6 December
December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 25 days remaining.
Events:
- 1534 - Spanish found Quito, Ecuador
- 1768 - First edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published
- 1790 - United States Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1877 - First publication of the Washington Post
- 1884 - Washington Monument completed.
- 1917 - Finland declares its independence from Russia
- 1917 - Halifax explosion kills more than 1900 people, destroys part of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- 1921 - Irish Free State Agreement 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 - Federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce novel Ulysses is not obscene
- 1947 - Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
- 1957 - A launchpad explosion thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite (Project Vanguard).
- 1977 - South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana - not recognized by any other country
- 1978 - Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
- 1989 - The École Polytechnique Massacre: a man kills 14 young women in Montreal, Quebec.
- 1992 - In Ayodhya, India, right-wing Hindus belonging to the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and allied organisations demolish the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, which they claim was built upon the birth place of Lord Rama.
- 1996 - Daylight is released, starring Sylvester Stallone.
- 1997 - A Russian Antonov AN-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67
Births:
- 846 - Hasan al-Askari, Shia Imam (d. 874)
- 1421 - King Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
- 1478 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian diplomat and author (d. 1529)
- 1586 - Niccoli Zucchi, Italian astronomer (d. 1670)
- 1731 - Sophie von La Roche, German author (d. 1807)
- 1778 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, physicist and chemist (d. 1850)
- 1805 - Adolf Reubke, 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 Civil War Confederate guerrilla leader (d. 1916)
- 1863 - Charles Hall, chemist (d. 1914)
- 1872 - William S. Hart, actor (d. 1946)
- 1875 - Evelyn Underhill, English poet (d. 1941)
- 1886 - Joyce Kilmer, poet (d. 1918)
- 1887 - Lynne Fontanne, actress (d. 1983)
- 1890 - Rudolf Schlichter, painter, graphic artist and writer (d. 1955)
- 1892 - Lina Carstens, actress (d. 1978)
- 1892 - Sir Osbert Sitwell, English author (d. 1969)
- 1896 - Ira Gershwin, lyricist (d. 1983)
- 1898 - Alfred Eisenstaedt, photojournalist (d. 1995)
- 1900 - Agnes Moorhead, actress (d. 1974)
- 1903 - Tony Lazzeri, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1905 - Jameds Braddock, boxing champion (d. 1974)
- 1908 - Pierre Graber, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 2003)
- 1913 - Eleanor Holm - American swimmer
- 1914 - Walter W. Kelley, President of ACR
- 1917 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (d. 1977)
- 1920 - Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
- 1921 - Otto Graham, American football star
- 1928 - Bobby Van, singer (d. 1980)
- 1929 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
- 1932 - Don King, boxing entrepreneur
- 1933 - Henryk Górecki, composer
- 1936 - David Ossman, comedian
- 1942 - Peter Handke, author, playwright
- 1948 - JoBeth Williams, actress
- 1953 - Tom Hulce, actor
- 1953 - Gary Ward, baseball player
- 1955 - Steven Wright, comedian
- 1956 - Peter Buck, musician
- 1958 - Nick Park, film-maker and animator
- 1962 - Janine Turner, actress
- 1971 - Ryan White, AIDS activist (d. 1990)
- 1993 - Elián González, Cuban refugee
Deaths:
- 1185 - Afonso, first king of Portugal
- 1352 - Pope Clement VI
- 1779 - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter
- 1868 - August Schleicher, linguist
- 1882 - Anthony Trollope, author
- 1889 - Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808)
- 1892 - Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist
- 1955 - Honus Wagner, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1874)
- 1956 - Dr. Bhimji Ramji Ambedkar, lawyer & Minister of Law, India
- 1976 - Joao Goulart, president of Brazil (1961-March 31, 1964) (b. 1918)
- 1985 - Bur Tillstrom, puppeteer
- 1988 - Roy Orbison, musician
- 1989 - Frances Bavier, actress
- 1993 - Don Ameche, actor
- 2001 - Gerhard Löwenthal, journalist
- 2001 - Philip Berrigan, civil rights activist
Holidays and observances
December 5 - December 7 - November 6 - January 6 -- listing of all days
