Did you know about Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis was the only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, leading the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Notable Deaths on December 6
December 6 has 91 recorded notable deaths across history, from 343 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1889 — Jefferson Davis
American general and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (born 1808)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
91 source records
343 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on December 6
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1957 Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit. Source
- 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election: For the first time in 17 years, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela loses its majority in parliament. Source
Did you know about Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia during the time of the Roman Empire.
Did you know about Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volonté is also recognized for his performances in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge (1970), Giuliano Montaldo's Sacco & Vanzetti (1971) and Giordano Bruno (1973), and Francesco Rosi's Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979).
Did you know about Honus Wagner
In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members.
Did you know about Frances Bavier
Frances Bavier won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Comedy Actress for the role in 1967.
More major people who died on December 6
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
343
Saint Nicholas
Greek bishop and saint (born 270)
Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus through Sinterklaas.
1994
Gian Maria Volonté
Italian actor and director (born 1933)
Gian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor and activist. He is known for his roles in Italian Western films: Ramón Rojo in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964), El Indio in Leone's For a Few Dollars More (1965), El Chuncho Munoz in Damiano Damiani's A Bullet for the General (1966) and Professor Brad Fletcher in Sergio Sollima's Face to Face (1967) as well as high-profile social dramas depicting the political and social stirrings of Italian and European society in the 1960s and 1970s, including four films directed by Elio Petri – We Still Kill the Old Way (1967), Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971), and Todo modo (1976). He is also recognized for his performances in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge (1970), Giuliano Montaldo's Sacco & Vanzetti (1971) and Giordano Bruno (1973), and Francesco Rosi's Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979).
1955
Honus Wagner
American baseball player and manager (born 1874)
Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner was an American professional baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1897 to 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage, Wagner was a prototypical five-tool player, known for being a versatile defender who could combine a strong throwing arm with the ability to play almost any defensive position as well as being capable of hitting for average and for power. He is widely regarded as the greatest shortstop of all time. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members.
1989
Frances Bavier
American actress (born 1902)
Frances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, she worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is widely known for her role as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. from 1960 to 1970. Aunt Bee logged more Mayberry years (ten) than any other character. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Comedy Actress for the role in 1967. Bavier was also known for playing Amy Morgan on It's a Great Life (1954–1956).
1882
Anthony Trollope
English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (born 1815)
Anthony Trollope was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire and the Palliser novels, as well as The Way We Live Now. His novels address political, social, and gender issues and other topical matters. He also wrote an autobiography, a book on William Makepeace Thackeray, a book on Lord Palmerston, five travel books, and 42 short stories.
1990
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Malaysian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (born 1903)
Tunku Abdul Rahman, widely known simply as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as the first prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 until 1970. He was also the only chief minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955 to 1957, president of UMNO from 1951 to 1971, and leader of the Alliance Party from 1952 to 1971. As the leading advocate for self-governance, Tunku was central to the Malayan Declaration of Independence and the creation of Malaysia in 1963. He is widely recognised as the country's founding father and remains its second longest-serving prime minister.
1991
Mimi Smith
English nurse (born 1906)
Mary Elizabeth "Mimi" Smith, informally known as Aunt Mimi, was a maternal aunt and the parental guardian of the English musician John Lennon. She was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, as the oldest of five daughters. She became a resident trainee nurse at the Woolton Convalescent Hospital and later worked as a private secretary. On 15 September 1939, she married George Toogood Smith, who ran his family's dairy farm and a shop in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool.
1985
Burleigh Grimes
American baseball player and manager (born 1893)
Burleigh Arland Grimes was an American professional baseball player and manager, and the last major league pitcher who was officially permitted to throw the spitball. Grimes made the most of this advantage, as well as his unshaven, menacing presence on the mound, which earned him the nickname "Ol' Stubblebeard." In his career, Grimes won 270 games, with 190 of them occurring in the 1920s, the most for all pitchers in the decade. He pitched in the World Series four times in his nineteen-season career and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. A decade earlier, he had been inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
1921
Said Halim Pasha
Ottoman politician, 280th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1865)
Mehmed Said Halim Pasha was a writer and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1917. He is said to be one of the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and he was later assassinated by Arshavir Shirakian as part of Operation Nemesis, a retribution campaign to kill genocidiers. It is unsure if he was actually involved, as he did not hold much political power and was kept in the dark on most matters of state by members of the Central Committee of the CUP.
1562
Jan van Scorel
Dutch painter (born 1495)
Jan van Scorel was a Dutch painter, who played a leading role in introducing aspects of Italian Renaissance painting into Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting. He was one of the early painters of the Romanist style who had spent a number of years in Italy, where he thoroughly absorbed the Italian style of painting. His trip to Italy coincided with the brief reign of the only Dutch pope in history, Adrian VI in 1522–23. The pope made him a court painter and superintendent of his collection of antiquities. His stay in Italy lasted from 1518 to 1524 and he also visited Nuremberg, Venice and Jerusalem. Venetian art had an important impact on the development of his style.
2005
Charly Gaul
Luxembourger cyclist (born 1932)
Charly Gaul was a Luxembourgish professional cyclist. He was a national cyclo-cross champion, an accomplished time triallist and superb climber. His ability earned him the nickname of Angel of the Mountains in the 1958 Tour de France, which he won with four stage victories. He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1956 and 1959. Gaul rode best in cold, wet weather. In later life, he became a recluse and lost much of his memory.
2005
William P. Yarborough
American general (born 1912)
Lieutenant General William Pelham Yarborough was a senior United States Army officer. Yarborough designed the U.S. Army's parachutist badge, paratrooper or 'jump' boots, and the M42 airborne jump uniform. He is known as the "Father of the Modern Green Berets." He was descended from the Yorkshire House of Yarborough. Yarborough was a distant cousin to such British noble figures as the Baron Deramore, Lord Alvingham, the Duke of Buccleuch and the Marquess of Bath.
1988
Roy Orbison
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1936)
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male performers projected strength. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.
1956
B. R. Ambedkar
Indian economist and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Justice (born 1891)
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and politician who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau. Ambedkar served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He later renounced Hinduism and converted to Buddhism, inspiring the Dalit Buddhist movement.
1868
August Schleicher
German linguist and academic (born 1821)
August Schleicher was a German linguist. Schleicher studied the Proto-Indo-European language and devised theories concerning historical linguistics. His great work was A Compendium of the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages in which he attempted to reconstruct the Proto-Indo-European language. To show how Indo-European might have looked, he created a short tale, Schleicher's fable, to exemplify the reconstructed vocabulary and aspects of Indo-European society inferred from it.
1996
Pete Rozelle
American businessman (born 1926)
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was an American professional football executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement in November 1989. He became the youngest commissioner in NFL history at the age of just 33. He is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world.
1918
Alexander Dianin
Russian chemist (born 1851)
Aleksandr Pavlovich Dianin was a Russian chemist from Saint Petersburg. He carried out studies on phenols and discovered a phenol derivative now known as bisphenol A and the accordingly named Dianin's compound. He was married to the adopted daughter of fellow chemist Alexander Borodin. In 1887, Dianin succeeded his father-in-law as chair of the Chemistry Department at the Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg.
735
Prince Toneri of Japan (born 676)
Prince Toneri was a Japanese imperial prince in the Nara period. He was a son of Emperor Tenmu. He was given the posthumous name Emperor Sudoujinkei , as the father of Emperor Junnin. In the beginning of the Nara period, he gained political power as a leader of the Imperial family together with Prince Nagaya. He supervised the compilation of the Nihon Shoki.
1658
Baltasar Gracián
Spanish priest and author (born 1601)
Baltasar Gracián y Morales, better known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit priest and Baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón). His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. He is best known for his book The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647), but his novel El Criticón (1651-57) is considered his greatest work.