What happened on 6th January?
Welcome to 6th January! Explore 47 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Tonight's moon is in its new moon phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Capricorn. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this 6th January.
Tuesday, 6 January falls under the zodiac sign of Capricorn, the tenth astrological sign, associated with discipline and responsibility. The moon is in its new moon phase, marking the beginning of a new lunar cycle when the moon is positioned between the Earth and Sun.
On this day
On 6 January 1912, German geophysicist Alfred Wegener presented his groundbreaking theory of continental drift to the German Geological Society, laying the conceptual foundation for modern plate tectonics. This presentation marked a pivotal moment in geological science, though the theory would not gain widespread acceptance until decades later.
In the United Kingdom, 6 January 2014 saw the inaugural broadcast of Benefits Street on Channel 4, a documentary series that sparked significant public discourse about welfare dependency and social attitudes towards benefit recipients. The programme became a focal point for broader debates about the welfare system and poverty in Britain.
More recently, on 6 January 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked by supporters of then-outgoing president Donald Trump in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The assault resulted in five deaths and forced evacuation of Congress, becoming a defining moment in American political history.
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Explore everything about today 22nd June.
Wisdom whispers; certainty shouts.
Fortune of the Day
6th January in the Stars – Star Sign Capricorn
Personality Profile
Personality Those born on January 6th embody the quintessential Capricorn: ambitious, methodical, and surprisingly introspective. Saturn grants them natural wisdom and inner stability that draws others to them. The numerology 7 enhances their inclination toward reflection and spiritual exploration.
Strengths & Weaknesses Their strengths lie in persistence, strategic thinking, and steadfast reliability. Weaknesses emerge from excessive seriousness and emotional guardedness, which complicates intimacy. They tend to judge themselves harshly.
Love In relationships, these individuals seek genuine, lasting connections over fleeting adventures. Their loyalty is legendary, yet emotional expression doesn't come naturally. With patient partners, they flourish long-term.
Caree & Finance Professionally, they thrive in structured environments: management, science, finance, or skilled trades. Their capacity for long-term planning predisposes them to wealth-building. Conservative investments play to their strengths.
Health These people benefit from routine-based fitness and nutrition programs. Psychologically, they need regular breaks from the pressure they impose on themselves. Meditation and nature time help them find inner peace.
That night, the moon was in its new moon phase.
Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).
Fun Facts About 6th January
Name Days in Your Language: Cheyanne, Cheyenne, Howell, Hoyle, Kahlil, Khalil, Melchior, Rowan, Talullah, Tiffani, Tiffanie, Tiffany
Someone born on this day would be just 167 days old today — roughly 4,017 hours, 241,058 minutes, or 14,463,494 seconds spent on Earth so far.
It's the 6. day of the year. In 2026, 6th January falls on a Tuesday.
There are 359 days still to come.
We’re currently in Week 2 — the year marches on.
Famous Birthdays on 6th January
On this day, 216 notable people were born on 6th January — spanning from 1256 to 2006. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
06/01/2006
Stefanos Tzimas, Greek footballer
Stefanos Tzimas is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Greece under-21 national team.
06/01/2003
MattyBRaps, American rapper, singer, and YouTuber
Matthew David Morris, better known as MattyB or MattyBRaps, is an American rapper, singer, and YouTuber. He launched his career at a young age by creating covers of popular music and posting them to YouTube.
06/01/2000
Fiete Arp, German footballer
Jann-Fiete Arp is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danish Superliga club OB.
Mohamed Camara, Malian footballer
Mohamed Camara is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd and the Mali national team.
Kwon Eun-bin, South Korean singer and actress
Kwon Eun-bin, also known simply as Eunbin, is a South Korean singer, actress and model. She participated in the first season of Produce 101 (2016), before being eliminated in the penultimate episode. She debuted as a member of the South Korean girl group CLC in February 2016 with the release of the group's third EP Refresh. She made her acting debut in the television series Bad Papa (2018) and has since appeared in series including Top Management (2018), At a Distance, Spring Is Green (2021), Dear.M (2022) and Duty After School (2023).
Jack McBain, Canadian ice hockey player
Jack McBain is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 63rd overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2018 NHL entry draft.
Shuhua, Taiwanese singer
Yeh Shu-hua, known mononymously as Shuhua (Korean: 슈화), is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group I-dle, which debuted as (G)I-dle under Cube Entertainment in May 2018.
Tyler Oliveira, American YouTuber
Tyler Oliveira is an American YouTuber. He made several challenge videos before transitioning to videos centred on man-on-the-street interviews, which have covered topics including drug decriminalization in Canada and the Springfield pet-eating hoax in the United States.
06/01/1999
Polo G, American rapper
Taurus Tremani Bartlett, known professionally as Polo G, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with his singles "Finer Things" and "Pop Out". His debut album Die a Legend (2019) peaked at number six on the US Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the RIAA, a feat matched by his two subsequent albums.
Mac McClung, American basketball player
Matthew Ford "Mac" McClung is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He was a consensus three-star recruit and among the highest-ranked high school players in Virginia. He is one of two players to be a three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion, alongside Nate Robinson, and the only player to win three consecutive Slam Dunk Contests.
06/01/1997
Michel Aebischer, Swiss footballer
Michel Aebischer is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie B club Pisa, on loan from Serie A club Bologna, and the Switzerland national team.
06/01/1996
Courtney Eaton, Australian model and actress
Courtney Jane Eaton is an Australian actress. She began her career as a model before making her acting debut in the post-apocalyptic action film Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Eaton subsequently starred in the fantasy action film Gods of Egypt (2016). Since 2021, she has appeared in the Showtime thriller drama series Yellowjackets as young Lottie Matthews. She also starred in Parachute (2023).
06/01/1994
Catriona Gray, Filipino-Australian model, singer and beauty queen, Miss Universe 2018
Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray is a Filipino model, singer, actress and beauty queen best known for winning Miss Universe 2018. The fourth Filipina to win Miss Universe, Gray was previously crowned Miss World Philippines 2016 and Miss Universe Philippines 2018, and reached the top five at Miss World 2016.
Denis Suárez, Spanish footballer
Denis Suárez Fernández is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Alavés.
Jameis Winston, American football player
Jameis Lanaed Winston is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Winston played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, becoming the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy and leading his team to victory in the 2014 BCS National Championship Game during his freshman year. He was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL draft.
Jay B, South Korean singer
Lim Jae-beom, known professionally as Jay B, and formerly JB, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. Jay B is the leader of South Korean boy band Got7, a member of boy band duo JJ Project and sub-unit Jus2, as well as part of R&B soul crew Offshore as Def.. He made his small-screen debut through the drama series Dream High 2 in 2012.
06/01/1993
Pat Connaughton, American basketball player
Patrick Bergin Connaughton is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he primarily plays as a shooting guard. He is also a former professional baseball player.
Jesús Manuel Corona, Mexican footballer
Jesús Manuel "Tecatito" Corona Ruíz is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club Monterrey.
Jérôme Roussillon, French-Guadeloupean footballer
Jérôme Xavier Roussillon is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 3 club Amiens. Born in mainland France, he plays for the Guadeloupe national team.
06/01/1992
Corey Conners, Canadian professional golfer
Corey Michael Conners is a Canadian professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Conners has also played on the PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica and the Web.com Tour.
06/01/1991
Duarte Alves, Portuguese politician
Duarte Le Falher de Campos Alves is a Portuguese politician and former member of the Assembly of the Republic, the national legislature of Portugal. A communist, he represented Lisbon from September 2018 to March 2022 and from November 2022 to March 2024.
Will Barton, American basketball player
William Norman Barton III is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for Memphis Tigers, earning Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year honors in 2012. He was selected 40th overall in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and played for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA G League before being traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2015, where he eventually became their franchise leader in three-pointers made. He has also played for the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors.
Kevin Gausman, American baseball player
Kevin John Gausman is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants. Gausman played college baseball for the LSU Tigers, with whom he was an All-American. He was selected by the Orioles in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2013. He was an All-Star in 2021 and 2023 and led the American League in strikeouts in 2023.
06/01/1990
Cristian Erbes, Argentine footballer
Cristian Damián Erbes is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Club Atlético San Miguel.
Sean Kilpatrick, American basketball player
Sean Redell Kilpatrick is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). A 6'4" shooting guard born in Yonkers, New York, during his senior season of 2013–14 with the Cincinnati Bearcats, he was named AP first-team All-American.
Alex Teixeira, Brazilian footballer
Alex Teixeira Santos is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Panserraikos.
06/01/1989
Andy Carroll, English footballer
Andrew Thomas Carroll is an English professional footballer who currently plays and is the assistant manager for National League South club Dagenham & Redbridge. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Reading, Liverpool, West Ham United, and West Bromwich Albion, and in Ligue 2 for Amiens. He played nine matches for England between 2010 and 2012, scoring twice, including one goal at UEFA Euro 2012.
Sergio León, Spanish footballer
Sergio León Limones is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for División de Honor Andaluza club Atlético Palma del Río.
Derrick Morgan, American football player
Derrick Lee Morgan is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He was selected 16th overall by the Titans in the 2010 NFL draft after playing college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
06/01/1987
Arin Hanson, American YouTuber
Arin Joseph Hanson, also known as Egoraptor, is an American YouTuber, actor, rapper, and animator. He is well known for his Flash cartoons, as well as being the co-founder and co-star of the popular YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps.
Bongani Khumalo, South African footballer
Bongani Sandile Khumalo is a South African retired footballer who played as a centre-back.
Ndamukong Suh, American football player
Ndamukong Ngwa Suh is an American former professional football player who played defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2009. Suh was selected by the Detroit Lions second overall in the 2010 NFL draft. He also played for the Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Philadelphia Eagles. Suh played in three Super Bowls during his career: Super Bowl LIII with the Rams, Super Bowl LV with the Buccaneers, and Super Bowl LVII with the Eagles.
06/01/1986
Paul McShane, Irish footballer
Paul David McShane is an Irish professional football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach at Walsall F.C..
Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
Petter Northug Jr. is a Norwegian former cross-country skier and double Olympic champion. He won a total of 13 World Championship and two Winter Olympic gold medals with 20 medals overall, and 18 individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 13 podium places. He is also the record holder for most stage wins (13) in Tour de Ski. By winning his ninth gold medal in the Nordic World Ski Championships in 4 × 10 km relay in Val di Fiemme 2013, he leveled the achievement of Bjørn Dæhlie who had been the most successful World Champion male skier up to that point. He is considered by many as the greatest cross-country skier of all time.
Irina Shayk, Russian fashion model
Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova, also known as Irina Shayk, is a Russian fashion model and actress. She received international recognition when she appeared as the first Russian model on the cover of the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 2022, the website Models.com placed her on their list of the New Supers.
Alex Turner, English singer, songwriter, and musician
Alexander David Turner is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the frontman of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. He is known for his lyricism ranging from kitchen sink realism to surrealist wordplay, which has been praised by music critics. All but one of Turner's studio albums have topped the UK Albums Chart. He has won seven Brit Awards, an Ivor Novello Award, and a Mercury Prize among other accolades.
06/01/1984
A. J. Hawk, American football player and analyst
Aaron James Hawk is an American sports analyst and former professional football linebacker who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Green Bay Packers fifth overall in the 2006 NFL draft and he later won Super Bowl XLV with the team. He was also a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he earned All-American honors twice and won the Lombardi Award as a senior. He won the BCS National Championship Game with the Buckeyes as a freshman. He co-hosts The Pat McAfee Show weekdays on YouTube and ESPN.
Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
Kate McKinnon Berthold is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022, where she became known for her character work and celebrity impressions. For her work on the series, she was nominated for ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and nine for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.
Eric Trump, American businessman
Eric Frederick Trump is an American businessman, political activist, and former reality television presenter. He is the third child and second son of U.S. president Donald Trump and his first wife, Ivana.
06/01/1983
Adam Burish, American ice hockey player
Adam Mark Burish is an American former professional ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks. He is currently an analyst covering Blackhawks games on NBC Sports Chicago, however, the channel no longer exists.
Chen Nan, Chinese basketball player
Chen Nan is a Chinese basketball player.
06/01/1982
Gilbert Arenas, American basketball player
Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. Arenas attended Grant High School in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona late in his junior year. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 31st overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft.
Roy Asotasi, New Zealand rugby league player
Roy Asotasi is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international captain, he also played for Samoa. Asotasi played in the NRL for Australian clubs Canterbury-Bankstown and the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 2007 to 2013. He then played in the Super League for the Warrington Wolves.
Tiffany Pollard, American television personality
Tiffany Pollard is an American television personality and actress. She starred on the first two seasons of the reality show Flavor of Love (2006), where she was given the nickname "New York" by rapper Flavor Flav. Pollard later starred in spin-off series, including I Love New York (2007–2008) which launched a career in television. Subsequent television roles include her hosting in Brunch with Tiffany (2017–2020) and Hot Haus (2022–2023), and her roles on House of Villains (2023–2026) and College Hill: Celebrity Edition (2023).
Israel Damonte, Argentine footballer and manager
Israel Alejandro Damonte is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Aldosivi.
Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
Edward John David Redmayne is an English actor. His accolades include an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Olivier Awards.
06/01/1981
Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress
Rinko Kikuchi is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in Babel (2006). Kikuchi's other notable films include Norwegian Wood (2010), which screened in competition at the 67th Venice Film Festival and Guillermo del Toro's science fiction action film Pacific Rim (2013). For her role in the drama film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), Kikuchi received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. She played a supporting role in the HBO Max crime drama series Tokyo Vice.
Asante Samuel, American football player
Asante Tyrell Samuel Sr. is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Accra, Ghana and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He played college football for the UCF Knights and was selected by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft. Samuel also played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons. He led the NFL twice in interceptions, in 2006 and 2009. He is the father of Asante Samuel Jr., a cornerback who plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
06/01/1978
Casey Fossum, American baseball player
Casey Paul Fossum is a former professional pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox (2001–2003), Arizona Diamondbacks (2004), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2005–2007), Detroit Tigers (2008), and New York Mets (2009) of Major League Baseball and the Hanshin Tigers (2010) of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Bubba Franks, American football player
Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning first-team All-American honors in 1999. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft with the 14th overall pick.
06/01/1976
Johan Davidsson, Swedish ice hockey player
Johan Markus Davidsson is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player, who played last with HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. He was a long-time Elitserien/SHL player and captain of HV71 for eleven seasons, with which he has won the Swedish championship four times.
Danny Pintauro, American actor
Daniel John Pintauro is an American actor and film producer. He starred in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and the 1983 horror film Cujo.
Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
Richard Zedník is a Slovak former professional ice hockey winger. He had a 15-year career in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing for the Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Florida Panthers.
06/01/1975
James Farrior, American football player
James Alfred Farrior is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers. He played with the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and earned two Super Bowl rings with the Steelers.
06/01/1974
Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster
Marlon Ordell Anderson is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six teams, over 12 seasons. He was widely known for his clutch hits, and writers for publications including The New York Times and Newsday had referred to him as one of the best pinch-hitters in the game. Anderson was the hitting coach for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2018.
Daniel Cordone, Argentinian footballer
Carlos Daniel "Lobo" Cordone is a former Argentine professional football player who played as a striker.
Paul Grant, American basketball player and coach
Paul Edward Grant is an American former professional basketball player. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
06/01/1973
Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
Vasiliki "Vasso" Karantasiou is a female beach volleyball player from Greece, who won the gold medal at the 2005 European Championships in Moscow, Russia, partnering Vassiliki Arvaniti.
06/01/1971
Irwin Thomas, American-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Irwin Thomas is an Australian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He performs professionally using the stage name Jack Jones from when he was the lead vocalist-guitarist in the band Southern Sons (1990–1996).
06/01/1970
Leonardo Astrada, Argentine footballer and manager
Leonardo Rubén Astrada is a retired Argentine footballer, who went on to become a football manager. The last team he managed was Atlético de Rafaela.
Julie Chen Moonves, American television personality, presenter, and producer
Julie Suzanne Chen Moonves is an American television presenter, news anchor, and producer for CBS. She has been the host of the American version of the CBS reality-television program Big Brother since its debut in July 2000.
Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
Radoslav Látal is a Czech football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player, sportscaster, and actress
Gabrielle Allyse Reece is an American former professional volleyball player, sports announcer, TV show host, and podcast host.
06/01/1969
Norman Reedus, American actor and model
Norman Mark Reedus is an American actor. Starting his career as a model, he first rose to prominence as an actor for his role as Murphy MacManus in The Boondock Saints (1999), which he reprised in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009). Aside from an occasional supporting role in larger budget films such as Blade II (2002) and American Gangster (2007), Reedus mostly starred in independent film productions until being cast as Daryl Dixon in the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2010–2022). Regarded as one of the series' most popular characters, he currently stars as Dixon in the spin-off series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (2023–present).
Aron Eisenberg, American actor and podcaster (died 2019)
Aron Eisenberg was an American actor and podcaster known for his role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Ferengi, Nog.
06/01/1968
John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2019)
John Daniel Singleton was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest nominee in the category.
06/01/1967
A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician, and philanthropist
Allah Rakha Rahman, also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in international cinema. He is a recipient of seven National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, and eighteen Filmfare Awards South. In 2010, the Government of India conferred him with the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian award.
06/01/1966
Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
Sharon Gamboa Cuneta-Pangilinan is a Filipino actress, singer, television personality, and businesswoman. Prolific in multiple fields of entertainment, she is known for playing dramatic and comedic leading roles in film and television. Her accolades include three FAMAS Awards, a Gawad Urian Award, nineteen Box Office Entertainment Awards, three PMPC Star Awards for Movies and two Luna Awards.
Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
Attilio Lombardo is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently working with Sampdoria as a caretaker and technical collaborator.
06/01/1965
Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
Bjørn Lomborg is a Danish political scientist and the president of the think tank Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is the former director of the Danish government's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI) in Copenhagen. He became internationally known for his best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist (2001).
06/01/1964
Charles Haley, American football player
Charles Lewis Haley is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys (1992–1996).
Jyrki Kasvi, Finnish journalist and politician (died 2021)
Jyrki Jouko Juhani Kasvi was a Finnish politician, and a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League.
Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
Jacqueline DeLois Moore is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. She is currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. Moore also worked for World Championship Wrestling in 1997–98 and later Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a wrestler, manager, and road agent.
06/01/1963
Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
Norman Wood Charlton III, nicknamed "the Sheriff", is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (died 1995)
Paul Kipkoech was a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres and cross-country running. He became world champion over 10,000 m in 1987.
06/01/1961
Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (died 2012)
Georges Jobé was a Belgian professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships from 1979 to 1994. Jobé is notable for being a five-time FIM Motocross World Champion. He was named Belgian Sportsman of the year in 1987 and 1992.
Nigel Melville, English rugby player
Nigel David Melville is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain and currently serves as Director of Professional Rugby for the Rugby Football Union.
Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist, and broadcaster (died 2025)
Peter Robin Whittle was a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who served as a Member of the London Assembly from 2016 to 2021 and as Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to Paul Nuttall from 2016 to 2017. He was the founder and director of the New Culture Forum think tank and host of So What You're Saying Is..., a weekly cultural and political interview show on YouTube.
06/01/1960
Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and TV golf analyst. He won 12 times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1988 and 1994.
Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
Kari Jalonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was a former head coach of the Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team from 2022-2023. He is not related to Finnish ice hockey coach Jukka Jalonen.
Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
Nigella Lucy Lawson is an English food writer and television cook.
Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
Howard Matthew Moses Long is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Raiders franchise. He played college football for the Villanova Wildcats and was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft, spending his first season with the team in Oakland and the remainder of his career in Los Angeles. Long received eight Pro Bowl and three first-team All-Pro selections while helping the team win Super Bowl XVIII. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
06/01/1959
Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj is an Indian former cricket team captain. Regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket, he was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman. Dev is the only player in the history of cricket to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored more than 5,000 runs in Test cricket.
06/01/1958
Shlomo Glickstein, Israeli tennis player
Shlomo Glickstein is an Israeli former professional tennis player.
06/01/1957
Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
Colin Michael Foale is a British-American astrophysicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space missions, and is the only NASA astronaut to have flown extended missions aboard both Mir and the International Space Station. He was the second Briton in space and the first to perform a space walk. Until 17 April 2008, he held the record for most time spent in space by a US citizen: 374 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes, and as of 2024 he held the cumulative-time-in-space record for a British citizen.
Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
Nancy Marie Lopez is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships.
06/01/1956
Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
Elizabeth Strout is an American novelist and author. She is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her youth served as inspiration for her novels—the fictional "Shirley Falls, Maine" is the setting of four of her ten novels.
Justin Welby, English archbishop
Justin Portal Welby is a retired Anglican bishop who served as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 2013 to 2025.
Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the England team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, losing the test series 3–0. He is currently a pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.
06/01/1955
Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He first gained success on the sketch comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982), before going on to play the title roles in the sitcoms Blackadder (1983–1989) and Mr. Bean (1990–1995), and in the film series Johnny English (2003–present).
Debbie Mathers, Mother of Eminem (died 2024)
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is often credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and the acceptance of white rappers. While much of his transgressive art during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, Eminem has become a representation of popular angst in lower-income America and is noted for his rap flow and conscious rap, which includes political criticism and social commentary.
06/01/1954
Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (died 2008)
Anthony Minghella was a British playwright and filmmaker. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directed Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and Cold Mountain (2003), and produced Iris (2001).
06/01/1953
Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2017)
Malcolm Mitchell Young was an Australian musician who was a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Young was a rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and backing vocalist in the band. Except for a brief absence in 1988, Young was a member of AC/DC from its formation in 1973 until his retirement in 2014. As a member of AC/DC, Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2023, Rolling Stone named Young and his younger brother and fellow AC/DC member Angus Young the 38th-best guitarists of all time.
06/01/1951
Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach (died 2024)
Donald Edward Gullett was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1970 through 1978. He was a member of the Cincinnati Reds Big Red Machine dynasty that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. Gullett was also a member of the New York Yankees teams that won two consecutive World Series championships in 1977 and 1978.
Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, "Tuff Enuff" and "Wrap It Up."
06/01/1950
Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Louis Joseph Freeh is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001.
06/01/1949
Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic
Michael Kipsugut Boit is a Kenyan former professional middle-distance athlete whose career spanned fifteen years. He is a professor at Kenyatta University in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science. He is an uncle to Philip Boit, who became the first Kenyan athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics.
Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (died 2016)
Carolyn D. Wright was an American poet. She was a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island.
06/01/1948
Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
Guy Spence Gardner is a United States Air Force officer and a former astronaut. He holds the rank of colonel. He flew as pilot on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-27 and STS-35. Gardner was also the 12th president of the Williamson College of the Trades.
Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
Dayle Robert Hadlee is a New Zealand former cricketer who played in 26 Tests and 11 ODIs from 1969 to 1978. He is the son of Walter Hadlee, the older brother of Sir Richard Hadlee and the younger brother of Barry Hadlee.
06/01/1947
Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (died 1978)
Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny was an English singer-songwriter who is best known for her work with the folk rock band Fairport Convention during the late 1960s. She has been described as "arguably the pre-eminent British folk-rock singer/songwriter of her time".
06/01/1946
Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, known for his whimsical style of psychedelia and stream-of-consciousness writing. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing effects such as dissonance, distortion, echo and feedback.
06/01/1945
Barry John, Welsh rugby player (died 2024)
Barry John was a Welsh rugby union fly-half who played in the 1960s and early 1970s during the amateur era of the sport. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC before switching to the first-class west Wales team Llanelli RFC in 1964. Whilst at Llanelli, John was selected for the Wales national team—as a replacement for David Watkins—to face a touring Australian team.
Jayanthi (actress), Indian film actress (died 2021)
Kamala Kumari, known by her stage name Jayanthi, was an Indian actress known for her work in Kannada cinema and Telugu cinema. She was noted for her contributions to different genres of films from the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. She had appeared in over 500 films in various languages, including Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi.
06/01/1944
Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (died 2013)
Bonnie Gail Franklin was an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Ann Romano in the television series One Day at a Time (1975–1984). She was nominated for Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe Awards.
Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
Alan Stivell is a French Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp from Brittany.
Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Rolf Martin Zinkernagel AC is a professor of experimental immunology at the University of Zurich. Along with Peter C. Doherty, he shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of how the immune system recognizes virus-infected cells.
06/01/1943
Terry Venables, English footballer and manager (died 2023)
Terence Frederick Venables, often referred to as "El Tel", was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for England.
06/01/1940
Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 1979)
Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit "The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations; David Ruffin; The Stylistics; The Presidents; Faith, Hope & Charity; New Censation; Gladys Knight & the Pips; Aretha Franklin; Peaches & Herb; Lesley Gore; and Stacy Lattisaw.
06/01/1939
Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (died 2002)
Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi was а Soviet and Ukrainian football player and manager. He was Master of Sports of the USSR, Distinguished Coach of the USSR, and a laureate of the UEFA Order of Merit in Ruby (2002) and FIFA Order of Merit, the highest honour awarded by FIFA. In 2002 he was awarded the Hero of Ukraine award (posthumously), his nation's highest honour, for his contribution to Ukrainian football.
Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (died 2012)
Iain Murray Rose, was an Australian swimmer, who swam for the University of Southern California, and worked as an actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist, and at one time held the world records in the 400-metre, 800-metre, and 1500-metre freestyle. He made his Olympic debut at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne as a 17-year-old and won three Olympic medals, all gold. Four years later, as a 21-year-old, he won three Olympic medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.
06/01/1938
Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
Adriano Celentano is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed Il Molleggiato because of his energetic dancing.
Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
Adrienne Elizabeth Clarke is professor emeritus of Botany at the University of Melbourne, where she ran the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre from 1982 to 1999. She is a former chairman of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, former Lieutenant Governor of Victoria (1997–2000) and former Chancellor of La Trobe University (2011–2017).
Rajnikumar Pandya, Indian writer, journalist (died 2025)
Rajnikumar Pandya was an Indian Gujarati language writer and journalist from Gujarat. He was known for his short stories, novels, biographical essays, and columns. He had a significant contribution to Gujarati literature and journalism, particularly in the field of rural journalism. He was honored with numerous awards throughout his career, including the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak and awards from the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi and Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.
Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (died 1979)
Larisa Yefimovna Shepitko was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Ukrainian origin. She is considered one of the best female directors of all time, with her film The Ascent being the second film directed by a woman to win a Golden Bear and the third film directed by a woman to win a top award at a major European film festival.
06/01/1937
Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (died 1998)
Ludvík Daněk was a Czechoslovak discus thrower, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games with a throw of 64.40 m.
Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2026)
Louis Leo Holtz was an American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career college head coaching record of 249–132–7.
Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (died 2004)
Doris Troy was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was "Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963.
06/01/1936
Darlene Hard, American tennis player (died 2021)
Darlene Ruth Hard was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Championships in 1960 and 1961. With eight different partners, she won a total of 13 women's doubles titles and, with another three partners, she won 5 mixed doubles titles in Grand Slam tournaments, and was the finest doubles player of her generation. Her last doubles title, at the age of 33 at the 1969 US Open, came six years after she had retired from serious competition to become a tennis instructor. She also played the US Open singles tournament in 1969, losing in the second round to Françoise Dürr.
Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer, and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo often known by his initials JMS, is a Uruguayan former lawyer, journalist and politician of the Colorado Party (PC) who served as the President of Uruguay as the 35th president from 1985 to 1990, and again as the 37th president from 1995 to 2000. He was the first democratically elected president after twelve years of military dictatorship.
06/01/1935
Ian Meckiff, Australian cricketer
Ian Meckiff is an Australian former cricketer who represented Australia in 18 Test matches between 1957 and 1963. A left-arm fast bowler, he is best known for two matters that were unrelated to his skill as a player: he was the batsman run out by Joe Solomon in 1960, causing the first Tied Test in cricket history; and in December 1963, his career was sensationally ended when he was called for throwing in the First Test against South Africa by Australian umpire Col Egar. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, there had been a media frenzy about the perceived prevalence of illegal bowling actions in world cricket. The controversy and speculation that dogged Meckiff in the years preceding his final match caused sections of the cricket community to believe that he had been made a scapegoat by the Australian cricket authorities to prove their intent to stamp out throwing.
Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor (died 2025)
Antonino LoTempio was an American musician, singer, and actor. He was a duet partner with his older sister April Stevens as well as the frontman for a 1970s funk band, 5th Ave. Sax.
06/01/1934
Harry M. Miller, New Zealand-Australian talent agent and publicist (died 2018)
Harry Maurice Miller was a New Zealand Australian promoter, publicist and media agent.
Sylvia Syms, English actress (died 2023)
Sylvia May Laura Syms was an English stage and screen actress. Her best-known film roles include My Teenage Daughter (1956), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, Ice Cold in Alex (1958), No Trees in the Street (1959), Victim (1961) and The Tamarind Seed (1974).
06/01/1933
John Clive, English actor and author (died 2012)
John Clive was an English actor and author, known internationally for his historical and social fiction, such as KG200 and Barossa.
Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (died 2003)
Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov was a Soviet cosmonaut.
06/01/1932
Simon Oates, English actor (died 2009)
Simon Oates was an English actor best known for his roles on television.
Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic (died 2024)
Stuart Alan Rice was an American theoretical chemist and physical chemist. He was well known as a theoretical chemist who also performed experimental research, having spent much of his career working in multiple areas of physical chemistry. He was the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. During his tenure at the University of Chicago, Rice trained more than 100 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers. He received the National Medal of Science in 1999.
06/01/1931
E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (died 2015)
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama, including the award-winning novels Ragtime (1975), Billy Bathgate (1989), and The March (2005). These, like many of his other works, placed fictional characters in recognizable historical contexts, with known historical figures, and often used different narrative styles. His stories were recognized for their originality and versatility, and Doctorow was praised for his audacity and imagination.
06/01/1930
Vic Tayback, American actor (died 1990)
Victor Tayback was an American actor. He was best known for his role as diner owner Mel Sharples on the television sitcom Alice (1976–1985), as well as his multiple guest appearances on The Love Boat (1977–1987). The former earned him two consecutive Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
06/01/1928
Capucine, French actress and model (died 1990)
Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre, known by her mononym stage name Capucine, was a French fashion model and actress known for her comedic roles in The Pink Panther (1963) and What's New Pussycat? (1965). She appeared in 36 films and 17 television productions between 1948 and 1990.
06/01/1927
Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (died 2014)
Jesse Leonard Steinfeld was an American physician and public health official. He was appointed the eleventh surgeon general of the United States from 1969 to 1973.
06/01/1926
Ralph Branca, American baseball player (died 2016)
Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca, nicknamed "Hawk", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. Branca played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Detroit Tigers (1953–1954), and New York Yankees (1954). He was a three-time All-Star. In a 1951 playoff, Branca surrendered a walk-off home run to Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants; the game-winning hit was known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World".
Pat Flaherty, American race car driver (died 2002)
George Francis "Pat" Flaherty was an American racing driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1956.
Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (died 2006)
Miklós Károly "Mickey" Hargitay was a Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder.
06/01/1925
John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (died 2005)
John Zachary DeLorean was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry. He is widely known as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company, as well as for his work at General Motors.
06/01/1924
Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2009)
Kim Dae-jung was a South Korean politician, activist, and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.
Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (died 2012)
Earl Eugene Scruggs was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played. This new style of playing became popular and elevated the banjo from its previous role as a background rhythm instrument to featured solo status. He popularized the instrument across several genres of music.
06/01/1923
Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (died 2007)
Vladimir Dmitriyevich Kazantsev was a Russian long-distance runner who won a silver medal in the 3000 m steeplechase at the 1952 Olympics. He set the world's best times in this event in 1951 and 1952 and won the Soviet title in 1950–53. In the Olympic final he had a 20 m lead with 700 m remaining but injured a tendon in a bad landing after a water jump and was overtaken by Horace Ashenfelter.
Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1974)
Norman Eric Kirk was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. He also served as the seventh leader of the Labour Party from 1965 to 1974.
Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (died 1999)
Jacobo Timerman was a Soviet-born Argentine publisher, journalist, and author, who is most noted for his confronting and reporting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War during a period of widespread repression in which an estimated 30,000 political prisoners were disappeared. He was persecuted, tortured and imprisoned by the Argentine junta in the late 1970s and was exiled in 1979 with his wife to Israel. He was widely honored for his work as a journalist and publisher.
06/01/1921
Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (died 2013)
Marianne Grunberg-Manago was a Soviet-born French biochemist. Her work helped make possible key discoveries about the nature of the genetic code. Grunberg-Manago was the first woman to lead the International Union of Biochemistry and the 400-year-old French Academy of Sciences. In 2026 she was confirmed to be one of the 72 women to have their names added to the sides of the Eiffel Tower. She was the first woman to lead the Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire and they award the Marianne Grunberg-Manago medal.
Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (died 1998)
Emmett Cary Middlecoff was an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour from 1947 to 1961. His 39 Tour wins place him tied for tenth all-time, and he won three major championships. Middlecoff graduated as a dentist, but gave up his practice at age 26 to become a full-time Tour golfer.
06/01/1920
Henry Corden, Canadian-born American actor (died 2005)
Henry Corden was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for assuming the voice of Fred Flintstone after the death of Alan Reed in 1977. His official debut as Fred Flintstone was in a 1965 Hanna-Barbera record, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in Songs from Mary Poppins, and he also provided the singing voice for Reed in the 1966 theatrical film The Man Called Flintstone and the Hanna-Barbera specials Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid like You Doing in a Place like This? (1966) and Energy: A National Issue (1977). He took over the role as Fred Flintstone full time in 1977 starting with the syndicated weekday series Fred Flintstone and Friends for which he provided voice-overs on brief bumper clips shown in between segments.
John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (died 2004)
John Maynard Smith was a British theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a second degree in genetics under the biologist J. B. S. Haldane. Maynard Smith was instrumental in the application of game theory to evolution with George R. Price, and theorised on other problems such as the evolution of sex and signalling theory.
Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (died 2012)
Sun Myung Moon was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification Church, whose members, popularly known as "Moonies", consider him and his wife, Hak Ja Han, to be their "True Parents". The church is widely noted for its "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies.
Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 1999)
Early Wynn Jr., nicknamed "Gus", was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, during his 23-year MLB career. Wynn was identified as one of the most intimidating pitchers in the game, having combined his powerful fastball with a hard attitude toward batters. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
06/01/1917
Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (died 2005)
Koo Chen-fu, also known as C.F. Koo, was a Taiwanese businessman, diplomat, and film producer. He led the Koos Group of companies from 1940 until his death. As a chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Koo arranged the first direct talks between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China since 1949 and served as Taiwan's negotiator in both the 1993 and 1998 Wang-Koo summit.
06/01/1916
Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (died 1978)
Pak Mok-wol was an influential Korean poet and academic.
06/01/1915
Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (died 2015)
William Donlon Edwards was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a member of the United States House of Representatives from California for 32 years in the late 20th century.
John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (died 2001)
John Cunningham Lilly was an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher, writer, and inventor. He was a member of a group of counterculture thinkers that included Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and Werner Erhard, all frequent visitors to the Lilly home. He often stirred controversy, especially among mainstream scientists.
Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (died 1973)
Alan Wilson Watts was a British and American writer, speaker, and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience.
06/01/1914
Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (died 1989)
Godfrey Edward Arnold, born as Gottfried Eduard Arnold, was an Austrian American professor of medicine and researcher. His studies centered on speech, speech disorder and clinical communicology.
06/01/1913
Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (died 2001)
Edward Gierek was a Polish communist politician who served as the de facto leader of the Polish People's Republic between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as the First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR).
Loretta Young, American actress (died 2000)
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1916 to 1989. She received numerous honors including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards as well as two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in film and television.
06/01/1912
Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (died 1994)
Jacques Ellul was a French born philosopher, sociologist, lay theologian, resistance fighter and professor. Noted as a Christian anarchist, Ellul was a longtime professor of History and the Sociology of Institutions on the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences at the University of Bordeaux. A prolific writer, he authored more than 60 books and more than 600 articles over his lifetime, many of which discussed propaganda, the impact of technology on society, and the interaction between religion and politics.
Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer, and humanitarian (died 1991)
Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz, known professionally as Danny Thomas, was an American entertainer, producer, and philanthropist. After launching his career in the 1940s in radio and cinema, he created and starred in the 1953–1964 television sitcom Make Room for Daddy / The Danny Thomas Show, and went on to produce a number of successful television programs. In 1962, he leveraged his celebrity status to establish St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a leading center in pediatrics research and treatment, with a focus on pediatric cancer. He was the father of Marlo Thomas, Terre Thomas, and Tony Thomas.
06/01/1910
Kid Chocolate, Cuban boxer (died 1988)
Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo, better known as Kid Chocolate, was a Cuban boxer who enjoyed great success both in the boxing ring and outside it during the 1930s. Chocolate boxed professionally between 1927 and 1938. His record was 136 wins, 10 losses and 6 draws, 51 wins coming by knockout and one no-decision bout, also making Ring magazine's list of boxers with 50 or more career knockout wins. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
Wright Morris, American author and photographer (died 1998)
Wright Marion Morris was an American novelist, photographer, and essayist. He is known for his portrayals of the people and artifacts of the Great Plains in words and pictures, as well as for experimenting with narrative forms.
06/01/1903
Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (died 1993)
Maurice Abravanel was an American classical music conductor. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony for over 30 years.
06/01/1900
Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia (died 1961)
Maria, was Queen of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1922 to 1929 and Queen of Yugoslavia from 1929 to 1934 as the wife of King Alexander I. She was the mother of King Peter II. Her citizenship was revoked, and her property was confiscated by the Yugoslav communist regime in 1947, but she was posthumously rehabilitated in 2014.
06/01/1899
Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (died 1968)
Heinz Heinrich Nordhoff was a German engineer who led the rebuilding of Volkswagen (VW) after World War II. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine on Feb. 15, 1954.
06/01/1898
James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (died 1965)
James Michael Christopher Fitzmaurice DFC was an Irish aviation pioneer. He was a member of the crew of the Bremen, which made the first successful trans-Atlantic aircraft flight from East to West on 12–13 April 1928.
06/01/1891
Ted McDonald, Australian cricketer (died 1937)
Edgar Arthur "Ted" McDonald was a cricketer who played for Tasmania, Victoria, Lancashire and Australia, as well as being an Australian rules footballer who played with Launceston Football Club, Essendon Football Club, and Fitzroy Football Club before totally concentrating on cricket. Despite a short international career, he was considered by many cricketers as well as commentators to be one of the best fast bowlers of his generation.
06/01/1889
Dida Dederding, Danish doctor and academic (died 1955)
Dida Dagmar Mary Dederding was a Danish doctor and academic who specialised in inner ear pathology and women's sexual health. She was also known for her work on Ménière's disease, and her theory that it was caused by a water imbalance.
06/01/1883
Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (died 1931)
Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān, usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist. He was also considered a philosopher, although he himself rejected the title. He is best known as the author of The Prophet, which was first published in the United States in 1923 and has since become one of the best-selling books of all time, having been translated into more than 100 languages.
06/01/1882
Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (died 1965)
Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli, was an Albanian-American writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, bishop, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America who served as Prime Minister and regent of Albania in 1924 during the June Revolution.
Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1961)
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time House minority leader, and a 25-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years.
06/01/1881
Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (died 1944)
Ion Minulescu was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, short story writer, journalist, literary critic, and playwright. Often publishing his works under the pseudonyms I. M. Nirvan and Koh-i-Noor, he journeyed to Paris, where he was heavily influenced by the growing Symbolist movement and Parisian Bohemianism. A herald of Romania's own Symbolist movement, he had a major influence on local modernist literature, and was among the first local poets to use free verse.
06/01/1880
Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (died 1940)
Thomas Edwin Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He was one of Hollywood's first Western stars and helped define the genre as it emerged in the early days of the cinema.
06/01/1878
Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (died 1970)
Dame Adeline Genée DBE, born Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensenα, was a Danish-British ballet dancer.
Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (died 1967)
Carl August Sandburg was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg was widely regarded as "a major figure in contemporary literature", especially for volumes of his collected verse, including Chicago Poems (1916), Cornhuskers (1918), and Smoke and Steel (1920). He enjoyed "unrivaled appeal as a poet in his day, perhaps because the breadth of his experiences connected him with so many strands of American life". When he died in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson observed that "Carl Sandburg was more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius. He was America."
06/01/1874
Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (died 1948)
Fred Niblo was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer.
06/01/1872
Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (died 1915)
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist. Initially influenced by Frédéric Chopin, he composed in a relatively tonal, late-Romantic idiom. Later, independently of his contemporary Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed a highly dissonant musical language that transcended traditional tonality without being strictly atonal, aligning with his personal brand of metaphysics. He embraced the concepts of Gesamtkunstwerk and synesthesia, creating a colour-coded circle of fifths inspired by theosophy to associate colours with specific harmonic tones. Scriabin is widely considered the primary Russian symbolist composer and a major figure of the Russian Silver Age.
06/01/1870
Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (died 1944)
Gustav Adolf Bauer was a German Social Democratic Party leader and the chancellor of Germany from June 1919 to March 1920. Prior to that, he was minister of labour in the last cabinet of the German Empire and during most of the German Revolution that preceded the formal establishment of the Weimar Republic.
06/01/1861
Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (died 1947)
Victor Pierre Horta was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theorist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels (1892–93), often considered the first Art Nouveau house, is based on the work of Viollet-le-Duc. The curving stylized vegetal forms that Horta used in turn influenced many others, including the French architect Hector Guimard, who used it in the first Art Nouveau apartment building he designed in Paris and in the entrances he designed for the Paris Metro. He is also considered a precursor of modern architecture for his open floor plans and his innovative use of iron, steel and glass.
George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (died 1940)
George Exton Lloyd was an Anglican bishop and theologian who helped found Lloydminster, a city on the border of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. He served as Bishop of Saskatchewan from 1922 to 1931.
06/01/1860
Morton Selten, British actor (died 1939)
Morton Selten was a British stage and film actor. He was occasionally credited as Morton Selton.
06/01/1859
Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (died 1938)
Samuel Alexander was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college. He is now best known as an advocate of emergentism in biology.
06/01/1857
Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (died 1931)
Hugh Mahon was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held ministerial office in the party's earliest governments. He served terms as Postmaster-General (1904), Minister for Home Affairs (1908–1909), and Minister for External Affairs (1914–1916). However, Mahon is chiefly known as the only person to be expelled from the Parliament of Australia, for making "seditious and disloyal utterances" about the British Empire. He failed to win his seat back at the by-election.
William Russell, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Massachusetts (died 1896)
William Eustis Russell was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Cambridge, and was the 37th governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1891 to 1894. He was the state's second youngest-ever chief executive, and was the first Democrat since the American Civil War to serve more than one term in that office.
06/01/1856
Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1909)
Giuseppe Martucci was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. Sometimes called "the Italian Brahms", Martucci was notable among Italian composers of the era in that he dedicated his entire career to absolute music, and wrote no operas. As a composer and teacher he was influential in reviving Italian interest in non-operatic music. Nevertheless, as a conductor, he did help to introduce Wagner's operas to Italy and also gave important early concerts of British music there.
06/01/1842
Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (died 1901)
Clarence Rivers King was an American geologist, mountaineer, and author. He was the first director of the United States Geological Survey from 1879 to 1881. Nominated by Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes, King was noted for his exploration of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
06/01/1838
Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (died 1920)
Max Bruch was a German Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.
06/01/1832
Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (died 1883)
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, especially those for the Vulgate Bible and Dante's Divine Comedy. These achieved great international success, and he became renowned for printmaking, although his role was normally as the designer only; at the height of his career some 40 block-cutters were employed to cut his drawings onto the wooden printing blocks, usually also signing the image.
06/01/1822
Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (died 1890)
Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann was a German businessman and an influential archaeologist. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeological excavator of Hisarlık, now presumed to be the site of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His work lent weight to the idea that Homer's Iliad reflects historical events. Schliemann's excavation of nine layers of archaeological remains has been criticized as destructive of significant historical artefacts, including the layer that is believed to be the Homeric Troy.
06/01/1811
Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (died 1874)
Charles Sumner was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American advocate for the abolition of slavery, and after the war he was a key figure in the Reconstruction era, during which he and other Radical Republicans successfully fought to end slavery and ensure basic rights for Black Americans. He continued advocating for racial equality until his death, lobbying in his final days for a civil rights bill that served as a model for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Historians credit Sumner with coining the phrase "equality before the law," which he first used as part of an early attempt to integrate Boston's public school system.
06/01/1808
Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (died 1864)
Joseph Pitty Couthouy was an American naval officer, conchologist, and invertebrate palaeontologist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he entered the Boston Latin School in 1820. He married Mary Greenwood Wild on 9 March 1832.
06/01/1807
Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (died 1891)
Joseph Petzval was a mathematician, inventor, and physicist best known for his work in optics. He was born in the town of Szepesbéla in the Kingdom of Hungary.
06/01/1803
Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (died 1888)
Henri Herz was a virtuoso pianist, composer and piano manufacturer, Austrian by birth and French by nationality and domicile. He was a professor in the Paris Conservatoire for more than thirty years. Among his major works are eight piano concertos, a piano sonata, rondos, nocturnes, waltzes, marches, fantasias, and numerous sets of variations.
06/01/1799
Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (died 1831)
Jedediah Strong Smith was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and the Southwest during the early 19th century. After 75 years of obscurity following his death, Smith was rediscovered as the American whose explorations led to the use of the 20-mile (32 km)-wide South Pass as the dominant route across the Continental Divide for pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
06/01/1795
Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (died 1871)
Anselme Payen was a French chemist known for discovering the enzyme diastase, and the carbohydrate cellulose.
06/01/1793
James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (died 1862)
James Madison Porter was an American politician who served as the 18th United States Secretary of War and a founder of Lafayette College.
06/01/1785
Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (died 1860)
Andreas Moustoxydis, sometimes Latinized as Mustoxydes or in the Italian form Andrea Mustoxidi, was a Greek historian and philologist from Corfu.
06/01/1766
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (died 1840)
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco, also known as Doctor Francia or to Paraguayans of his time as Karai Guasu, was a lawyer, politician, statesman and the first dictator (1814–1840) of Paraguay following its 1811 independence from the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. His official title was "Supreme and Perpetual Dictator of Paraguay", but he was popularly known as El Supremo.
06/01/1745
Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (died 1799)
The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune Annonay in Ardèche, France. They invented the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique, which launched the first confirmed piloted ascent by humans in 1783, carrying Jacques-Étienne.
06/01/1714
Percivall Pott, English surgeon (died 1788)
Percivall Pott was an English surgeon, one of the founders of orthopaedics, and the first scientist to demonstrate that cancer may be caused by an environmental carcinogen, namely chimney sweeps' carcinoma. Many diseases are his namesake including Pott's fracture, Pott's disease of the spine, and Pott's puffy tumour. It is believed that Pott's standard of living contributed to the rise of the surgeon within social standings.
06/01/1702
José de Nebra, Spanish composer (died 1768)
José Melchor Baltasar Gaspar Nebra Blasco was a Spanish composer and organist from the Baroque period. His work combines Spanish traditions with the Italian style of his day.
06/01/1695
Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (died 1750)
Giuseppe Francesco Gaspare Melchiorre Baldassare Sammartini was an Italian composer and oboist during the late Baroque and early Classical era. Although he was from Milan, most of his professional life was spent in London and with Frederick, the Prince of Wales. He also had a younger brother, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, who likewise became a renowned composer.
06/01/1673
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (died 1744)
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, was a British landowner and politician who represented Hereford in the English and British House of Commons from 1698 until 1714, when he succeeded to his father's peerage as Baron Chandos and started sitting in the House of Lords. He was subsequently created Earl of Carnarvon, and then Duke of Chandos in 1719.
06/01/1655
Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (died 1720)
Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia as the third and final wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Before her marriage and during her widowhood, she led an ascetic and monastic life, translating the Bible from Latin to German and defended the Order of the Discalced Carmelites. Reputed to be one of the most educated and virtuous women of her time, Eleonore took part in the political affairs during the reign of her husband and sons, especially regarding court revenue and foreign relationships. She served as regent for a few months in 1711, period in which she signed the Treaty of Szatmár, which recognized the rights of her descendants to the Hungarian throne.
06/01/1632
Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (died 1716)
Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton was a Scottish peeress.
06/01/1617
Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (died 1673)
Christoffer Gabel was a Danish statesman. He was the father of Vice Governor-general of Norway, Frederik Gabel.
06/01/1595
Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (died 1650)
Claude Favre de Vaugelas was a Savoyard grammarian and man of letters. Although a lifelong courtier, Claude Favre was widely known by the name of one of the landed estates he owned as seigneur of Vaugelas and baron of Peroges.
06/01/1587
Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (died 1645)
Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, 1st Duke of Sanlúcar, 3rd Count of Olivares,, known as the Count-Duke of Olivares, was a Spanish royal favourite of Philip IV and minister. He was appointed as Grandee on 10 April 1621, a day after the ending of the Twelve Years' Truce, and was a key figure that shaped state policy in Spain until January 1643. During his rule, he over-exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform. His policy of committing Spain to recapture Holland led to a renewal of the Eighty Years' War while Spain was also embroiled in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). In addition, his attempts to centralise power and increase wartime taxation led to revolts in Catalonia and in Portugal, which brought about his downfall.
06/01/1561
Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (died 1656)
Thomas Fincke was a Danish mathematician and physicist, and a professor at the University of Copenhagen for more than 60 years.
06/01/1538
Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (died 1612)
Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria was an English lady-in-waiting to Mary I who, after the Queen's death, married Gómez Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, 1st Duke of Feria and went to live in Spain, where she would become a magnet for exiled English Catholics. She maintained a correspondence with Queen Elizabeth, and also corresponded with contacts sympathetic to the Catholic cause in England. Within Spain she championed the cause of exiled English fallen on hard times. On her husband's death in 1571 she took over the management of his estates. She died in Spain on 13 January 1612 and was buried at the monastery of Santa Clara in Zafra.
06/01/1525
Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (died 1602)
Caspar Peucer was a German reformer, physician, and scholar of Sorbian origin.
06/01/1500
John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (died 1569)
John of Ávila was a Spanish priest, preacher, scholastic author, and religious mystic, who has been declared a saint and Doctor of the Church by the Catholic Church. He is called the "Apostle of Andalusia", for his extensive ministry in that region.
06/01/1493
Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (died 1552)
Olof Persson, sometimes Petersson, better known under the Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri, was a clergyman, writer, judge, and major contributor to the Protestant Reformation in Sweden. His brother, Laurentius Petri, became the first Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop of Sweden.
06/01/1488
Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (died 1540)
Helius Eobanus Hessus was a German Latin poet and later a Lutheran humanist. He was born at Halgehausen in Hesse-Kassel.
06/01/1486
Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (died 1556)
Martin Agricola was a German composer of Renaissance music and a music theorist.
06/01/1412
Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (died 1431)
Joan of Arc is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Stating that she acted under divine guidance, she became a military leader who gained recognition as a savior of France.
06/01/1384
Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (died 1408)
Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent, 5th Baron Holland, KG was the Earl of Kent from 1400 to 1408. He was the 106th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1403.
06/01/1367
Richard II of England (died 1400)
Richard II, also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince and Joan of Kent. The Black Prince died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III. Upon the King's death, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne.
06/01/1256
Gertrude the Great, German mystic (died 1302)
Gertrude the Great or Gertrude of Helfta was a German Benedictine nun and mystic who was a member of the Monastery of Helfta. While herself a Benedictine, she had strong ties to the Cistercian Order; her monastery in Helfta is currently run by Cistercian nuns.
Lives Remembered on 6th January
On 6th January, 88 remarkable people passed away — from 786 to 2023. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
06/01/2023
Mary Lou Kownacki, American Roman Catholic nun, peace activist, and writer (born 1941)
Sister Mary Lou Kownacki was a Roman Catholic Benedictine nun, peace activist, and writer. She was a close friend and collaborator of fellow nun and activist Joan Chittister. Kownacki was arrested 13 times over the course of her life for activism-related offenses.
06/01/2022
Peter Bogdanovich, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1939)
Peter Bogdanovich was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for Film Culture and Esquire and finally becoming a prominent filmmaker of the New Hollywood movement. He received accolades including a BAFTA Award and Grammy Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat (born 1927)
Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his other accolades are two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In 1999, he was ranked number 22 among the "American Film Institute's 100 Stars". Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Francisco Sionil Jose, Philippine novelist (born 1924)
Francisco Sionil José was a Filipino writer who was one of the most widely read in the English language. A National Artist of the Philippines for Literature, which was bestowed upon him in 2001, José's novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. His works—written in English—have been translated into 28 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch. He was often considered the leading Filipino candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
06/01/2021
Ashli Babbitt, American participant in the January 6 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old American United States Air Force veteran and pool supply owner, was fatally shot by an officer during the attack on the United States Capitol. She was part of a mob of supporters of then-outgoing U.S. president Donald Trump who stormed the United States Capitol seeking to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. She was a supporter of QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory.
Gordon Renwick, Canadian ice hockey administrator and businessman (born 1935)
Gordon Ralph Renwick was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and was the team president of the Galt Hornets.
James Cross, British diplomat kidnapped during the 1970 October crisis in Québec (born 1921)
James Richard Cross was an Irish-born British diplomat who served in India, Malaysia and Canada. While posted in Canada, Cross was kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) during the October Crisis of October 1970. He was ultimately released almost two months later, and subsequently returned to the United Kingdom.
06/01/2020
Richard Maponya, South African businessman (born 1920)
Richard John Pelwana Maponya, GCOB, was a South African entrepreneur and property developer best known for building a business empire despite the restrictions of apartheid and his determination to see the Soweto township develop economically.
06/01/2019
José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (born 1923)
José Ramón Fernández Álvarez was a Cuban Communist leader who was a vice-president of the Council of Ministers.
Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (born 1942)
Lamin Sanneh was a Gambian American scholar who was the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School and Professor of History at Yale University.
W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (born 1932)
William Morgan Sheppard, also credited by his full name or as Morgan Sheppard, was an English actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes, in a career that spanned over 50 years.
Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (born 1917)
Paul Patrick Streeten was an Austrian-born British economics professor. He was a professor at Boston University, US until his retirement. He has been a distinguished academic working on development economics since the 1950s.
06/01/2017
Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (born 1923)
Octavio Lepage Barreto was a Venezuelan politician who served as the acting president of Venezuela from 21 May 1993 to 5 June 1993.
Om Puri, Indian actor (born 1950)
Om Prakash Puri was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as English, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Urdu, and Marathi films, as well as independent and art films and also starred in several international cinema. He is widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema. He won two National Film Awards for Best Actor, two Filmfare Awards and India's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri in 1990. In 2004, he was made an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
06/01/2016
Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (born 1929)
Daniel Patrick Harrington Jr. was an American Emmy Award–winning stage and television actor, best known for his role as building superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–1984). His father Pat Harrington Sr. was also an actor.
Florence King, American journalist and author (born 1936)
Florence Virginia King was an American novelist, essayist and columnist.
Christy O'Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (born 1948)
Christopher O'Connor ; 19 August 1948 – 6 January 2016) was an Irish professional golfer. He is often known for defeating American Fred Couples at the 1989 Ryder Cup, helping Europe secure the trophy.
Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (born 1925)
Silvana Pampanini was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation when she took part in the 1946 Miss Italia contest and the following year she started her movie career. Madame Pampanini was born into a well-off family, she was educated, and studied opera and ballet since her childhood. According to interviews, Pampanini was a contralto with notable voice extension. However, she also said many times over the years that she preferred to pursue a career in cinema as it required less training and it was much less demanding than a career as an opera singer.
06/01/2015
Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (born 1923)
Sir Basil John Mason was a British expert on cloud physics. He was Director-General of the Meteorological Office from 1965 to 1983 and Chancellor of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) from 1994 to 1996.
06/01/2014
Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (born 1919)
Marina Ginestà i Coloma was a Catalan communist born in France, member of the Unified Socialist Youth, and an iconic figure of the Spanish Civil War. She became famous due to the photo taken by Juan Guzmán on the rooftop of the Hotel Colón, Plaça de Catalunya 9, Barcelona during the July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona. It is considered one of the most iconic photographs of the Spanish Civil War.
Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (born 1947)
Nelson Ned d'Ávila Pinto was a Brazilian singer-songwriter. He built a career as a singer and composer of sentimental, suffering songs, rising to popularity in Brazil and Latin America in 1969 and becoming known internationally, especially in Portugal, France and Spain. In 1971 he released his first Spanish album, Canción Popular, and performed in the US, Latin America, Europe, and Africa.
Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (born 1916)
Julian B. Rotter was an American psychologist known for developing social learning theory and research into locus of control. He was a faculty member at Ohio State University and then the University of Connecticut. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Rotter as the 64th most eminent and 18th most widely cited psychologist of the 20th century. A 2014 study published in 2014 placed him at #54 among psychologists whose careers spanned the post-World War II era.
06/01/2013
Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (born 1923)
Ruth Carter Stevenson was an American art collector. She was the founder of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
06/01/2012
Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (born 1928)
Robert Wentworth John Holness was a British radio and television presenter. He presented the British version of Blockbusters.
06/01/2011
Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (born 1967)
Uchenna Kizito Okafor, often shortened to Uche Okafor was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a defender. He made 34 international appearances for the Nigeria national team.
06/01/2008
Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn) (born 1920)
Shmuel Berenbaum was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York.
06/01/2007
Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (born 1912)
Roberta Morgan Wohlstetter was an American historian of U.S. military intelligence. In 1962 she authored Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision. The book was based on a several-year study of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and is still considered the foundational study of military surprises. President Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985.
06/01/2006
Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (born 1933)
Louis Allen Rawls was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". He also worked as a film, television, and voice actor. He was a three-time winner of the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy Award.
06/01/2005
Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (born 1932)
Eileen Christine Desmond was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Health and Minister for Social Welfare from 1981 to 1982. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to 1969 and 1973 to 1987. She also served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Munster constituency from 1979 to 1981 and as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1969 to 1973.
Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (born 1929)
Lois Elsa Hole, CM, AOE DStJ was a Canadian politician, businesswoman, academician, professional gardener and best-selling author. She was the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from 10 February 2000 until her death on 6 January 2005. She was known as the "Queen of Hugs" for breaking with protocol and hugging almost everyone she met, including journalists, diplomats and other politicians.
Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (born 1933)
Tarquinio Provini was an Italian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a two-time world champion in road racing. Provini was also a four-time Isle of Man TT winner and won 13 Italian national championships.
06/01/2004
Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (born 1954)
Pierre Charles was a Dominican politician who served as Prime Minister of Dominica from 2000 to his death in 2004. At the time of his death, he was also serving as Member of Parliament for Grand Bay since 1985.
06/01/1999
Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (born 1962)
Michel Petrucciani was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. Despite his health condition and relatively short life, he became one of the most accomplished jazz pianists of his generation.
06/01/1995
Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (born 1926)
Yossel Mashel "Joe" Slovo was a South African politician, anti-apartheid activist, and revolutionary. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP), a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC), and a commander of the ANC's military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
06/01/1993
Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (born 1917)
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of early bebop styles. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality have made him an enduring icon.
Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (born 1938)
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of the 20th century, as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time.
06/01/1992
Steve Gilpin, New Zealand vocalist and songwriter (born 1949)
Stephen Ellis Gilpin was a New Zealand singer and a founder of new wave band Mi-Sex.
06/01/1991
Alan Wiggins, American baseball player (born 1958)
Alan Anthony Wiggins was an American professional baseball player. He was a second baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres and Baltimore Orioles between 1981 and 1987. A speedy leadoff hitter, Wiggins had his best season with the pennant-winning Padres in 1984. He batted one slot ahead of Tony Gwynn in the lineup that year, and the pair's offensive production helped the Padres win the National League Championship Series (NLCS) and advance to the World Series.
06/01/1990
Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (born 1949)
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and screen actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev. Charlie Andrews in the 1982 Oscar-winning film Gandhi.
Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)
Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov was a Soviet physicist who shared the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm "for the discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect".
06/01/1984
Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (born 1898)
Ernest Laszlo, A.S.C. was a Hungarian-American cinematographer for over 60 films, and was known for his frequent collaborations with directors Robert Aldrich and Stanley Kramer. He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, and was its president from 1972 to 1974. He was an active member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
06/01/1981
A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (born 1896)
Archibald Joseph Cronin (Cronogue) (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981) was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is The Citadel (1937), about a Scottish physician who serves in a Welsh mining village before achieving success in London, where he becomes disillusioned about the venality and incompetence of some doctors. Cronin knew both areas, as a medical inspector of mines and as a physician in Harley Street. The book exposed unfairness and malpractice in British medicine and helped to inspire the National Health Service.
06/01/1978
Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (born 1899)
Herbert James Munro was a motorcycle racer from New Zealand, famous for setting a motorcycle speed record in the 1000cc Streamliner Modified Fuel category, at Bonneville, on 26 August 1967. This record still stands as of May 2026; Munro was 68 and was riding a 47-year-old machine when he set his last record.
06/01/1974
David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (born 1896)
David Alfaro Siqueiros was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, he was one of the most famous of the "Mexican muralists".
06/01/1972
Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (born 1901)
Chen Yi was a Chinese Communist military commander and politician. He served as Mayor of Shanghai from 1949 to 1958 and as Foreign Minister of China from 1958 to 1972. He is one of Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China.
06/01/1966
Jean Lurçat, French painter (born 1892)
Jean Lurçat was a French artist noted for his role in the revival of contemporary tapestry. He was also a painter and ceramist.
06/01/1949
Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (born 1883)
Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were the historical drama Gone with the Wind, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director, and the fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Fleming has those same two films listed in the top 10 of the American Film Institute's 2007 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list.
06/01/1945
Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (born 1863)
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, also spelt Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky, was a Russian, Ukrainian, and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and radiogeology. He was one of the founders and the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Vladimir Vernadsky is most noted for his 1926 book The Biosphere in which he inadvertently worked to popularize Eduard Suess's 1875 term biosphere, by hypothesizing that life is the geological force that shapes the earth. In 1943 he was awarded the Stalin Prize. Vernadsky's portrait is depicted on the Ukrainian ₴1,000 hryvnia banknote.
06/01/1944
Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (born 1857)
Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer, and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers and reformers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was a pioneer of investigative journalism.
06/01/1942
Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (born 1858)
Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet was a French operatic dramatic soprano.
Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian aristocrat, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (born 1876)
Henri de Baillet-Latour, Count of Baillet-Latour was a Belgian aristocrat and the third president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
06/01/1941
Charley O'Leary, American baseball player and coach (born 1875)
Charles Timothy O'Leary was an American professional baseball shortstop who played eleven seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1904–1912), St. Louis Cardinals (1913), and St. Louis Browns (1934) of Major League Baseball (MLB).
06/01/1937
André Bessette, Canadian saint (born 1845)
André Bessette, C.S.C., commonly known as Brother André and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Catholic Church among French Canadians. He is credited with thousands of reported healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph.
06/01/1934
Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (born 1878)
Herbert Chapman was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th century, before his sudden death in 1934. He is regarded as one of the game's greatest innovators.
06/01/1933
Vladimir de Pachmann, Russian pianist (born 1848)
Vladimir de Pachmann or Pachman was a Russian pianist of German descent. He is known for performing the works of Chopin and for his eccentric performing style.
06/01/1928
Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (born 1876)
Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein was an American track-and-field athlete known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique". He was the first sportsman in the history of the Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. As of 2016, Alvin Kraenzlein is the only track-and-field athlete who has won four individual titles at one Olympics. Kraenzlein is also known for developing a pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling, which allowed him to set two world hurdle records. He is an Olympic Hall of Fame (1984) and National Track and Field Hall of Fame (1974) inductee.
Wilhelm Ramsay, Finnish geologist and professor (born 1865)
Wilhelm Ramsay was a Finnish geologist. He became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1914 and in 1915 was accepted into the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund. He coined the terms Fennoscandia (1900) and Postjotnian (1909). Ramsay also coined the term ijolite.
06/01/1922
Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician and chess player (born 1842)
Jakob Rosanes was a German mathematician who worked on algebraic geometry and invariant theory. He was also a chess master.
06/01/1921
Devil Anse Hatfield, American Confederate guerrilla and leader of the Hatfield clan during the Hatfield-McCoy feud (born 1839)
William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield was the patriarch of the West Virginian Hatfield family who led the family during the Hatfield–McCoy feud.
06/01/1919
Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (born 1858)
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Previously serving six months as vice president under William McKinley, Roosevelt became president after McKinley's assassination in 1901. He was 42 years old upon his first inauguration, making him the youngest person to hold the office.
06/01/1918
Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (born 1845)
Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor was a mathematician who played a pivotal role in the creation of set theory, which has become a fundamental theory in mathematics. Cantor established the importance of one-to-one correspondence between the members of two sets, defined infinite and well-ordered sets, and proved that the real numbers are more numerous than the natural numbers. Cantor's method of proof of this theorem implies the existence of an infinity of infinities. He defined the cardinal and ordinal numbers and their arithmetic. Cantor's work is of great philosophical interest, a fact of which he was well aware.
06/01/1917
Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (born 1834)
Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack was a Dutch legal scholar, economist and historian, who is best known for his work De socialisten: Personen en stelsels.
06/01/1902
Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (born 1830)
Lars Hertervig was a Norwegian painter. His semi-fantastical work with motives from the coastal landscape in the traditional district of Ryfylke is regarded as one of the peaks of Norwegian painting.
06/01/1885
Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (born 1850)
Bharatendu Harishchandra was an Indian poet, writer, and playwright. He authored several dramas, biographical sketches, and travel accounts with the goal of influencing public opinion. Bharatendu Harishchandra is often considered the father of modern Hindi literature and theatre. Some modern Indian authors have described him as a Yug Charan for his writing depicting the exploitative nature of the British Raj.
06/01/1884
Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (born 1822)
Gregor Johann Mendel was an Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno (Brünn), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was born in a German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian Empire and gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics. Though farmers had known for millennia that crossbreeding of animals and plants could favor certain desirable traits, Mendel's pea plant experiments conducted between 1856 and 1863 established many of the rules of heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.
06/01/1882
Richard Henry Dana Jr., American lawyer and politician (born 1815)
Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir Two Years Before the Mast and as an attorney who successfully represented the U.S. government before the U.S. Supreme Court during the Civil War in the Prize Cases. Both as a writer and as a lawyer, he was a champion of the downtrodden, from seamen to fugitive slaves and freedmen.
06/01/1855
Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (born 1779)
Giacomo Costantino Beltrami was an Italian jurist, author, and explorer, known for claiming to have discovered the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1823 while on a trip through much of the United States. In Minnesota, Beltrami and Beltrami County are named for him. He had an extensive network of notable figures for friends and acquaintances, including members of the powerful Medici family.
06/01/1852
Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (born 1809)
Louis Braille was a French educator and the inventor of a reading and writing system named after him, braille, intended for use by visually impaired people. His system is used worldwide and remains virtually unchanged to this day.
06/01/1840
Frances Burney, English author and playwright (born 1752)
Frances Burney, also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post of "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, George III's queen. In 1793, aged 41, she married a French exile, General Alexandre d'Arblay. After a long writing career that gained her a reputation as one of England's foremost literary authors, and after wartime travels that stranded her in France for over a decade, she settled in Bath, England, where she died on 6 January 1840. The first of her four novels, Evelina (1778), was the most successful and remains her most highly regarded, followed by Cecilia (1782). She also wrote a number of plays. She wrote a memoir of her father (1832), and is perhaps best remembered as the author of letters and journals that have been gradually published since 1842, whose influence has overshadowed the reputation of her fiction, establishing her posthumously as a diarist more than as a novelist or playwright.
06/01/1831
Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1766)
Rodolphe Kreutzer was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including La mort d'Abel (1810).
06/01/1829
Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (born 1753)
Josef Dobrovský was a Czech philologist and historian. He was one of the most important figures of the Czech National Revival along with Josef Jungmann.
06/01/1734
John Dennis, English playwright and critic (born 1657)
John Dennis was an English critic and dramatist.
06/01/1731
Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (born 1672)
Étienne François Geoffroy was a French physician and chemist, best known for his 1718 affinity tables. He first contemplated a career as an apothecary, but then decided to practice medicine. He is sometimes known as Geoffroy the Elder.
06/01/1725
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (born 1653)
Chikamatsu Monzaemon , real name Sugimori Nobumori , was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. The Encyclopædia Britannica has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatist." His most famous plays deal with double-suicides of honor-bound lovers. Of his puppet plays, around 70 are jidaimono (時代物), and 24 are sewamono (世話物). The domestic plays are today considered the core of his artistic achievement, particularly works such as The Courier for Hell (1711) and The Love Suicides at Amijima (1721). His histories are viewed less positively, though The Battles of Coxinga (1715) remains praised.
06/01/1693
Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (born 1642)
Mehmed IV, nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to become the second-longest-reigning sultan in Ottoman history after Suleiman the Magnificent. While the initial and final years of his reign were characterized by military defeat and political instability, during his middle years he oversaw the revival of the empire's fortunes associated with the Köprülü era. Mehmed IV was known by contemporaries as a particularly pious ruler, and was referred to as gazi, or "holy warrior" for his role in the many conquests carried out during his long reign.
06/01/1689
Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (born 1617)
Seth Ward was an English mathematician, astronomer, and bishop.
06/01/1616
Philip Henslowe, English impresario (born 1550)
Philip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London.
06/01/1537
Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (born 1510)
Alessandro de' Medici, nicknamed "il Moro" due to his dark complexion, Duke of Penne and the first Duke of the Florentine Republic, was ruler of Florence from 1530 to his death in 1537. The first Medici to rule Florence as a hereditary monarch, Alessandro was also the last Medici from the senior line of the family to lead the city. His assassination at the hands of distant cousin Lorenzaccio caused the title of Duke to pass to Cosimo I de Medici, from the family's junior branch.
Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (born 1481)
Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and later Sangallo during the erection of the new St. Peter's. He returned to his native Siena after the Sack of Rome (1527) where he was employed as architect to the Republic. For the Sienese he built new fortifications for the city and designed a remarkable dam on the Bruna River near Giuncarico. He seems to have moved back to Rome permanently by 1535. He died there the following year and was buried in the Rotunda of the Pantheon, near Raphael.
06/01/1478
Uzun Hasan, Shahanshah of the Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu dynasty (born 1423)
Uzun Hasan or Uzun Hassan was a ruler of the Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu state and is generally considered to be its strongest ruler. Hasan was from the Bayandur tribe, and ruled between 1452 and 1478, presiding over the confederation's territorial apex, when it included parts or all of present-day Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Transcaucasia and Syria.
06/01/1448
Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (born 1418)
Christopher of Bavaria was King of Denmark, Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union. He ruled after the Kalmar Union's King Erik of Pomerania was deposed. Early in his reign, he put down two peasant rebellions in Funen and Jutland. He was disliked by the Swedish nobles, as they pointed to his inability to manage harvest failures and to stop Erik's plundering. They also questioned his foreign background.
06/01/1406
Roger Walden, English bishop
Roger Walden was an English treasurer and Bishop of London.
06/01/1358
Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
Gertrude van der Oosten was a Dutch Beguine who was considered a mystic and had received the Stigmata.
06/01/1275
Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (born 1175)
Raymond of Penyafort was a Catalan friar with the Dominicans who was a canon lawyer. He compiled the Decretals of Gregory IX, a collection of canonical laws that remained a major part of Church law until the 1917 Code of Canon Law abrogated it. He was canonized by Pope Clement VIII in 1601 and is the patron saint of canon lawyers.
06/01/1233
Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (born 1171)
Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, sometimes known as Maud and sometimes known with the surname de Kevelioc. She was a daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, and the wife of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon.
06/01/1148
Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (born 1100)
Gilbert Fitz Gilbert de Clare, was created Earl of Pembroke in 1138.
06/01/1088
Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (born 999)
Berengar of Tours, in Latin Berengarius Turonensis, was an 11th-century French Christian theologian and archdeacon of Angers, a scholar whose leadership of the cathedral school at Chartres set an example of intellectual inquiry through the revived tools of dialectic that was soon followed at cathedral schools of Laon and Paris. Berengar of Tours was distinguished from mainline Catholic theology by two views: his assertion of the supremacy of Scripture and his denial of transubstantiation. According to Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa, "Berengarius ... withdrew his error and acknowledged the truth of the faith."
06/01/0786
Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (born 756)
Abo of Tiflis was a Christian martyr of Arab origin, who went on to practice his faith in what is now Tbilisi, the capital of present-day Georgia.
Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 6th January
Christian Feast day: André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
André Bessette, C.S.C., commonly known as Brother André and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Catholic Church among French Canadians. He is credited with thousands of reported healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph.
Christian Feast day: January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
January 5 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 7
Christmas: Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
Christmas is an annual celebration commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Christmas preparation begins on the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is followed by Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries and is observed by a majority of Christians; it is also celebrated culturally by many non-Christians and forms an integral part of the annual holiday season.
Christmas: Christmas Eve (Russia)
Christmas in Russia, called Е́же по пло́ти Рождество Господа Бога и Спа́са нашего Иисуса Христа in the Russian Orthodox Church, is a holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on 25 December on the Julian calendar, which corresponds to 7 January on the Gregorian calendar. It is considered a high holiday by the church, one of the 12 Great Feasts, and one of only four of which are preceded by a period of fasting. Traditional Russian Christmas festivities start on Christmas Eve, which is celebrated on 6 January [O.S. 24 December].
Christmas: Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
In Ukraine, Christmas celebrations traditionally start on Christmas Eve, and last until 6 January, the date of the celebration of the baptism of Jesus, known in Ukraine as Vodokhreshche or Yordan, according to the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the Catholic Church in Ukraine and Ukrainian Protestants.
Epiphany or Three Kings' Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances: Little Christmas (Ireland)
Little Christmas, also known as Old Christmas, is one of the traditional names among Irish Christians and the Amish for 6 January, which is also known more widely as the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated after the conclusion of the twelve days of Christmastide. Epiphany, observed on 6 January, is preceded by Twelfth Night on 5 January. Believers prepare for Old Christmas through fasting, which is opened on Old Christmas through the consumption of Christmas dinner. The emphasis of Old Christmas celebrations is on reflecting on the birth of Jesus through attending church services and visiting with family. Popular Little Christmas customs include burning Christmas candles, singing Christmas carols, Epiphany singing, chalking the door, and having one's house blessed.
Epiphany or Three Kings' Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances: Þrettándinn (Iceland)
Christmas in Iceland (Jól) starts four weeks before proper Christmas, which begins on 24 December (Aðfangadagur) and ends thirteen days later on 6 January.
What Happened on 6th January?
47 significant events took place on Thursday, 6th January — stretching from 1066 to 2025. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
06/01/2025
Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister of Canada after nine years in office.
Justin Pierre James Trudeau is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament (MP) for Papineau from 2008 until 2025.
06/01/2021
Supporters of U.S. president Donald Trump storm the United States Capitol Building to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in four deaths and evacuation of the U.S. Congress.
Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
06/01/2019
Muhammad V of Kelantan resigns as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, becoming the first monarch to do so.
Muhammad V has been the 29th sultan of Kelantan since ascending to the throne in 2010. He previously reigned as King of Malaysia from 2016 until his abdication in 2019.
06/01/2017
Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
On January 6, 2017, a mass shooting occurred at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida, United States, near the baggage claim in Terminal 2. Five people were killed while six others were injured in the shooting. About 36 people sustained injuries in the ensuing panic. Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, who flew in to the airport from Alaska and committed the shooting with a Walther PPS 9mm semi-automatic pistol, was disarmed and taken into custody by a Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO) deputy within 85 seconds of the first shots being fired. Santiago was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and pleaded guilty to avoid possible execution. On August 17, 2018, Santiago was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences plus 120 years in prison.
06/01/2012
Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
On 6 January 2012, a bomb exploded in the Al-Midan district of Damascus, Syria. According to the Syrian government, a suicide bomber attacked buses carrying riot police shortly before an anti-government protest was to begin. It said that 26 people were killed and over 60 were injured. Most of the victims were civilians, though the Syrian government showed footage of what it claimed to be the funeral of 11 police officers killed in the attack.
06/01/2005
Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner during the American Civil Rights Movement.
Edgar Ray Killen was an American Ku Klux Klan organizer who planned and directed the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three civil rights activists participating in the Freedom Summer of 1964. He was found guilty in state court of three counts of manslaughter on June 21, 2005, the forty-first anniversary of the crime, and sentenced to 60 years in prison. He appealed the verdict, but the sentence was upheld on April 12, 2007, by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. He died in prison on January 11, 2018, at age 93.
A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
The Graniteville train crash was an American rail disaster that occurred on January 6, 2005, in Graniteville, South Carolina. At 2:39 am EST, two Norfolk Southern freight trains collided near the Avondale Mills plant in Graniteville. Nine people were killed and over 250 people were treated for toxic chlorine exposure. The crash was determined to be caused by a misaligned railroad switch.
06/01/1995
A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 1,902,590 people. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is classified as a highly urbanized city. With 44,935 inhabitants per square kilometer (116,380/sq mi), Manila is one of the world's most densely populated cities proper.
06/01/1994
U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Nancy Ann Kerrigan is an American former figure skater. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1993 US National Figure Skating Championship. Kerrigan was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.
06/01/1993
Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
The Border Security Force (BSF) is a central armed police force under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was formed in the wake of the Indo-Pak War of 1965 to ensure the security of India's borders and for related matters.
Four people are killed when Lufthansa CityLine Flight 5634 crashes on approach to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, France.
On 6 January 1993, Lufthansa CityLine Flight 5634 departed Bremen Airport for Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport at 17:30. The aircraft operating the flight was a Dash 8-311, with 23 passengers and crew.
06/01/1992
President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
The president of Georgia is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia as well as the commander-in-chief of the Defence Forces. The constitution defines the presidential office as "the guarantor of the country's unity and national independence."
06/01/1989
Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
Satwant Singh was one of the bodyguards, along with Beant Singh, who assassinated the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, at her New Delhi residence on 31 October 1984. The assassination was in retaliation for Indira Gandhi's Operation Blue Star. He was executed for his role in the assassination in 1989.
06/01/1974
In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the United States implements the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, switching to permanent daylight saving time for a trial period.
In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Egypt and Syria launched a large-scale surprise attack in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the territories that they had lost to Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Aeroflot Flight H-75 crashes near Mukachevo, killing 24.
Aeroflot Flight H-75 was an aviation accident involving an Antonov An-24B aircraft operated by the Kiev United Aviation Squadron (Aeroflot), which occurred on 6 January 1974 near Mukachevo, resulting in the deaths of all 24 people on board.
06/01/1969
Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 crashes in Lafayette Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States, killing 11.
Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 was a Convair CV-580, that crashed while attempting to land at Bradford Regional Airport in Bradford, Pennsylvania on January 6, 1969. Eleven of the 28 occupants on board were killed.
06/01/1968
Aeroflot Flight 1668 crashes near Olyokminsk, killing 45.
Aeroflot Flight 1668 was a scheduled flight from Yakutsk to Novosibirsk with stopovers at Olekminsk, Lensk, Ust-Kut and Krasnoyarsk that crashed shortly after take-off from Olekminsk on 6 January 1968. All 45 people on board died. The subsequent investigation was unable to determine the root cause of the accident.
06/01/1967
Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
06/01/1960
National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
National Airlines Flight 2511 was a United States domestic passenger flight from New York City to Miami, Florida. On January 6, 1960, the Douglas DC-6 serving the flight exploded in midair. The National Airlines aircraft was carrying 5 crew members and 29 passengers, all of whom perished. The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation concluded that the plane was brought down by a bomb made of dynamite. No criminal charges were ever filed, nor was the blame for the bombing ever determined, though a suicide bombing is suspected. The investigation remains open.
The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties.
The Associations Law was a law in Iraq, which legally regulated political parties. The law was promulgated on 1 January 1960. Prior to the adoption of this law, political parties had been banned since 1954. The law came into force on 6 January 1960.
06/01/1951
Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
The Korean War was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was supported by the United Nations led by the United States under the auspices of the United Nations Command (UNC).
06/01/1947
Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the largest international air carrier and unofficial flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century. The first airline to fly worldwide, it pioneered innovations such as jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems, and introduced the first American jetliner, the Boeing 707, in 1958. Until its dissolution on December 4, 1991, Pan Am "epitomized the luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo, the use of the word "Clipper" in its aircraft names and call signs, and the white uniform caps of its pilots.
06/01/1946
The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
National Assembly elections were held in areas controlled by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 6 January 1946. They resulted in a victory for the communist-dominated Viet Minh. Purportedly, communists won 182 of the 302 seats. Official documents indicate that 333 representatives were elected, plus 70 appointed representatives under a pre-election agreement.
06/01/1941
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on US involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.
06/01/1929
King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution, starting the January 6th Dictatorship.
Alexander I Karađorđević, also known as Alexander the Unifier, was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until his assassination. His thirteen-year reign was the longest of the kingdom's three monarchs.
Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India's poorest and sick people.
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity and a Catholic saint.
06/01/1912
New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
New Mexico is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also borders the state of Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. New Mexico's largest city is Albuquerque, and its state capital is Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the U.S.—founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain—and the highest in elevation, at 7,000 feet (2,134 m).
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
Geophysics is a physical science concerned with the processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, studied using quantitative and observational methods. It focuses primarily on Earth’s shape and its gravitational, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields. It also studies internal structure, composition, and dynamics, and their surface expression in tectonics, volcanism, and rock formation. Geophysics also encompasses a broader Earth-system and planetary perspective, including the oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, as well as solar–terrestrial interactions and analogous processes on the Moon, other planets, and their satellites.
06/01/1900
Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
The Second Boer War, also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the Boer republics over Britain's influence in Southern Africa.
06/01/1839
The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
The Night of the Big Wind was a powerful European windstorm that swept across what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning on the afternoon of 6 January 1839, causing severe damage to property and several hundred deaths. 20 to 25% of houses in north Dublin were damaged or destroyed, and 42 ships were wrecked. The storm attained a very low barometric pressure of 918–922 hPa (27.1–27.2 inHg) and tracked eastwards to the north of Ireland, with gusts of over 100 knots before moving across the north of England to continental Europe, where it eventually dissipated. It has been described as probably worst storm to hit Ireland in the last 300 years. Liverpool also suffered severely, with many shipwrecks and much structural damage. 120 people died as a result of such accidents in the city alone. Two major shipwrecks resulted in damage of at least £500,000, equivalent to £45,000,000 in 2025.
06/01/1838
Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
Alfred Lewis Vail was an American machinist and inventor. Along with Samuel Morse, Vail was central in developing and commercializing American electrical telegraphy between 1837 and 1844.
06/01/1809
Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
The Portuguese conquest of French Guiana, also known as Conquest of Cayenne, was the capture of the French colony of Cayenne by Anglo-Portuguese forces in January 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars. It formed part of the Caribbean campaign of 1803–1810, a British-led campaign against the colonies of France and its allies during the conflict. As Britain was unable to sent substantial forces to attack Cayenne due to military commitments elsewhere, the British requested the Portuguese government, which had fled from Portugal to Brazil in November 1807, to launch an attack on the colony.
06/01/1781
In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
The Battle of Jersey took place on 6 January 1781 during the American War of Independence when French forces unsuccessfully invaded the British-ruled island of Jersey to remove the threat it posed to French and American shipping. Jersey provided a base for British privateers. The French expedition was defeated, losing nearly half its force, including its commander, Baron Philippe de Rullecourt, who died of wounds sustained in the fighting. The battle is often remembered for the death of the British commander, Major Francis Peirson, and a painting based on his final moments by John Singleton Copley.
06/01/1725
J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123, a chorale cantata for Epiphany.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
06/01/1724
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, a Bach cantata, for Epiphany, is performed the first time.
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in 1724 in Leipzig for Epiphany and first performed it on 6 January 1724 as part of his first cantata cycle.
06/01/1721
The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
The South Sea Company was a British joint-stock company founded in January 1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of the national debt. To generate income, in 1713 the company was granted a monopoly to supply enslaved Africans to the islands in the "South Seas" and South America. When the company was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession and Spain and Portugal controlled most of South America. There was thus no realistic prospect that trade would take place, and as it turned out, the Company never realised any significant profit from its monopoly. However, Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, and peaked in 1720 before suddenly collapsing to little above its original flotation price. The notorious economic bubble thus created, which ruined thousands of investors, became known as the South Sea Bubble.
06/01/1661
English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
The Stuart Restoration was the return in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy to the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, ending the Interregnum and the Commonwealth of England that had been established after the execution of Charles I in January 1649. The Commonwealth had been governed by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and, briefly, his son Richard Cromwell, before political instability and the intervention of General George Monck led to the Declaration of Breda and the return of Charles II from exile. Charles landed at Dover on 25 May 1660 and entered London on 29 May, his thirtieth birthday. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661. The term "Restoration" is also used more broadly to describe the reign of Charles II (1660–1685), and sometimes that of his brother James II (1685–1688).
06/01/1641
Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction by the Mapuche to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities and force the natives into servitude. It subsequently evolved over time into phases comprising drawn-out sieges, slave-hunting expeditions, pillaging raids, punitive expeditions, and renewed Spanish attempts to secure lost territories. Abduction of women and war rape was common on both sides.
06/01/1579
The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
The Union of Arras was an alliance between the County of Artois, the County of Hainaut and the city of Douai in the Habsburg Netherlands in early 1579 during the Eighty Years' War. Dissatisfied with the religious policies of rebel leader Prince of Orange and the States General of the Netherlands, and especially the rise of the radical Calvinist Republic of Ghent since October 1577, they signed a declaration on 6 January 1579 about their intent to offer a vigorous defense of the Catholic religion against what they saw as encroachments by Calvinists in other provinces. These signatories would begin negotiations for a separate peace with the Spanish Crown, which resulted in the Treaty of Arras of 17 May 1579.
06/01/1540
King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 22 April 1509, and King of Ireland from 18 June 1542, until his death in 1547.
06/01/1536
The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
The Colegio de Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, is the first and oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas and the first major school of interpreters and translators in the New World. It was established by the Franciscans on January 6, 1536, with the intention, as is generally accepted, of preparing Native American boys for eventual ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Students trained in the Colegio were important contributors to the work of Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún in the creation of his monumental twelve-volume General History of the Things of New Spain, often referred to as the Florentine Codex. The failure of the Colegio had long-lasting consequences, with scholar Robert Ricard saying that "[had] the College of Tlatelolco given the country even one [native] bishop, the history of the Mexican Church might have been profoundly changed."
06/01/1492
The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the de facto unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, as they were both descended from John I of Castile. To remove the obstacle that this consanguinity would otherwise have posed to their marriage under canon law, they were given a papal dispensation by Sixtus IV. They married on October 19, 1469, in the city of Valladolid; Isabella was 18 years old and Ferdinand a year younger. Most scholars generally accept that the unification of Spain can essentially be traced back to the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Their reign was called by W.H. Prescott "the most glorious epoch in the annals of Spain."
06/01/1449
Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus was the last reigning Byzantine emperor from 23 January 1449 until his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Constantine's death marked the definitive end of the Eastern Roman Empire, which traced its origin to Constantine the Great's foundation of Constantinople as the Roman Empire's new capital in 330.
06/01/1355
Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
Charles IV was Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 until his death in 1378. He was elected King of Germany in 1346 and became King of Bohemia that same year. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his father's side and the Bohemian House of Přemyslid from his mother's side; he emphasized the latter due to his lifelong affinity for the Bohemian side of his inheritance, and also because his direct ancestors in the Přemyslid line included two saints.
06/01/1322
Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned "young king" in the same ceremony.
Stefan Uroš III, was King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of King Stefan Milutin. He defeated two other contenders to the Serbian throne. Stefan is known as Dečanski after the great monastery of Visoki Dečani he built.
06/01/1205
Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
Philip of Swabia, styled Philip II in his charters, was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination.
06/01/1066
Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
Edward the Confessor was King of the English from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.