Historical Events on August 6
- 135 AD: The Romans end the Bar Kokhba Revolt as they siege Betar.
- 1506: During the Battle of Kletsk, the Crimean Khanate is defeated by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- 1538: Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founds Bogotá, Colombia.
- 1777: The Battle of Oriskany prevents the relief of Fort Stanwix by the Americans during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1806: Francis II abdicates and thereby ends the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1825: Bolivia gains its Independence from Spain.
- 1945: The United States drops the H-bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. “Little Boy” as it was nicknamed, was dropped by the U.S B-29 the Enola Gay. It killed over 70,000 people instantly and tens of thousands more die from radiation poisoning and burns.
- 1956: the DuMont Television Networks makes it final broadcast – a boxing match from St.Nicholas Area in New York.
- 1960: Cuba nationalizes all foreign-owned property in the country during the Cuban Revolution.
- 1962: Jamaica declares its independence from the U.K.
- 1965: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is signed into law by U.S President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- 1990: The UN Security Council declares a global trade embargo to begin against Iraq. This was in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
- 1996: NASA tells the world that the ALH 84001 meteorite – a meteorite thought to have come to Earth from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life forms.
- 2011: A U.S military helicopter is shot down in Afghanistan. It kills 30 American special forces, 7 Afghan solders and 1 civilian. Up until this point, it was the deadliest single event in the War in Afghanistan.
Famous Birthdays on August 6
- Japanese Emperor Go-Toba is born in 1180.
- English Archbishop Matthew Parker is born in 1504.
- Ottoman Prince Fakhr-al-Din II is born in 1572.
- American actor Dorian Harewood is born in 1950.
- American actress Catherine Hicks is born in 1951.
- English businesswoman and politician Lorna Fitzsimons is born in 1967.
- American journalist and sportscaster Mike Greenberg is born in 1967.