Title: April 6 Content: ==Events== === Up to 1900 === * 648 BC – Earliest solar eclipse recorded by the Ancient Greeks. * 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipo and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the Battle of Thapsus. * 402 – Stilicho stymies the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia. * 1199 - Richard I of England dies from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder. His brother, John of England, succeeds him. * 1250 - Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids in Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur. * 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. * 1327 – The poet Petrarch first saw his idealized love Laura in the church of Saint Claire in Avignon. * 1385 - John I of Portugal becomes King. * 1453 - Mehmed II begins his Siege of Constantinople. * 1580 - Areas around the English Channel experience once of their strongest earthquakes, at an estimated magnitude of over 5. It affects Southeastern England, Northern France and present-day Belgium. * 1652 – Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp at the Cape of Good Hope, which will eventually develop into Cape Town. * 1667 – Dubrovnik is destroyed by an earthquake, killing 5,000 people. * 1782 – Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Thailand, who was overthrown in a coup d'état. * 1793 - During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic. * 1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company. * 1812 - British forces under command of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington assault the fortress at Badajoz, near the Spain-Portugal border, marking a turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon Bonaparte-led France. * 1814 - Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled to the Italian island of Elba. * 1815 - Geneva becomes the 22nd canton of Switzerland. * 1830 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed by Joseph Smith, Jr. at Fayette, New York. * 1832 – Indian Wars: Black Hawk War begins - The Sauk warrior Black Hawk enters into war with the United States. * 1841 – John Tyler is inaugurated as the 10th President of the United States. * 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh begins - In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh. * 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Sayler's Creek - Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia. * 1869 – Celluloid is patented. * 1886 – Vancouver, British Columbia is incorporated as a city. * 1893 - Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is dedicated by Wilford Woodruff. * 1895 – Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing a libel case against the John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry. * 1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games after 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. === 1901 2000 === * 1903 – The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) began, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Israel and the west. * 1909 – Robert Peary allegedly reaches the North Pole. * 1911 – Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, Leader of the Malësori Albanians raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro for the first time after Gjergj Kastrioti (Skenderbeg). * 1917 – World War I: United States declares war on Germany * 1919 - Mahatma Gandhi orders a general strike in India. * 1924 - The first round-the-world flight begins. * 1926 – Walter Varney Airlines makes first commercial flight from Pasco, Washington, to Elko, Nevada. Varney is the root company of United Airlines. * 1930 – Gandhi raised a lump of mud and salt (some say just a pinch, some say just a grain) and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Thus he started Salt Satyagraha. * 1930 – Hostess Twinkies are invented. * 1930 – Will Rogers starts broadcasting The Will Rogers Program on radio. * 1931 – Little Orphan Annie debuts on the Blue Network of NBC. * 1936 – Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak: Another tornado from the same storm system as the Tupelo tornado hits Gainesville, Georgia, killing 203. * 1941 – World War II: Operation Castigo begins - Germany invades Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Greece. * 1945 - World War II: Yugoslavian Partisans liberate Sarajevo from German and Croatian forces. * 1947 - The first Tony Awards are presented for achievement in theatre. * 1965 – Early Bird, the first communications satellite to be placed in synchronous orbit, is launched. * 1968 – In London, United Kingdom, Massiel wins the thirteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Spain singing "La, la, la." * 1970 – Four California Highway Patrol officers die in one of the worst cop killings in the CHP's history; this is known as the Newhall Incident. * 1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive - The first day of clear weather in three days allows American forces to start sustained air strikes and naval bombardments. * 1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft. * 1974 – The California Jam Rock concert begins. * 1974 – In Brighton, United Kingdom, ABBA wins the nineteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Waterloo." * 1984 – Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard from country's northern region attack various government buildings in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya. * 1987 – Sugar Ray Leonard takes the middleweight boxing title from Marvin Hagler. * 1993 – Russian nuclear accident at Tomsk 7. * 1994 – The Rwandan Genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down, responsibility is disputed. * 1998 – Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of hitting India. * 1998 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 49.82 to close at 9,033.23 - its first-ever close above 9,000. === From 2001 === * 2001 – Miller Park opens in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. * 2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first President of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from the post by impeachment. * 2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco dies, at the age of 81 years. His son succeeds him as Albert II, Prince of Monaco. * 2005 – Jalal Talabani becomes President of Iraq. * 2006 - Boni Yayi becomes President of Benin. * 2009 – A magnitude 6 earthquake strikes near L'Aquila in central Italy, killing around 300 people, mainly as a result of collapsing buildings. * 2011 - In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 300 bodies are exhumed from several mass graves made by Los Zetas. * 2012 - Rebel groups declare an independent state called Azawad in northern Mali, which is not internationally recognized as independent. * 2016 - Emmanuel Macron starts his bid to become President of France. * 2018 - South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye is sentenced to 24 years in prison on corruption charges. * 2018 - A bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team crashes en route to a match in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 14 people. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1483 – Raphael, Italian painter (d. 1520) * 1632 – Maria Leopoldine of Austria (d. 1649) * 1660 - Johann Kuhnau, German composer, organist and harpsichordist (d. 1722) * 1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish politician (d. 1742) * 1671 – Jean- Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (d. 1741) * 1706 - Louis de Cahusac, French playwright (d. 1759) * 1725 - Pascuale Paoli, Corsican patriot and military leader (d. 1807) * 1726 - Gerard Majella, Italian saint (d. 1755) * 1732 - José Celestino Mutis, Spanish priest, botanist and mathematician (d. 1808) * 1741 - Nicolas Chamfort, French writer (d. 1794) * 1765 - Charles Felix of Sardinia (d. 1831) * 1773 – James Mill, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1836) * 1801 - William Hallowes Miller, Welsh mineralogist (d. 1880) * 1802 - Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor of Virginia (d. 1844) * 1812 - Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and writer (d. 1870) * 1815 – Robert Volkmann, German composer (d. 1883) * 1818 - Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian poet (d. 1870) * 1820 - Nadar, French photographer (d. 1910) * 1823 - Joseph Metill, American publisher and politician (d. 1899) * 1824 - George Marsden Waterhouse, Premier of South Australia and 7th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906) * 1826 - Gustave Moreau, French painter (d. 1898) * 1839 – Antonio Starabba, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908) * 1841 - Karl Binding, German jurist (d. 1920) * 1849 - John William Waterhouse, British painter (d. 1917) * 1851 - Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (d. 1932) * 1857 - Arthur Wesley Dow, American painter (d. 1922) * 1860 - René Lalique, French glass designer (d. 1945) * 1861 - Stanislas de Guaita, French poet (d. 1897) * 1864 - William Bate Hardy, English biochemist (d. 1934) * 1866 - Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (d. 1931) * 1869 – Levon Shant, Armenian playwright, novelist and poet (d. 1951) * 1878 - Erich Mühsam, German writer (d. 1934) * 1881 - Karl Staaf, Swedish athlete (d. 1953) * 1884 – Walter Huston, Canadian- born actor (d. 1950) * 1886 - Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople (d. 1972) * 1888 - Hans Richter, Swiss painter, movie maker and graphic artist (d. 1976) * 1890 - Anthony Fokker, Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer (d. 1939) * 1892 - Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aviation industrialist (d. 1981) * 1892 - Lowell Thomas, American writer (d. 1981) * 1893 - Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (d. 1917) * 1894 – Gertrude Baines, American supercentenarian (d. 2009) * 1898 - Jeanne Hebuterne, French artist (d. 1920) === 1901 1950 === * 1903 - Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player (d. 1962) * 1903 - Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer (d. 1990) * 1904 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1988) * 1910 - Barys Kit, Belarussian-American rocket scientist (d. 2018) * 1911 – Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist (d. 1979) * 1915 – Tadeusz Kantor, Polish theatre director (d. 1990) * 1917 - Leonora Carrington, British-Mexican painter and writer (d. 2011) * 1918 - Alfredo Ovando Candia, President of Bolivia (d. 1982) * 1918 – Big Walter Horton, American blues musician (d. 1981) * 1920 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist * 1920 - Jack Cover, American inventor of the taser gun (d. 2009) * 1921 - Heinrich Schmid, Swiss linguist (d. 1999) * 1925 – Helga Deen, victim of the Holocaust (d. 1943) * 1926 - Sergio Franchi, Italian singer and actor (d. 1990) * 1926 - Gil Kane, Latvian- born cartoonist (d. 2000) * 1926 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish minister and politician (d. 2014) * 1926 - Alexander Butterfield, American political figure * 1927 - Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger (d. 1996) * 1928 – James D. Watson, American geneticist * 1929 – André Previn, German-born American musician (d. 2019) * 1931 - Baba Ram Dass, American Hindu teacher * 1931 - Suchitra Sen, Indian actress (d. 2014) * 1933 - Eduardo Malapit, American politician (d. 2007) * 1934 – Anton Geesink, Dutch judoka (d. 2010) * 1934 - Mario Merola, Italian singer * 1937 – Merle Haggard, American musician (d. 2016) * 1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor * 1937 - Terrence Hardiman, English actor * 1937 - Peter Maivia, American Samoan professional wrestler (d. 1982) * 1938 - Paul Daniels, English magician (d. 2016) * 1938 - Roy Thinnes, American actor * 1939 - André Ouellet, French- Canadian politician * 1939 - John Sculley, American businessman * 1940 - Pedro Armendariz, Jr., American actor (d. 2011) * 1941 - Phil Austin, American comedian and writer (d. 2014) * 1942 – Barry Levinson, American director * 1943 - Max Clifford, English journalist and publicist * 1944 – Felicity Palmer, English soprano * 1944 - Anita Pallenberg, Italian-English model, actress and fashion designer (d. 2017) * 1944 - Charles Sobhraj, Vietnamese- Indian serial killer * 1947 – John Ratzenberger, American actor * 1947 - Mike Warboys, English mathematician * 1949 - Patrick Hernandez, French singer and songwriter * 1949 – Horst Ludwig Stoermer, German physicist * 1950 - Christer Sjögren, Swedish singer === 1951 1975 === * 1951 - Jean-Marc Boivin, French skier, mountaineer and pilot (d. 1990) * 1952 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992) * 1952 - Marilu Henner, American actress * 1952 - Udo Dirkschneider, German musician * 1953 - Christopher Franke, German-American drummer and songwriter * 1955 - Blind Mississippi Morris, American blues musician * 1955 - Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian-American serial killer * 1956 - Michele Bachmann, American politician * 1957 - Paolo Nespoli, Italian astronaut * 1957 - Maurizio Damilano, Italian athlete * 1960 - Warren Haynes, American musician * 1961 – Rory Bremner, British comedian * 1963 – Rafael Correa, former President of Ecuador * 1964 – David Woodard, American writer and conductor * 1965 – Amedeo Carboni, Italian footballer * 1965 - Black Francis, American singer-songwriter * 1967 – Mika Koivuniemi, Finnish ten-pin bowler * 1967 - Tanya Byron, English psychologist * 1967 - Julian Anderson, English composer and educator * 1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor * 1969 - Louie Spence, British dancer and choreographer * 1969 - Bison Dele, American basketball player (d. 2002) * 1970 - Huang Xiaomin, Chinese swimmer * 1971 – Martin Hansson, Swedish football referee * 1972 - Anders Thomas Jensen, Danish screenwriter and movie director * 1973 – Rie Miyazawa, Japanese actress * 1974 – Robert Kovac, Croatian footballer * 1974 - Camilla Dallerup, Danish-British dancer * 1974 - Gina Yashere, British comedienne * 1975 – Zach Braff, American actor === From 1976 === * 1976 – Candace Cameron, American actress * 1976 - James Fox, Welsh singer-songwriter and actor * 1976 - Georg Hólm, Icelandic musician * 1978 - Igor Semshov, Russian footballer * 1978 – Myleene Klass, English singer * 1981 – Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer * 1982 – Herculez Gomez, American soccer player * 1982 - Alana Austin, American actress * 1982 - Miguel Angel Silvestre, Spanish actor * 1982 - Bret Harrison, American actor * 1983 – Mitsuru Nagata, Japanese footballer * 1983 - Remi Nicole, English singer, songwriter and actor * 1983 - Katie Weatherston, Canadian ice hockey player * 1983 - Bobbi Starr, American pornographic actress * 1984 - Siboniso Gaxa, South African footballer * 1985 - Al Mukadam, Canadian actor, director and producer * 1985 - Sinqua Walls, American basketball player and coach * 1986 – Ryota Moriwaki, Japanese footballer * 1987 - Robin Haase, Dutch tennis player * 1988 – Fabrice Muamba, English-Congolese footballer * 1990 - Charlie McDermott, American actor * 1991 - Alexandra Popp, German footballer * 1995 - Ryutaro Morimoto, Japanese actor and singer * 1998 - Peyton List, American actress * 1998 - Spencer List, American actor * 1999 - Kwesi Boakye, American actor * 2000 - CJ Adams, American actor == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 885 - Saint Methodius (b. 815) * 1147 - Frederick II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1090) * 1199 – King Richard I of England (b. 1157) * 1490 - Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (b. 1443) * 1520 – Raphael, Italian painter (b. 1483) * 1528 - Albrecht Dürer, German artist (b. 1471) * 1551 - Joachim Vadian, Swiss humanist (b. 1484) * 1782 – Taksin, King of Siam (b. 1734) * 1790 - Louis IX, Margrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719) * 1825 – Vladimir Borovikovsky, Russian painter (b. 1757) * 1829 – Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician (b. 1802) * 1838 - Jose Bonifacio de Andrade e Silva, Brazilian statesman and geologist (b. 1763) * 1860 - James Kirke Paulding, American writer and politician (b. 1778) * 1865 - Antonio Pinto Soares, Costa Rican politician (b. 1780) * 1883 - Benjamin Wright Raymond, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1801) * 1886 - William Edward Foster, English industrialist, philanthropist and politician (b. 1818) * 1899 - Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (b. 1809) === 1901 2000 === * 1906 – Alexander Kielland, Norwegian writer (b. 1845) * 1917 - Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (b. 1893) * 1933 - Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American writer and widow of George Armstrong Custer (b. 1842) * 1950 - Louis Wilkins, American athlete (b. 1882) * 1953 - Idris Davies, Welsh poet (b. 1905) * 1961 – Jules Bordet, Belgian doctor, won the 1919 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1870) * 1963 - Otto Struve, Russian astronomer (b. 1897) * 1970 - Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933) * 1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (b. 1882) * 1972 – Heinrich Lübke, second President of the Federal Republic of Germany (b. 1894) * 1974 - Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman (b. 1895) * 1992 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-born writer (b. 1920) * 1994 – Juvénal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda (b. 1937) * 1994 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, President of Burundi (b. 1956) * 1996 – Greer Garson, British actress (b. 1904) * 1998 – Tammy Wynette, American singer (b. 1942) * 1998 - Wendy O. Williams, American singer (b. 1949) * 2000 – Habib Bourguiba, 1st President of Tunisia (b. 1903) === From 2001 === * 2001 - Charles Pettigrew, American singer (b. 1963) * 2003 - Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (b. 1912) * 2004 – Victor Argo, American movie actor (b. 1934) * 2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923) * 2006 - Francis L. Kellogg, American diplomat (b. 1917) * 2007 – Luigi Comencini, Italian movie director (b. 1916) * 2010 – Corin Redgrave, British actor and political activist (b. 1939) * 2012 - Fang Lizhi, Chinese activist (b. 1936) * 2012 - Thomas Kinkade, American painter (b. 1958) * 2013 - Hilda Bynoe, 2nd Governor of Grenada (b. 1921) * 2013 - Bigas Luna, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1946) * 2013 - Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist (b. 1928) * 2014 - Mary Anderson, American actress (b. 1918) * 2014 - Massimo Tamburini, Italian motorcycle designer (b. 1943) * 2014 - Chuck Stone, American navigator (b. 1924) * 2014 - Liv Dommersnes, Norwegian actress (b. 1922) * 2014 - Mickey Rooney, American actor (b. 1920) * 2015 - Gertrude Weaver, American supercentenarian (b. 1898) * 2015 - Dave Ulliott, English poker player (b. 1954) * 2015 - Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929) * 2015 - James Best, American actor (b. 1926) * 2015 - Romualdas Ozolas, Lithuanian politician (b. 1939) * 2015 - Giovanni Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1924) * 2015 - Ray Charles, American musician (b. 1918) * 2015 - Ben Powers, American actor (b. 1950) * 2015 - Hardijs Baumanis, Latvian diplomat (b. 1967) * 2015 - John Papit, American football player (b. 1928) * 2016 - Merle Haggard, American musician (b. 1937) * 2016 - Darrell Hogan, American football player (b. 1926) * 2017 - Bob Cerv, American baseball player (b. 1925) * 2017 - Armand Gatti, Monegasque-French playwright, filmmaker and journalist (b. 1924) * 2017 - David Peel, American musician and political activist (b. 1943) * 2017 - Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (b. 1926) * 2017 - Jerzy Vetulani, Polish neuroscientist (b. 1936) * 2018 - Daniel Akaka, American politician, United States Senator for Hawaii (b. 1924) * 2018 - Daniel Chavarria, Uruguayan-Cuban author (b. 1933) * 2018 - Jacques Higelin, French singer (b. 1940) * 2018 - Donald McKayle, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1930) * 2018 - Henryk Skolimowski, Polish philosopher (b. 1930) * 2019 - Jim Glaser, American country music singer (b. 1936) * 2019 - Fritz Hollings, American politician, United States Senator and 106th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1922) * 2019 - Lloyd McDermott, Australian rugby union player and barrister (b. 1939) * 2019 - David J. Thouless, Scottish physicist (b. 1934) * 2020 - Al Kaline, American baseball player (b. 1934) == Observances == * Tartan Day (Canada and United States) * Chakri Day (Thailand) April 06