June 6Birthdays & History

On this day: June 6 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 913Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine's uncle Alexander on his deathbed.Europe
2. 1505The M8.2–8.8 Lo Mustang earthquake affects Tibet and Nepal, causing severe damage in Kathmandu and parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain.Asia
3. 1513War of the League of Cambrai: In the Battle of Novara, Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing them to abandon Milan; Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.Europe
4. 1523Swedish regent Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden and, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union, 6 June is designated the country's national day.Europe
5. 1654Swedish Queen Christina abdicates her throne in favour of her cousin Charles Gustav and converts to Catholicism.Europe
6. 1674Shivaji is crowned as the first Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire at Raigad Fort.Asia
7. 1762Seven Years' War: British forces begin the Siege of Havana and temporarily capture the city.EuropeLatin America
8. 1813War of 1812: In the Battle of Stoney Creek, considered a critical turning point in the war, a British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.EuropeNorth America
9. 1822Alexis St Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont's studies on digestion.North America
10. 1832The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.Europe
11. 1844The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.Europe
12. 1859Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales. The date is still celebrated as Queensland Day.Europe
13. 1862American Civil War: The First Battle of Memphis, a naval engagement fought on the Mississippi River, results in the capture of Memphis, Tennessee by Union forces from the Confederates.North America
14. 1882The Shewan forces of Menelik II of Ethiopia defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and their victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.Africa
15. 1889The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.North America
16. 1892The Chicago "L" elevated rail system begins operation.North America
17. 1894Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.North America
18. 1912The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.North America
19. 1918World War I: U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day's casualties during the Battle of Belleau Wood while attempting to recapture the wood at Château-Thierry (the losses are exceeded at the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943).North America
20. 1925The original Chrysler Corporation is founded by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company.North America
21. 1933The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey.North America
22. 1934New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.North America
23. 1942World War II: The United States Navy's victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway is a major turning point in the Pacific Theater. All four Japanese fleet carriers taking part—Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū—are sunk, as is the heavy cruiser Mikuma. The American carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammann are also sunk.North AmericaAsia
24. 1944World War II: Commencement of Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of Normandy begins with the execution of Operation Neptune—commonly referred to as D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel with about 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. By the end of the day, the Allies have landed on five invasion beaches and are pushing inland.Europe
25. 1944World War II: Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges by British paratroopers, also known as Operation Coup de Main (incorrectly referred to as Operation Deadstick.)Europe
26. 1966March Against Fear: African-American civil rights activist James Meredith is wounded in an ambush by white sniper James Aubrey Norvell. Meredith and Norvell are photographed by Jack R. Thornell, whose photo will receive the 1967 Pulitzer Prize in Photography, the last one to be awarded in the category.AfricaNorth America
27. 1971Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collides with a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II of the United States Marine Corps over the San Gabriel Mountains, killing 50.North America
28. 1971Soyuz 11 is launched. The mission ends in disaster when all three cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev are suffocated by uncontrolled decompression of the capsule during re-entry on 29 June.World
29. 1975British referendum results in continued membership of the European Economic Community, with 67% of votes in favour.Europe
30. 1976Chief Minister of Sabah Faud Stephens, Peter Joinud Mojuntin, and several other politicians are killed in a plane crash near Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Malaysia.Asia
31. 19821982 Lebanon War: The war begins as forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.Middle East
32. 1985The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's "Angel of Death"; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.Latin America
33. 1992Copa Airlines Flight 201 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes into the Darién Gap in Panama, killing all 47 aboard.Latin America
34. 1993Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia.Asia
35. 1994China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, killing all 160 people on board.Asia
36. 2002Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.EuropeAfricaAsia
37. 2017Syrian civil war: The Battle of Raqqa begins with an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).Middle East
38. 2023Russo-Ukrainian war: The Kakhovka Dam is destroyed.Europe
39. 2024The launch of SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4 (IFT-4)World

Source: Wikipedia "June 6" / CC BY-SA 4.0