# What happened on August 6 in history?

**Date:** August 6  
**Events recorded:** 43  
**Years spanned:** 686 – 2015  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/august/6/

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## Featured Event

**2012** — NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA)

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## Events on this date

- **686** — The Ummayad forces suffer a decisive defeat against the pro-Alid forces under Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar in the battle of Khazir. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate))
- **1284** — The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Pisa))
- **1538** — Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogot%C3%A1))
- **1585** — Toyotomi Hideyoshi is officially appointed kampaku (Imperial Regent). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi))
- **1661** — The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_The_Hague_(1661)))
- **1777** — American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1787** — Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States))
- **1806** — Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares the moribund empire to be dissolved, although he retains power in the Austrian Empire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor))
- **1819** — Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_University))
- **1824** — Peruvian War of Independence: Patriot forces led by Simón Bolívar defeat the Spanish Royalist army in the Battle of Junín. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_War_of_Independence))
- **1825** — The Bolivian Declaration of Independence is proclaimed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Declaration_of_Independence))
- **1861** — Britain imposes the Lagos Treaty of Cession to suppress slavery in what is now Nigeria. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_Treaty_of_Cession))
- **1862** — American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1870** — Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a German victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War))
- **1870** — Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive German victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_W%C3%B6rth))
- **1890** — At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_Correctional_Facility))
- **1901** — Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiowa))
- **1914** — World War I: U-boat campaign: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I))
- **1914** — World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia))
- **1915** — World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sari_Bair))
- **1917** — World War I: Battle of Mărășești between the Romanian and German armies begins. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_M%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%99e%C8%99ti))
- **1926** — Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Ederle))
- **1926** — First public screening using the Vitaphone process ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitaphone))
- **1940** — Estonia is annexed by the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia))
- **1942** — Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmina_of_the_Netherlands))
- **1945** — World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1956** — After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955))
- **1958** — Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy, outlawing the Communist Party of Chile and banning 26,650 persons from the electoral lists, is repealed in Chile. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Permanent_Defense_of_Democracy))
- **1960** — Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution))
- **1962** — Jamaica becomes independent from the United Kingdom. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica))
- **1965** — US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson))
- **1986** — A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales))
- **1990** — Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War))
- **1991** — Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW makes its first appearance as a publicly available service on the Internet. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee))
- **1991** — Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takako_Doi))
- **1996** — NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA))
- **1997** — Korean Air Flight 801 crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam, killing 229 of the 254 people on board. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_801))
- **2001** — Erwadi fire incident: Twenty-eight mentally ill persons tied to a chain are burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwadi_fire_incident))
- **2008** — A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Ould_Abdel_Aziz))
- **2010** — Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Ladakh_floods))
- **2011** — War in Afghanistan: A United States military helicopter is shot down, killing 30 American special forces members and a working dog, seven Afghan soldiers, and one Afghan civilian. It was the deadliest single event for the United States in the War in Afghanistan. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%932021)))
- **2012** — NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA))
- **2015** — A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the Saudi city of Abha. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Abha_mosque_bombing))

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## Notable births on August 6

- **2004** — **Takhmina Ikromova** — Uzbekistani rhythmic gymnast ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takhmina_Ikromova))
- **2002** — **Nessa Barrett** — American singer-songwriter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nessa_Barrett))
- **1999** — **Hunter Greene** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Greene))
- **1999** — **Rebeka Masarova** — Spanish-Swiss tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebeka_Masarova))
- **1995** — **Rebecca Peterson** — Swedish tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Peterson))
- **1991** — **Wilmer Flores** — Venezuelan baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_Flores))
- **1991** — **Jiao Liuyang** — Chinese swimmer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiao_Liuyang))
- **1987** — **Leanne Crichton** — Scottish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leanne_Crichton))
- **1986** — **Raphael Pyrasch** — German rugby player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Pyrasch))
- **1985** — **Mickaël Delage** — French cyclist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micka%C3%ABl_Delage))

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## Notable deaths on August 6

- **2024** — **Billy Bean** — American baseball player (born 1964) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bean))
- **2024** — **Connie Chiume** — South African actress and filmmaker (born 1952) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Chiume))
- **2024** — **James Bjorken** — American theoretical physicist (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bjorken))
- **2020** — **Vern Rumsey** — American bass guitarist (born 1973) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vern_Rumsey))
- **2018** — **Joël Robuchon** — French Chef (born 1945) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABl_Robuchon))
- **2018** — **Margaret Heckler** — American politician (born 1931) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Heckler))
- **2018** — **Anya Krugovoy Silver** — American poet (born 1968) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anya_Krugovoy_Silver))
- **2017** — **Betty Cuthbert** — Australian sprinter (born 1938) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Cuthbert))
- **2017** — **Darren Daulton** — American baseball player (born 1962) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Daulton))
- **2015** — **Ray Hill** — American football player (born 1975) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Hill_(American_football)))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/august/6/](https://thisday.info/events/august/6/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.