August 6

August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in
leap years), with 147 days remaining.

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 share of financially troubled
     Apple Computer.
   * 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)
   * 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)
   * 1902 - Dutch Schultz, bootlegger, gangster (+ 1935)
   * 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
   * 1980 - Norberto Carlos Cagliotti, economist, surfer and accenturian

Deaths

   * 258 - Saint Pope Sixtus II
   * 523 - Saint Pope Hormisdas
   * 1221 - Saint Dominic
   * 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

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