 - Janet Munro, British actress (b. 1934)
1976 - João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
1983 - Lucienne Boyer, French singer (b. 1903)
1985 - Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (b. 1917)
1985 - Burleigh Grimes, baseball player (b. 1893)
1988 - Roy Orbison, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (b. 1936)
1989 - Frances Bavier, American actress (b. 1902)
1989 - Sammy Fain, American popular music composer (b. 1902)
1989 - John Payne, American movie actor (b. 1912)
1991 - Sir Richard Stone, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
1992 - Mary Smith or Mimi, Maternal Aunt and Guardian of John Lennon (b. 1914)
1993 - Don Ameche, American actor (b. 1908)
1996 - Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League (b. 1926)
1997 - Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (b. 1942)
2000 - Werner Klemperer, German-born actor (b. 1920)
2001 - Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand sailor and environmentalist (b. 1948)
2001 - Charles McClendon, Hall of Fame college football coach (b. 1923)
2002 - Philip Berrigan, American civil rights activist (b. 1923)
2003 - Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (b. 1918)
2003 - Jerry Tuite, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
2004 - Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (b. 1921)
2005 - Charly Gaul, Luxembourg cyclist (b. 1932)
2005 - Devan Nair, 3rd President of Singapore (b. 1923)
2005 - Danny Williams, South African-born singer (b. 1942)

[edit] Holidays and observances
KrampusNacht, a re-interpretation of St. Nicholas Day held in San Francisco
R.C. Saints - optional memorial of Saint Nicholas
Canada - National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
Finland - Independence Day (from Russia, 1917)
Hungary - Santa Claus leaves a little present in children's shoes.
Spain - Constitution Day
Belgium and the Netherlands celebrate Sinterklaas, a day on which the saint gives out presents, oranges and chocolates (and other sweets) to good kids (and supposedly puts charcoal in the shoes of bad kids).

Other uses
December 6 is a novel by Martin Cruz Smith about an American expatriate living in Japan just prior to Pearl Harbor.

External links
BBC: On This Day
The New York Times: On This Day
On This Day in Canada