April 6

2024 Calendar

April 6 is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 269 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

648 BC – Earliest solar eclipse recorded by the Ancient Greeks.
46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipo and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the Battle of Thapsus.
402 – Stilicho stymies the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
1199 – Richard I of England dies from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder. His brother, John of England, succeeds him.
1250 – Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids in Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur.
1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.
1327 – The poet Petrarch first saw his idealized love Laura in the church of Saint Claire in Avignon.
1385 – John I of Portugal becomes King.
1453 – Mehmed II begins his Siege of Constantinople.
1580 – Areas around the English Channel experience once of their strongest earthquakes, at an estimated magnitude of over 5. It affects Southeastern England, Northern France and present–day Belgium.
1652 – Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp at the Cape of Good Hope, which will eventually develop into Cape Town.
1667 – Dubrovnik is destroyed by an earthquake, killing 5,000 people.
1782 – Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Thailand, who was overthrown in a coup d'état.
1793 – During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic.
1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company.
1812 – British forces under command of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington assault the fortress at Badajoz, near the Spain–Portugal border, marking a turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon Bonaparte–led France.
1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled to the Italian island of Elba.
1815 – Geneva becomes the 22nd canton of Switzerland.
1830 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints is formed by Joseph Smith, Jr. at Fayette, New York.
1832 – Indian Wars: Black Hawk War begins – The Sauk warrior Black Hawk enters into war with the United States.
1841 – John Tyler is inaugurated as the 10th President of the United States.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh begins – In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh.
1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Sayler's Creek – Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia.
1869 – Celluloid is patented.
1886 – Vancouver, British Columbia is incorporated as a city.
1893 – Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–Day Saints is dedicated by Wilford Woodruff.
1895 – Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing a libel case against the John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry.
1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games after 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

1901 – 2000

1903 – The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) began, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Israel and the west.
1909 – Robert Peary allegedly reaches the North Pole.
1911 – Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, Leader of the Malësori Albanians raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro for the first time after Gjergj Kastrioti (Skenderbeg).
1917 – World War I: United States declares war on Germany
1919 – Mahatma Gandhi orders a general strike in India.
1924 – The first round–the–world flight begins.
1926 – Walter Varney Airlines makes first commercial flight from Pasco, Washington, to Elko, Nevada. Varney is the root company of United Airlines.
1930 – Gandhi raised a lump of mud and salt (some say just a pinch, some say just a grain) and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Thus he started Salt Satyagraha.
1930 – Hostess Twinkies are invented.
1930 – Will Rogers starts broadcasting The Will Rogers Program on radio.
1931 – Little Orphan Annie debuts on the Blue Network of NBC.
1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville Outbreak: Another tornado from the same storm system as the Tupelo tornado hits Gainesville, Georgia, killing 203.
1941 – World War II: Operation Castigo begins – Germany invades Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Greece.
1945 – World War II: Yugoslavian Partisans liberate Sarajevo from German and Croatian forces.
1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented for achievement in theatre.
1965 – Early Bird, the first communications satellite to be placed in synchronous orbit, is launched.
1968 – In London, United Kingdom, Massiel wins the thirteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Spain singing "La, la, la."
1970 – Four California Highway Patrol officers die in one of the worst cop killings in the CHP's history; this is known as the Newhall Incident.
1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive – The first day of clear weather in three days allows American forces to start sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.
1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.
1974 – The California Jam Rock concert begins.
1974 – In Brighton, United Kingdom, ABBA wins the nineteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Waterloo."
1984 – Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard from country's northern region attack various government buildings in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.
1987 – Sugar Ray Leonard takes the middleweight boxing title from Marvin Hagler.
1993 – Russian nuclear accident at Tomsk 7.
1994 – The Rwandan Genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down, responsibility is disputed.
1998 – Pakistan tests medium–range missiles capable of hitting India.
1998 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 49.82 to close at 9,033.23 – its first–ever close above 9,000.

From 2001

2001 – Miller Park opens in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first President of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from the post by impeachment.
2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco dies, at the age of 81 years. His son succeeds him as Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
2005 – Jalal Talabani becomes President of Iraq.
2006 – Boni Yayi becomes President of Benin.
2009 – A magnitude 6 earthquake strikes near L'Aquila in central Italy, killing around 300 people, mainly as a result of collapsing buildings.
2011 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 300 bodies are exhumed from several mass graves made by Los Zetas.
2012 – Rebel groups declare an independent state called Azawad in northern Mali, which is not internationally recognized as independent.
2016 – Emmanuel Macron starts his bid to become President of France.
2018 – South Korea's former President Park Geun–hye is sentenced to 24 years in prison on corruption charges.
2018 – A bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team crashes en route to a match in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 14 people.

Births

Up to 1900

1483 – Raphael, Italian painter (d. 1520)
1632 – Maria Leopoldine of Austria (d. 1649)
1660 – Johann Kuhnau, German composer, organist and harpsichordist (d. 1722)
1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish politician (d. 1742)
1671 – Jean–Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (d. 1741)
1706 – Louis de Cahusac, French playwright (d. 1759)
1725 – Pascuale Paoli, Corsican patriot and military leader (d. 1807)
1726 – Gerard Majella, Italian saint (d. 1755)
1732 – José Celestino Mutis, Spanish priest, botanist and mathematician (d. 1808)
1741 – Nicolas Chamfort, French writer (d. 1794)
1765 – Charles Felix of Sardinia (d. 1831)
1773 – James Mill, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1836)
1801 – William Hallowes Miller, Welsh mineralogist (d. 1880)
1802 – Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor of Virginia (d. 1844)
1812 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and writer (d. 1870)
1815 – Robert Volkmann, German composer (d. 1883)
1818 – Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian poet (d. 1870)
1820 – Nadar, French photographer (d. 1910)
1823 – Joseph Metill, American publisher and politician (d. 1899)
1824 – George Marsden Waterhouse, Premier of South Australia and 7th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906)
1826 – Gustave Moreau, French painter (d. 1898)
1839 – Antonio Starabba, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
1841 – Karl Binding, German jurist (d. 1920)
1849 – John William Waterhouse, British painter (d. 1917)
1851 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (d. 1932)
1857 – Arthur Wesley Dow, American painter (d. 1922)
1860 – René Lalique, French glass designer (d. 1945)
1861 – Stanislas de Guaita, French poet (d. 1897)
1864 – William Bate Hardy, English biochemist (d. 1934)
1866 – Felix–Raymond–Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (d. 1931)
1869 – Levon Shant, Armenian playwright, novelist and poet (d. 1951)
1878 – Erich Mühsam, German writer (d. 1934)
1881 – Karl Staaf, Swedish athlete (d. 1953)
1884 – Walter Huston, Canadian–born actor (d. 1950)
1886 – Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople (d. 1972)
1888 – Hans Richter, Swiss painter, movie maker and graphic artist (d. 1976)
1890 – Anthony Fokker, Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer (d. 1939)
1892 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aviation industrialist (d. 1981)
1892 – Lowell Thomas, American writer (d. 1981)
1893 – Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (d. 1917)
1894 – Gertrude Baines, American supercentenarian (d. 2009)
1898 – Jeanne Hebuterne, French artist (d. 1920)

1901 – 1950

1903 – Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player (d. 1962)
1903 – Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer (d. 1990)
1904 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1988)
1910 – Barys Kit, Belarussian–American rocket scientist (d. 2018)
1911 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist (d. 1979)
1915 – Tadeusz Kantor, Polish theatre director (d. 1990)
1917 – Leonora Carrington, British–Mexican painter and writer (d. 2011)
1918 – Alfredo Ovando Candia, President of Bolivia (d. 1982)
1918 – Big Walter Horton, American blues musician (d. 1981)
1920 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss–American biochemist
1920 – Jack Cover, American inventor of the taser gun (d. 2009)
1921 – Heinrich Schmid, Swiss linguist (d. 1999)
1925 – Helga Deen, victim of the Holocaust (d. 1943)
1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian singer and actor (d. 1990)
1926 – Gil Kane, Latvian–born cartoonist (d. 2000)
1926 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish minister and politician (d. 2014)
1926 – Alexander Butterfield, American political figure
1927 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger (d. 1996)
1928 – James D. Watson, American geneticist
1929 – André Previn, German–born American musician (d. 2019)
1931 – Baba Ram Dass, American Hindu teacher
1931 – Suchitra Sen, Indian actress (d. 2014)
1933 – Eduardo Malapit, American politician (d. 2007)
1934 – Anton Geesink, Dutch judoka (d. 2010)
1934 – Mario Merola, Italian singer
1937 – Merle Haggard, American musician (d. 2016)
1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor
1937 – Terrence Hardiman, English actor
1937 – Peter Maivia, American Samoan professional wrestler (d. 1982)
1938 – Paul Daniels, English magician (d. 2016)
1938 – Roy Thinnes, American actor
1939 – André Ouellet, French–Canadian politician
1939 – John Sculley, American businessman
1940 – Pedro Armendariz, Jr., American actor (d. 2011)
1941 – Phil Austin, American comedian and writer (d. 2014)
1942 – Barry Levinson, American director
1943 – Max Clifford, English journalist and publicist
1944 – Felicity Palmer, English soprano
1944 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian–English model, actress and fashion designer (d. 2017)
1944 – Charles Sobhraj, Vietnamese–Indian serial killer
1947 – John Ratzenberger, American actor
1947 – Mike Warboys, English mathematician
1949 – Patrick Hernandez, French singer and songwriter
1949 – Horst Ludwig Stoermer, German physicist
1950 – Christer Sjögren, Swedish singer

1951 – 1975

1951 – Jean–Marc Boivin, French skier, mountaineer and pilot (d. 1990)
1952 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)
1952 – Marilu Henner, American actress
1952 – Udo Dirkschneider, German musician
1953 – Christopher Franke, German–American drummer and songwriter
1955 – Blind Mississippi Morris, American blues musician
1955 – Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian–American serial killer
1956 – Michele Bachmann, American politician
1957 – Paolo Nespoli, Italian astronaut
1957 – Maurizio Damilano, Italian athlete
1960 – Warren Haynes, American musician
1961 – Rory Bremner, British comedian
1963 – Rafael Correa, former President of Ecuador
1964 – David Woodard, American writer and conductor
1965 – Amedeo Carboni, Italian footballer
1965 – Black Francis, American singer–songwriter
1967 – Mika Koivuniemi, Finnish ten–pin bowler
1967 – Tanya Byron, English psychologist
1967 – Julian Anderson, English composer and educator
1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor
1969 – Louie Spence, British dancer and choreographer
1969 – Bison Dele, American basketball player (d. 2002)
1970 – Huang Xiaomin, Chinese swimmer
1971 – Martin Hansson, Swedish football referee
1972 – Anders Thomas Jensen, Danish screenwriter and movie director
1973 – Donnie Edwards, former American football linebacker, philanthropist, television personality, actor, and executive producer
1973 – Rie Miyazawa, Japanese actress
1974 – Robert Kovac, Croatian footballer
1974 – Camilla Dallerup, Danish–British dancer
1974 – Gina Yashere, British comedienne
1975 – Zach Braff, American actor

From 1976

1976 – Candace Cameron, American actress
1976 – James Fox, Welsh singer–songwriter and actor
1976 – Georg Hólm, Icelandic musician
1978 – Igor Semshov, Russian footballer
1978 – Myleene Klass, English singer
1981 – Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer
1982 – Herculez Gomez, American soccer player
1982 – Alana Austin, American actress
1982 – Miguel Angel Silvestre, Spanish actor
1982 – Bret Harrison, American actor
1983 – Mitsuru Nagata, Japanese footballer
1983 – Remi Nicole, English singer, songwriter and actor
1983 – Katie Weatherston, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Bobbi Starr, American pornographic actress
1984 – Siboniso Gaxa, South African footballer
1985 – Al Mukadam, Canadian actor, director and producer
1985 – Sinqua Walls, American basketball player and coach
1986 – Ryota Moriwaki, Japanese footballer
1987 – Robin Haase, Dutch tennis player
1988 – Fabrice Muamba, English–Congolese footballer
1990 – Charlie McDermott, American actor
1991 – Alexandra Popp, German footballer
1995 – Ryutaro Morimoto, Japanese actor and singer
1998 – Peyton List, American actress
1998 – Spencer List, American actor
1999 – Kwesi Boakye, American actor
2000 – CJ Adams, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1900

885 – Saint Methodius (b. 815)
1147 – Frederick II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1090)
1199 – King Richard I of England (b. 1157)
1490 – Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (b. 1443)
1520 – Raphael, Italian painter (b. 1483)
1528 – Albrecht Dürer, German artist (b. 1471)
1551 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss humanist (b. 1484)
1782 – Taksin, King of Siam (b. 1734)
1790 – Louis IX, Margrave of Hesse–Darmstadt (b. 1719)
1825 – Vladimir Borovikovsky, Russian painter (b. 1757)
1829 – Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician (b. 1802)
1838 – Jose Bonifacio de Andrade e Silva, Brazilian statesman and geologist (b. 1763)
1860 – James Kirke Paulding, American writer and politician (b. 1778)
1865 – Antonio Pinto Soares, Costa Rican politician (b. 1780)
1883 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1801)
1886 – William Edward Foster, English industrialist, philanthropist and politician (b. 1818)
1899 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (b. 1809)

1901 – 2000

1906 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian writer (b. 1845)
1917 – Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (b. 1893)
1933 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American writer and widow of George Armstrong Custer (b. 1842)
1950 – Louis Wilkins, American athlete (b. 1882)
1953 – Idris Davies, Welsh poet (b. 1905)
1961 – Jules Bordet, Belgian doctor, won the 1919 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1870)
1963 – Otto Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1897)
1970 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933)
1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (b. 1882)
1972 – Heinrich Lübke, second President of the Federal Republic of Germany (b. 1894)
1974 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman (b. 1895)
1992 – Isaac Asimov, Russian–born writer (b. 1920)
1994 – Juvénal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda (b. 1937)
1994 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, President of Burundi (b. 1956)
1996 – Greer Garson, British actress (b. 1904)
1998 – Tammy Wynette, American singer (b. 1942)
1998 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer (b. 1949)
2000 – Habib Bourguiba, 1st President of Tunisia (b. 1903)

From 2001

2001 – Charles Pettigrew, American singer (b. 1963)
2003 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (b. 1912)
2004 – Victor Argo, American movie actor (b. 1934)
2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)
2006 – Francis L. Kellogg, American diplomat (b. 1917)
2007 – Luigi Comencini, Italian movie director (b. 1916)
2010 – Corin Redgrave, British actor and political activist (b. 1939)
2012 – Fang Lizhi, Chinese activist (b. 1936)
2012 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter (b. 1958)
2013 – Hilda Bynoe, 2nd Governor of Grenada (b. 1921)
2013 – Bigas Luna, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1946)
2013 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist (b. 1928)
2014 – Mary Anderson, American actress (b. 1918)
2014 – Massimo Tamburini, Italian motorcycle designer (b. 1943)
2014 – Chuck Stone, American navigator (b. 1924)
2014 – Liv Dommersnes, Norwegian actress (b. 1922)
2014 – Mickey Rooney, American actor (b. 1920)
2015 – Gertrude Weaver, American supercentenarian (b. 1898)
2015 – Dave Ulliott, English poker player (b. 1954)
2015 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
2015 – James Best, American actor (b. 1926)
2015 – Romualdas Ozolas, Lithuanian politician (b. 1939)
2015 – Giovanni Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1924)
2015 – Ray Charles, American musician (b. 1918)
2015 – Ben Powers, American actor (b. 1950)
2015 – Hardijs Baumanis, Latvian diplomat (b. 1967)
2015 – John Papit, American football player (b. 1928)
2016 – Merle Haggard, American musician (b. 1937)
2016 – Darrell Hogan, American football player (b. 1926)
2017 – Bob Cerv, American baseball player (b. 1925)
2017 – Armand Gatti, Monegasque–French playwright, filmmaker and journalist (b. 1924)
2017 – David Peel, American musician and political activist (b. 1943)
2017 – Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (b. 1926)
2017 – Jerzy Vetulani, Polish neuroscientist (b. 1936)
2018 – Daniel Akaka, American politician, United States Senator for Hawaii (b. 1924)
2018 – Daniel Chavarria, Uruguayan–Cuban author (b. 1933)
2018 – Jacques Higelin, French singer (b. 1940)
2018 – Donald McKayle, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1930)
2018 – Henryk Skolimowski, Polish philosopher (b. 1930)
2019 – Jim Glaser, American country music singer (b. 1936)
2019 – Fritz Hollings, American politician, United States Senator and 106th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1922)
2019 – Lloyd McDermott, Australian rugby union player and barrister (b. 1939)
2019 – David J. Thouless, Scottish physicist (b. 1934)
2020 – Al Kaline, American baseball player (b. 1934)

Observances

Tartan Day (Canada and United States)
Chakri Day (Thailand)