Did you know
His most famous plays deal with double-suicides of honor bound lovers
Notable Deaths on January 6
88 people
786 – 2023
January 6 has seen 88 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 786 – 2023. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1725 — Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Japanese actor and playwright (born 1653)
Did you know
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)
Did you know
His histories are viewed less positively, though The Battles of Coxinga (1715) remains praised.
Did you know
Of his puppet plays, around 70 are jidaimono (時代物) and 24 are sewamono (世話物)
Did you know
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
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.
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786
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…
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1088
1st Earl of Pembroke (born 1100)
Gilbert Fitz Gilbert de Clare, was created Earl of Pembroke in 1138.
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1148
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…
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1233
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…
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1275
Beguine mystic
Gertrude van der Oosten was a Dutch Beguine who was considered a mystic and had received the Stigmata.
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1358
1406
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…
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1448
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…
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1478
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…
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1537
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.…
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1537
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…
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1616
1689
1693
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…
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1731
English playwright and critic (born 1657)
John Dennis was an English critic and dramatist.
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1734
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.
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1829
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).
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1831
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…
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1840
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…
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1852
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…
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1855
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…
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1882
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…
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1884
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…
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1885
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.
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1902
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.
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1917
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…
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1918
American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (born 1858)
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt was vice president for six months under William McKinley and became president after McKinley's assassination in 1901. He…
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1919
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.
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1921
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.
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1922
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…
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1928
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)…
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1928
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.
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1933
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…
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1934
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…
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1937
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…
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1941
French soprano and actress (born 1858)
Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet was a French operatic dramatic soprano.
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1942
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).
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1942
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…
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1944
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…
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1945
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…
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1949
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.
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1966
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…
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1972
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…
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1974
New Zealand motorcycle racer (born 1899)
Herbert James "Burt" 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…
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1978
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…
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1981
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…
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1984
Scottish-English actor (born 1949)
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and film 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…
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1990
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".
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1990
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…
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1991
New Zealand vocalist and songwriter (born 1949)
Stephen Ellis Gilpin was a New Zealand singer and a founder of new wave band Mi-Sex.
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1992
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…
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1993
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…
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1993
1995
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…
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1999
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.
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2004
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…
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2005
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…
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2005
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…
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2005
2006
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…
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2007
Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn) (born 1920)
Shmuel Berenbaum was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York.
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2008
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.
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2011
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.
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2012
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.
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2013
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…
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2014
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…
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2014
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…
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2014
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…
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2015
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…
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2016
American journalist and author (born 1936)
Florence Virginia King was an American novelist, essayist and columnist.
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2016
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.
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2016
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…
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2016
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.
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2017
2017
Cuban revolution leader (born 1923)
José Ramón Fernández Álvarez was a Cuban Communist leader who was a vice-president of the Council of Ministers.
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2019
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.
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2019
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.
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2019
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…
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2019
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…
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2020
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…
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2021
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…
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2021
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…
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2021
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…
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2022
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…
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2022
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…
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2022
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…
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2023
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Notable deaths
Who died on January 6?
Chikamatsu Monzaemon — Japanese playwright (1653–1725)
FeaturedChikamatsu Monzaemon
Death year1725
Known forThe Encyclopædia Britannica has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatist"
Deaths on this date88 (786 – 2023)
Explore January 6
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on January 6 in History
2025
Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister of Canada after nine years in office. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
2019
See all events on January 6
Muhammad V of Kelantan resigns as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, becoming the first monarch to do so. Wikipedia →
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