2006

2006 (MMVI) was .

In the Chinese calendar, 2006 was the Year of the Dog. Chinese New Year is January 29.

Events

January 

 January 1 – Sydney, Australia, has its warmest day on record, when the city reaches 45 °C (113 °F).
 January 1 – Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
 January 2 – The Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof in Germany collapses after heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps, killing 15.
 January 4 – Powers are transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Sharon suffers a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
 January 5 – A hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia collapses, killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform hajj.
 January 6 – The record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially draws to a close as Tropical Storm Zeta dissipates.
 January 7 – Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announces he will not seek to reassume his former post.
 January 7 – UK Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy resigns after revelations that he has a drinking problem.
 January 8 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake, centered off the coast of the Greek island of Kythera, shakes much of Greece and is felt throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin.
 January 9 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 (11,011.90) for the first time since June 7, 2001.
 January 11 – The Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986.
 January 12 – A stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 pilgrims.
 January 14 – A natural gas explosion in a coal mine kills seven and injures five in Romania.
 January 15 – NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.
 January 19 – A suicide bomber in Tel Aviv, Israel injures 20, seriously injuring one.
 January 23 – Stephen Harper wins the federal election in Canada, forming a minority government.
 January 25 – Hamas wins the majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections.
 January 25 – Pope Benedict XVI issues his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.
 January 27 – Celebrations are held in Salzburg and around the world, for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
 January 27 – Manuel Zelaya becomes President of Honduras.
 January 28 – Trade hall roof collapses in Katowice, Poland, killing 66 people.
 January 31 – Samuel Alito is sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

February 

 
 February 1 – UAL Corporation, United Airlines' parent company, emerges from bankruptcy after being in that position since December 9, 2002, the longest such filing in history.
 February 3 – An Egyptian passenger ferry carrying more than 1,400 people, sinks in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast.
 February 4 – The Wowowee stampede at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines kills 74 people and leaves 600 injured.
 February 5 – Super Bowl XL: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks 21–10 
 February 6 – Stephen Harper is sworn in as Canada's 22nd Prime Minister. He is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
 February 8 – 2006 East Timor crisis: 404 soldiers desert their barracks in East Timor.
 February 10–26 – The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy.
 February 17 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
 February 19 – Pasta de Conchos mine disaster: Sixty-five miners die after becoming trapped underground, following an explosion in Nueva Rosita, Mexico.
 February 22 – A bomb heavily damages the Al Askari Mosque, a Shiite holy site in Samarra, Iraq.
 February 22 – Over £53.1 million is stolen during the Securitas depot robbery, the largest ever cash robbery in the United Kingdom.
 February 23 – A roof collapses on a Moscow market, killing 56 people.
 February 24 – A state of emergency is declared in the Philippines, after an alleged coup d'état against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is foiled.
 February 25 – Police officers and protesters in Dublin, Ireland are injured when a protest prior to the Love Ulster parade turns into a major riot.
 February 25 – Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni wins his second re-election, sparking riots in Kampala by opposition supporters.

March 

 March 4 – The final contact attempt with Pioneer 10 receives no response.
 March 6–20 – The first World Baseball Classic is held in San Diego, California, U.S.A..
 March 7 – 20 people die and many others are injured in 3 blasts throughout Varanasi, India.
 March 9 – NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.
 March 10 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit.
 March 14 – Penumbral lunar eclipse
 March 15–26 – The 2006 Commonwealth Games take place in Melbourne, Australia.
 March 16 – The Blu-ray Disc format is released in the United States
 March 17 – The United States strikes its 2 remaining Iowa-class battleships from the Naval Vessel Register, ending the age of the battleship.
 March 22 – ETA declares a permanent ceasefire in their campaign for Basque independence from Spain.
 March 22 – The Federal Reserve stops the publishing of M3 money supply data.
 March 25 – A scramjet jet engine, Hyshot III, designed to fly at 7 times the speed of sound, is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.
 March 25 – Seven die in the Capitol Hill Massacre in Seattle, Washington.
 March 29 – Total solar eclipse
 March 30 – The first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes, goes into space in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-8, at 2:29:00 CET.
 March 30 – The al-Dana capsizes off the coast of Bahrain, killing at least 56 people.

April 

 April 5 – A swan with Avian Flu is discovered in Cellardyke in Fife, Scotland (the first case in the United Kingdom).
 April 8 – The bodies of 8 murdered men are found in Shedden, Elgin County, Ontario.
 April 9 – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is removed from office after 4 months in a coma.
 April 10 – The Brand India Fair Victoria Park fire at Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, kills at least 100.
 April 11 – The European Space Agency's Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus' orbit.
 April 11 – President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium.
 April 16 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco, reaches the North Pole, becoming the first reigning monarch ever to do so.
 April 16 – Ireland commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising, for the first time since 1971.
 April 17 – An Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in Tel Aviv kills 9 people and injures dozens.
 April 20 – Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; 9 days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de facto termination of the deal.
 April 22 – Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar, Afghanistan by a roadside bomb (the worst one-day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War).
 April 24 – Three explosions in a tourist section of Dahab, Egypt kill 30 and injure over 115.
 April 25 – The Beaconsfield mine collapse occurs in Tasmania, Australia.
 April 29 – Massive anti-war demonstrations and a march down Broadway in New York City mark the third year of war in Iraq.
 April 29 – The Global Night Commute takes place in over 130 cities around the world, to promote the visibility of the Invisible Children in Uganda.

May 

 May 1 – Bolivian President Evo Morales nationalizes his nation's gas fields.
 May 1 – The Great American Boycott takes place across the United States as marchers protest for immigration rights.
 May 5 – Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne announces that the Alfa Romeo automobile brand will return to the United States in 2008, after a 13-year hiatus.
 May 9 – Beaconsfield mine collapse: After 14 days trapped underground, miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb are rescued in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia.
 May 20 – Lordi win the Eurovision Song Contest, the first win for Finland and the first hard rock song to win the contest.
 May 24 – East Timor's Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta officially requests military assistance from the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal.
 May 27 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes central Java in Indonesia, killing more than 6,000, injuring at least 36,000 and leaving some 1.5 million people homeless.
 May 27 – The first demonstration for gay rights in Moscow is broken up by the police.

June 

 June 3 – Montenegro declares independence after a May 21 referendum. The state union of Serbia and Montenegro is dissolved on June 5, leaving Serbia as the successor state.
 June 3 – Seventeen men are arrested in the Greater Toronto Area for alleged ties to a terrorist plot to blow up targets in the region.
 June 6 – The Union of Islamic Courts gains control of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, ending warlord rule of the city.
 June 7 – Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and 7 of his aides are killed in a U.S. air raid just north of the town of Baqouba, Iraq.
 June 9 – An explosion kills 8 Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach; Israel denies responsibility for the blast.
 June 9 – Thailand begins celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the accession of Bhumibol Adulyadej to the throne.
 June 9 – July 9 – The 2006 FIFA World Cup is held in Germany.
 June 18 – The first Kazakh space satellite KazSat is launched.
 June 22 – The Magen David Adom and Palestine Red Crescent Society are officially recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
 June 23 – In Miami, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrests 7 men, accusing them of planning to bomb the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) in Chicago and other attacks in Miami.
 June 25 – Warren Buffett donates over US$30 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
 June 28 – Operation Summer Rains: Israel launches an offensive against militants in Gaza.

July 

 July 1 – The Qinghai-Tibet Railway launches a trial operation, connecting China proper and Tibet for the first time.
 July 4 – STS-121: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched to the International Space Station. It returns safely on July 17. It is the second return to flight mission after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
 July 5 – North Korea test fires missiles, timed with the liftoff of Discovery, preceding the fireworks celebrations that night in America. The long range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails shortly after takeoff.
 July 6 – The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.
 July 9 – S7 Airlines Flight 778 crashes into a concrete barrier shortly after landing, killing at least 122 people and leaving many injured.
 July 10 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 688 crashes in Multan, Pakistan shortly after takeoff.
 July 11 – A series of coordinated bomb attacks strikes several commuter trains in Mumbai, India during the evening rush hour.
 July 12 – 2006 Lebanon War: Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing 3. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel 2 days later.
 July 18 – The SS Nomadic, the last floating link to Titanic, returns home to a large reception in Belfast.
 July 31 – Cuban president Fidel Castro temporarily relinquishes power to his brother Raúl before surgery.

August 

 August 10 – London Metropolitan Police make 21 arrests in connection to an apparent terrorist plot that involved aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States. Liquids and gels are banned from checked and carry-on baggage.
 August 11 – A resolution to end the 2006 Lebanon War is unanimously accepted by the United Nations Security Council.
 August 14 – A UN cease fire takes effect in the 2006 Lebanon War.
 August 22 – Pulkovo Airlines Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border in Ukraine, killing 171 people, including 45 children.
 August 22 – The ICM awards Grigori Perelman the Fields Medal for proving the Poincaré conjecture, one of 7 Millennium Prize Problems; Perelman refuses the medal.
 August 23 – In Austria, Natascha Kampusch manages to escape after being kidnapped 8 years ago by Wolfgang Priklopil, who locked her up in his cellar. Priklopil commits suicide by throwing himself in front of a train.
 August 24 – The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of 'dwarf planet' more than 70 years after its discovery.
 August 27 – Comair Flight 5191, carrying 50 people, crashes shortly after takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky.
 August 28 – A Greyhound Lines bus from New York City to Montreal, carrying 52 people, crashes at mile 115 on Interstate 87 near Elizabethtown, killing 5 people (including the driver) and seriously injuring others.
 August 31 – Edvard Munch paintings The Scream and Madonna are recovered in a police raid in Oslo, Norway.

September 

 September 1 – A fire kills 29 of 148 aboard an Iran Air Tours Tu-154M aircraft after the plane lands in Mashhad, Iran.
 September 2 – A Nimrod MR2 based at RAF Kinloss, Scotland, crashes in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, due to a technical fault. All 14 crew onboard are killed.
 September 7 – Partial lunar eclipse
 September 12 – A stampede at a rally in Yemen leaves 41 dead and injures 50.
 September 12 – Pope Benedict XVI gives a lecture in Germany; he quotes a criticism of the Islamic faith, sparking mass protests.
 September 13 – The solar system's largest dwarf planet, designated until now as 2003 UB313, is officially named "Eris"; its satellite is now known as "Dysnomia".
 September 15 – Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills 2 and poisons over 100 others in 20 states of the United States.
 September 16 – Five churches are attacked in Palestinian areas following the Pope's comments on Islam.
 September 17 – Protests start near the Hungarian Parliament.
 September 19 – Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand declares a state of emergency in Bangkok as members of the Royal Thai Army stage a coup d'état. The army announces the removal of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power.
 September 22 – A Transrapid Maglev train crashes into a maintenance vehicle on a test track in Germany, killing 23 and injuring 10; it is the first recorded fatal accident involving a Maglev.
 September 22 – Annular solar eclipse
 September 29 – Gol Flight 1907 (Boeing 737-800) collides with a business jet over the Amazon Rainforest, killing all 155 on board.

October 

 October 2 – Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-yr-old milk-truck driver, kills 5 girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before shooting himself.
 October 6 – A hazardous waste plant near Apex, North Carolina explodes, releasing chlorine gas, and resulting in the evacuation of thousands and the hospitalization of over 100 residents.

 October 9 - Actor Tommy Kirk becomes a Disney Legend
 October 9 – North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test.
 October 10 – Google buys YouTube for USD $1.65 billion.
 October 12 – A freak snowstorm blows into Buffalo, New York, leaving over 400,000 without power and killing 13.
 October 13 – South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.
 October 15 – The UN agrees to sanction North Korea over nuclear testing claims.
 October 15 – The establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq is declared.
 October 16 – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport. see 2006 Hawaii Earthquake.
 October 16 – The last American MASH is decommissioned.
 October 16 – CBeebies 2006-2009 show of Numberjacks.
 October 24 – NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first flyby of Venus (it will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18, 2011).
 October 29 – Aviation Development Company Flight 53 crashes shortly after takeoff in Nigeria killing 96 people.
 October 30 – Former President of Chile Augusto Pinochet is placed under house arrest for crimes committed at the Villa Grimaldi detention centre.
 October 30 – An airstrike on a madrasah in Bajaur, Pakistan kills dozens of suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

November 

 November 5 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein and 2 of his senior allies are sentenced to death by hanging, after an Iraqi court finds them guilty of crimes against humanity.
 November 8 – A transit of Mercury occurs.
 November 9 – Margaret Chan is elected as the Director-General of the World Health Organization.
 November 12 – The former Soviet republic of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia.
 November 15 – Al Jazeera launches its English language news channel, Al Jazeera English.
 November 16 – Rioting in Nukualofa, the capital of Tonga, destroys approx. 80% of the CBD; 8 bodies found and foreign forces requested.
 November 17 – The PlayStation 3 is released in North America.
 November 19 – The Wii is released in North America.
 November 20 – Iran and Syria recognize the government of Iraq, restore diplomatic relations, and call for a peace conference.
 November 21 – Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanon's Minister of Industry, is assassinated in Beirut.
 November 21 – A gas explosion in the coal mine Halemba in Ruda Slaska, Poland, kills 23 miners approximately 1,000 meters below ground.
 November 22 – The Kolkata leather factory fire traps and kills 9 in India.
 November 23 – A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kill at least 215 people and injure 257 other people.
 November 30 – Typhoon Durian triggers a massive mudslide and kills at least 720 people in Albay province on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

December 

 December 1 – Felipe Calderón takes office as President of Mexico.
 December 1 – The 15th Asian Games start in Doha, Qatar; the closing ceremony takes place on December 15.
 December 2 – In Rome, about 2 million people, led by opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, demonstrate against Romano Prodi's government.
 December 2 – Stéphane Dion is elected the new Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, on the fourth ballot.
 December 2–19 – 2006 Ipswich murder investigation: The bodies of 5 murdered prostitutes are discovered at different locations near Ipswich in Suffolk, England.
 December 3 – Ed Stelmach is elected the new Leader of the Progressive Conservatives, Alberta, after the second ballot results, and second choice votes for Ted Morton have been added up. Ed becomes the Premier-designate of Alberta.
 December 3 – Hugo Chávez is re-elected President of Venezuela.
 December 3 – Germany's tallest chimney is demolished by explosion at the former Westerholt Power Station.
 December 5 – The military seizes power in Fiji, in a coup d'état led by Commodore Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama.
 December 7 – Smoking is banned in all Ohio bars, restaurants, workplaces, and other public places.
 December 9 – The Moscow hospital fire kills 45 people.
 December 10 – Space Shuttle Mission STS-116: Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on the first night launch since the 2003 loss of Columbia.
 December 10 – Christer Fuglesang becomes the first Swede in space.
 December 11 – The Holocaust conference is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
 December 12 – Peugeot produces their last car at the Ryton Plant, signalling the end of mass car production in a city that was once a major centre of the British motor industry; Coventry.
 December 13 – The Chinese River Dolphin or Baiji becomes extinct.
 December 13 – U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) suffers a stroke during a radio interview.
 December 14 – U.S. Spy Satellite USA 193, also known as NRO Launch 21 (NROL-21 or simply L-21), is launched and malfunctions soon after.
 December 15 – Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter successfully flies for the first time.
 December 15 – An alleged assassination attempt on Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh sparks inter-Palestinian clashes.
 December 15 – King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan abdicates in favour of his son Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, a year earlier than expected.
 December 15 – The Japanese government passes a bill to upgrade the Japan Defense Agency to a Ministry.
 December 19 – A Libyan court sentences 5 Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death, for knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV.
 December 20 – Somalia: Islamic Courts Union fighters begin attacking the government-held town of Baidoa.
 December 21 – The death of Saparmurat Niyazov sparks world concern over a possible power vacuum and instability in energy-rich Turkmenistan.
 December 22 – The Space Shuttle Discovery lands at the Kennedy Space Center, concluding a 2-week mission to the International Space Station.
 December 24 – Ethiopia admits its troops have intervened in Somalia.
 December 26 – An oil pipeline explodes in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, killing at least 200 people.
 December 26 – The Hengchun earthquake in Taiwan kills 2 people, and damages about 15 historical buildings and several undersea cables, disrupting Internet and IDD telecommunication services in Asia.
 December 29 – War in Somalia: Ethiopian and Transitional government troops capture Mogadishu without resistance.
 December 30 – Saddam Hussein, former Iraq president, is executed in Baghdad.
 December 30 – The M/V Senopati Nusantara sinks in Indonesia, causing several hundred casualties.
 December 30 – The Free State Project completes its "First 1,000" pledge.
 December 30 – The Basque separatist group ETA sets off a bomb in Madrid Barajas International Airport, killing 2 Ecuadorians.
 December 31 – At least 11 bombs go off in Bangkok hours before the new year, leaving at least 30 injured.
 December 31 – The Met Office announces that England has experienced its warmest year since records began in 1659, with an average temperature of .

Major religious holidays 

 January 6 – Feast of Epiphany or Día de los Reyes Magos (Day of the Magi Kings) or La Fête des Rois (Feast of the Kings).
 January 7 – Christmas in the Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic and other Eastern Christian church calendars.
 January 10 – Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 12).
 January 11 – Vaikunta Ekadashi is observed by Hindus.
 January 14 – Mahayana Buddhist New Year.
 January 14 – Pongal Harvest Festival in Tamil Nadu.
 January 15 – Maatu Pongal, Festival of Cows in Tamil Nadu.
 January 16 – Uzhavar Tirunaal, Farmer's Day in Tamil Nadu.
 January 29 – Lunar New Year
 January 31 – Muslim New Year.
 February 1 – Imbolc Cross-quarter day (Celebrated on February 2 in some places).
 February 9 – Day of Ashurah.
 February 13 – Tu Bishvat.
 February 28 – Mardi Gras.
 March 13 – Jewish holiday of Purim begins at sunset.
 March 14 – Sikh New Year.
 March 21 – Iranian New Year's Day (Norouz).
 March 30 – Hindu New Year.
 April 5 – Qingming Festival.
 April 11 – Birth anniversary of Muhammad.
 April 12 – Pesach or Passover begins at sunset, continues for a week.
 April 13 – Theravada Buddhist New Year.
 April 13 – Punjabi New Year.
 April 14 – Good Friday in the Western Church Calendar, Sikh Holiday of Vaisakhi.
 April 14 – Puththaandu Tamil New Year in the Tamil Calendar, observed by people in Tamil Nadu.
 April 16 – Easter in the Western Church Calendar.
 April 21 – Good Friday in the Eastern Church Calendar.
 April 23 – Easter in the Eastern Church Calendar.
 May 1 – Beltane Cross-quarter day.
 June 1 – Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins at sunset.
 August 1 – Lammas Cross-quarter day.
 August 2 – Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av begins at sundown; it extends until the night of August 3.
 September 22 – Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown. Continues until nightfall of the 24th.
 September 23 – First day of Ramadan.
 October 1 – Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins at sundown. Ends at nightfall of the 2nd.
 October 21 – Hindu festival of Diwali.
 October 23 – Islamic festival of Eid ul-Fitr.
 October 31 – Samhain Cross-quarter day.
 December 15 – Hanukkah.
 December 21 – Wiccans celebrate the festival of Yule.
 December 25 – Christmas in the Western Church Calendar.
 December 31 – Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 2, 2007).

Births 
for more information, see Category:2006 births.

 27 February - Josephina Evie, English musician (d. 2021)
 6 September - Prince Hisahito of Akishino, Japanese prince

Deaths

January 
 

 January 1 – Charles Steen, American geologist, The "Uranium King" (b. 1919)
 January 2 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, first female Philippine Supreme Court Justice (b. 1913)
 January 3 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player (b. 1954)
 January 3 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
 January 4 – Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)
 January 4 – Robert Howard White, Mayor of Papatoetoe, New Zealand (b. 1914)
 January 6 – Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)
 January 7 – Heinrich Harrer, mountaineer, explorer and writer (b. 1912)
 January 8 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, British politician (b. 1943)
 January 9 – Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
 January 14 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (b. 1939)
 January 14 – Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920)
 January 15 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
 January 19 – Wilson Pickett, American singer (b. 1941)
 January 19 – Geoff Rabone, New Zealand cricket player (b. 1921)
 January 21 – Ibrahim Rugova, first President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
 January 21 – Bedanand Jha, Nepalese politician
 January 24 – Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)
 January 25 – Anna Malle, American pornographic actress (b. 1967)
 January 27 – Johannes Rau, President of Germany (b. 1931)
 January 28 – Yitzchak Kadouri, Iraqi-born rabbi (b. 1900)
 January 30 – Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)

February 

 February 1 – Dick Brooks, American auto racer (b. 1942)
 February 1 – Bryce Harland, New Zealand diplomat (b. 1931)
 February 3 – Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923)
 February 4 – Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist, and writer (b.1921)
 February 8 – Ron Greenwood, English football manager (b. 1921)
 February 8 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music/movie composer (b. 1914)
 February 9 – Sir Freddie Laker, British airline entrepreneur (b. 1922)
 February 10 – J Dilla, American music producer (b. 1974)
 February 12 – Ken Hart, American composer, journalist, and playwright (b. 1917)
 February 13 – Andreas Katsulas, American actor (b. 1946)
 February 13 – P. F. Strawson, English philosopher (b. 1919)
 February 14 – Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923)
 February 15 – Sun Yun-suan, Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1913)
 February 16 – Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (b. 1925)
 February 20 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveler (b. 1920)
 February 22 – Anthony Burger, American musician and singer (b. 1961)
 February 22 – Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Singapore politician (b. 1925)
 February 23 – Mauri Favén, Finnish painter (b. 1920)
 February 23 – Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
 February 24 – Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)
 February 24 – Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)
 February 25 – Darren McGavin, American actor (b. 1922)
 February 25 – Florian ZaBach, American musician and TV personality (b. 1931)
 February 27 – Linda Smith, English comedian (b. 1958)

March 

 March 1 – Harry Browne, American Libertarian Presidential candidate (b. 1933)
 March 1 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947)
 March 1 – Peter Snow, New Zealand doctor (b. 1935)
 March 2 – Jack Wild, English actor (b. 1952)
 March 3 – William Herskovic, Hungarian Holocaust hero and philanthropist (b. 1914)
 March 4 – Dave Rose, American artist (b. 1910)
 March 4 – Edgar Valter, Estonian illustrator and cartoonist (b. 1929)
 March 4 – John Reynolds Gardiner, American writer and engineer (b. 1944)
 March 6 – Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (b. 1961)
 March 6 – Kirby Puckett, U.S. baseball player (b. 1960)
 March 6 – King Floyd, American singer (b. 1945)
 March 8 – Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)
 March 9 – Hanka Bielicka, Polish actress (b. 1915)
 March 9 – John Profumo, British politician (b. 1915)
 March 11 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (b. 1931)
 March 11 – Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia (b. 1941)
 March 13 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)
 March 13 – Peter Tomarken, American game show host (b. 1942)
 March 14 – Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (b. 1929)
 March 15 – George Mackey, American mathematician (b. 1916)
 March 22 – Lawrence Stephen, Nauruan politician (b. 1939)
 March 23 – Cindy Walker, American songwriter (b. 1918)
 March 24 – Lynne Perrie, English actress (b. 1931)
 March 25 – Rocio Durcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
 March 25 – Buck Owens, American musician (b. 1929)
 March 26 – Paul Dana, American race car driver (b. 1975)
 March 27 – Stanislaw Lem, Polish writer (b. 1921)
 March 28 – Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)

April 
 

 April 2 – Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, German wife of soldier Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (b. 1913)
 April 4 – Denis Donaldson, Irish Republican informer (b. 1950)
 April 5 – Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)
 April 6 – Francis L. Kellogg, U.S. diplomat and prominent socialite (b. 1917)
 April 8 – Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (b. 1923)
 April 11 – Proof, American rapper (D12) (b. 1973)
 April 11 – Les Foote, Australian footballer (b. 1924)
 April 11 – June Pointer, American singer (b. 1953)
 April 12 – Rajkumar, Indian actor (b. 1929)
 April 12 – William Sloane Coffin, American university chaplain and activist (b. 1924)
 April 13 – Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist (b. 1918)
 April 15 – Louise Smith, American race car driver (b. 1916)
 April 17 – Calum Kennedy, Scottish singer (b. 1928)
 April 18 – John Lyall, British football player and manager (b. 1940)
 April 19 – Scott Crossfield, American pilot (b. 1921)
 April 21 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1931)
 April 23 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
 April 23 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace (b. 1912)
 April 24 – Nasreen Huq, Bangladeshi social worker and human rights activist (b. 1958)
 April 24 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
 April 24 – Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (b. 1927)
 April 24 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Hungarian-born Hassidic rabbi (b. 1914)
 April 25 – Jane Jacobs, American-born writer and activist (b. 1916)
 April 25 – Peter Law, British politician (b. 1948)
 April 28 – Steve Howe, American Baseball Player (b. 1958)
 April 29 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (b. 1908)
 April 30 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (b. 1934)

May 

 May 2 – Louis Rukeyser, American television host (b. 1933)
 May 3 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921)
 May 3 – Pramod Mahajan, Indian Bharatiya Janata Party politician and strategist (b. 1949)
 May 3 – Earl Woods, American athlete and father of Tiger Woods (b. 1932)
 May 6 – Lillian Asplund, last American survivor of the Titanic disaster (b. 1906)
 May 6 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (b. 1926)
 May 7 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (b. 1943)
 May 7 – Steve Bender, German musician (Dschinghis Khan) (b. 1946)
 May 8 – Iain Macmillan, British photographer (b. 1938)
 May 10 – Val Guest, British movie director (b. 1911)
 May 11 – Yossi Banai, Israeli singer and actor (b. 1932)
 May 11 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
 May 12 – Hussein Maziq, Former Libyan prime minister (b. 1918).
 May 13 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
 May 13 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American R&B singer (b. 1949)
 May 16 – Jorge Porcel, Argentine actor (b. 1936)
 May 19 – Freddie Garrity, English singer (Freddie and the Dreamers) (b. 1940)
 May 21 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and songwriter (b. 1909)
 May 22 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organisation (b. 1945)
 May 23 – Lloyd Bentsen, American politician (b. 1921)
 May 24 – Anderson Mazoka, Zambian politician (b. 1943)
 May 24 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician (b. 1930)
 May 25 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer and songwriter (b. 1941)
 May 25 – Tobías Lasser, Venezuelan botanist (b. 1911)
 May 25 – Kari S. Tikka, Finnish professor (b. 1944)
 May 26 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
 May 27 – Alex Toth, American comic book artist and cartoonist (b. 1928)
 May 29 – Masumi Okada, Japanese actor (b. 1935)
 May 30 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese movie director (b. 1926)
 May 30 – David Lloyd, New Zealand biologist (b. 1938)

June 

 June 1 – Rocio Jurado, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
 June 6 – Arnold Newman, American photographer (b. 1918)
 June 6 – Billy Preston, American artist and musician (b. 1946)
 June 6 – Hilton Ruiz, Puerto Rican jazz pianist (b. 1952)
 June 7 – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant (b. 1966)
 June 7 – John Tenta, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1963)
 June 11 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)
 June 12 – Chakufwa Chihana, Malawi politician (b. 1939)
 June 12 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (b. 1923)
 June 12 – Kenneth Thomson, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)
 June 13 – Charles Haughey, Prime Minister of Ireland (b. 1925)
 June 13 – Hiroyuki Iwaki, Japanese conductor and percussionist (b. 1932)
 June 14 – Jean Roba, Belgian comics writer (b. 1930)
 June 15 – Raymond Devos, French humorist (b. 1922)
 June 18 – Gica Petrescu, Romanian musician (b. 1915)
 June 23 – Aaron Spelling, American television producer (b. 1923)
 June 25 – Arif Mardin, Turkish-born music producer (b. 1932)
 June 25 – Jaap Penraat, Dutch architect and resistance fighter (b. 1918)
 June 30 – Mohamed Haneef, Maldivian Politician and former Vice-President of Islamic Democratic Party of Maldives (b. 1946)
 June 30 – Robert Gernhardt, German satirist (b. 1937)

July 
 

 July 1 – Ryutaro Hashimoto, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
 July 1 – Fred Trueman, English cricketer (b. 1931)
 July 3 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (b. 1941)
 July 5 – Gert Fredriksson, Swedish kayaker (b. 1919)
 July 5 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (b. 1942)
 July 6 – Kasey Rogers, American actress, writer, and biker (b. 1925)
 July 7 – Tom Weir, Scottish climber, writer, and broadcaster (b. 1914)
 July 7 – Rudi Carrell, Dutch entertainer (b. 1934)
 July 7 – Syd Barrett, English singer, songwriter, and guitarist (b. 1946)
 July 7 – John Money, Sexologist (b. 1921)
 July 8 – June Allyson, American actress (b. 1917)
 July 8 – Catherine Leroy, French photographer (b. 1945)
 July 10 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel (b. 1965)
 July 11 – Ross M. Lence, American political scientist (b. 1943)
 July 11 – John Spencer, British snooker player (b. 1935)
 July 13 – Red Buttons, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)
 July 16 – Bob Orton, American wrestler (b. 1929)
 July 17 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (b. 1918)
 July 18 – Raul Cortez, Brazilian actor (b. 1931)
 July 19 – Jack Warden, American actor (b. 1920)
 July 20 – Lim Kim San, Singapore politician (b. 1916)
 July 20 – Ted Grant, British politician (b. 1913)
 July 21 – Ta Mok, Cambodian military leader (b. 1926)
 July 21 – Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese-born actor (b. 1933)
 July 22 – José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountain climber (b. 1965)
 July 22 – Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, Italian-born Brazilian actor and playwright (b.1934)
 July 25 – Hani Mohsin, Malaysian actor (b. 1965)
 July 28 – David Gemmell, British writer (b. 1948)
 July 30 – Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist (b. 1921)

August 

 August 3 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (b. 1915)
 August 3 – Arthur Lee, American musician (b. 1945)
 August 6 – Hirotaka Suzuoki, Japanese Seiyu (b. 1950)
 August 9 – James van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914)
 August 11 – Mike Douglas, American entertainer (b. 1925)
 August 13 – Tony Jay, English-born actor (b. 1933)
 August 13 – Payao Poontarat, Thai boxer (b. 1957)
 August 15 – Te Atairangi Kaahu, Maori queen (b. 1931)
 August 15 – Faas Wilkes, former Dutch football player(b. 1923)
 August 16 – Alfredo Stroessner, President of Paraguay (b. 1912)
 August 20 – Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)
 August 21 – Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916)
 August 21 – S. Yizhar, Israeli writer (b. 1916)
 August 23 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician and bandleader (b. 1928)
 August 23 – Wolfgang Priklopil, Austrian kidnapper of Natascha Kampusch (b. 1962)
 August 26 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924)
 August 26 – Clyde Walcott, Barbadian cricketer (b. 1926)
 August 27 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian movie maker (b. 1922)
 August 30 – Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (b. 1916)
 August 30 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
 August 30 – Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, New Zealand jurist and member of the British House of Lords (b. 1926)

September 

 September 1 – György Faludy, Hungarian poet (b. 1910)
 September 2 – Charlie Williams, British comedian (b. 1927)
 September 2 – Bob Mathias, American athlete (b. 1930)
 September 2 – Willi Ninja, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1961)
 September 4 – Steve Irwin, Australian environmentalist and television personality (b. 1962)
 September 4 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (b. 1942)
 September 4 – Colin Thiele, Australian writer and educator (b. 1920)
 September 8 – Hilda Bernstein, English-born writer, artist, and activist (b. 1915)
 September 9 – Richard Burmer, American composer and musician (b. 1955)
 September 9 – William B. Ziff, Jr., American publishing executive (b. 1930)
 September 10 – Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (b. 1918)
 September 11 – Joachim Fest, German historian and journalist (b. 1926)
 September 11 – Johannes Bob van Benthem, Dutch lawyer (b. 1921)
 September 14 – Elizabeth Choy, Singaporean World War II hero (b. 1910)
 September 14 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born actor and bodybuilder (b. 1926)
 September 15 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist (b. 1929)
 September 15 – Abe Saffron, Australian nightclub owner and property developer (b. 1920)
 September 16 – Rob Levin, American computer programmer (b. 1955)
 September 17 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite, sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1924)
 September 17 – Dorothy C. Stratton, Director of the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve (b. 1899)
 September 19 – Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (b. 1950)
 September 19 – Hugh Kawharu, New Zealand academic and Māori chief (b. 1927)
 September 20 – Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (b. 1932)
 September 20 – John W. Peterson, American composer (b. 1921)
 September 23 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (b. 1921)
 September 23 – Aladár Pege, Hungarian musician (b. 1939)
 September 24 – Tetsuro Tamba, Japanese actor (b. 1922)
 September 26 – Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912)
 September 26 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American propagandist for Japan in World War II (b. 1916)
 September 29 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1915)

October 
 

 October 6 – Buck O'Neil, American baseball player (b. 1911)
 October 6 – Wilson Tucker, American writer (b. 1914)
 October 7 – Anna Politkovskaya, American-born Russian journalist (b. 1958)
 October 8 – Mark Porter, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1975)
 October 9 – Paul Hunter, British snooker player (b. 1978)
 October 10 – Michael John Rogers, English ornithologist (b. 1932)
 October 11 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (b. 1972)
 October 13 – Mason Andrews, delivered America's first test tube baby; former mayor of Norfolk, Virginia (b. 1919)
 October 14 – Freddy Fender, American singer (b. 1937)
 October 16 – Lister Sinclair, Canadian broadcaster and playwright (b. 1921)
 October 16 – Valentín Paniagua, President of Peru (b. 1936)
 October 18 – Anna Russell, British-born comedian and music satirist (b. 1911)
 October 20 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910)
 October 24 – Enolia McMillan, American first female president of the NAACP (b. 1904)
 October 25 – Danny Rolling, American murderer (b. 1954) (executed)
 October 28 – Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and official (b. 1917)
 October 28 – Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (b. 1955)
 October 30 – Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (b. 1926)
 October 31 – Pieter Willem Botha, former State President of South Africa (b. 1916)

November 

 November 1 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress & director (b. 1966)
 November 1 – William Styron, American writer (b. 1925)
 November 2 – Adrien Douady, French mathematician (b. 1935)
 November 2 – Wally Foreman, Australian sports commentator (b. 1948)
 November 3 – Paul Mauriat, French musician (b. 1925)
 November 3 – Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1937)
 November 4 – Frank Arthur Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1915)
 November 4 – Sergi López Segú, Spanish footballer (b. 1967)
 November 5 – Mustafa Bülent Ecevit, Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist (b. 1925)
 November 5 – Samuel Bowers, American Ku Klux Klansman and convicted killer (b. 1924)
 November 8 – Basil Poledouris, American composer (b. 1945)
 November 9 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (b. 1941)
 November 10 – Gerald Levert, American singer (b. 1966)
 November 10 – Jack Palance, American actor (b. 1919)
 November 15 – Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian fashion model (b. 1985)
 November 16 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
 November 17 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927)
 November 17 – Bo Schembechler, American football coach (b. 1929)
 November 17 – Ruth Brown, American singer (b. 1928)
 November 20 – Robert Altman, American movie director (b. 1925)
 November 20 – Andre Waters, American football player (b. 1962)
 November 21 – Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese politician (b. 1972)
 November 22 – John Allan Cameron, Canadian musician (b. 1938)
 November 23 – Alexander Litvinenko, Russian-born spy (b. 1962)
 November 23 – Philippe Noiret, French actor (b. 1930)
 November 23 – Anita O'Day, American singer (b. 1919)
 November 23 – Willie Pep, American boxer (b. 1922)
 November 24 – Walter Booker, American jazz bassist (b. 1933)
 November 24 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer and songwriter (b. 1950)
 November 25 – Leo Chiosso, Italian poet (b. 1920)
 November 25 – Valentin Elizalde, Mexican singer (b. 1979)
 November 25 – Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner, American actress, journalist and publisher (b. 1916)
 November 26 – Dave Cockrum, American comic book artist (b. 1943)
 November 27 – Alan Freeman, Australian-born broadcaster and disc jockey (b. 1927)
 November 28 – Bernard Orchard, British biblical scholar (b. 1912)

December 

 December 3 – Craig Hinton, British novelist (b. 1964)
 December 4 – Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor (b. 1987)
 December 5 – David Bronstein, Soviet Union chess grandmaster (b. 1924)
 December 6 – John Feeney, New Zealand documentary movie director (b. 1922)
 December 7 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American political theorist and U.N. ambassador (b. 1926)
 December 7 – J. B. Hunt, American trucking magnate (b. 1927)
 December 8 – Jose Uribe, Dominican Major League Baseball player (b. 1959)
 December 10 – Augusto Pinochet, Chilean dictator (b. 1915)
 December 12 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
 December 12 – Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)
 December 12 – Raymond P. Shafer, American politician (b. 1917)
 December 13 – Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (b. 1932)
 December 13 – "Homesick" James Williamson, American blues musician (b. 1910)
 December 13 – Federico Crescentini, Sanmarinese football player (b. 1982)
 December 14 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish record executive (b. 1923)
 December 14 – Mike Evans, American actor (b. 1949)
 December 15 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss race car driver (b. 1939)
 December 16 – Don Jardine, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1940)
 December 18 – Joseph Barbera, American animator (b. 1911)
 December 20 – Yukio Aoshima, Japanese politician, novelist and TV-actor (b. 1932)
 December 20 – Ma Ji, Chinese actor (b. 1934)
 December 21 – Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)
 December 22 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
 December 23 – Robert Stafford, American politician (b. 1913)
 December 23 – Dutch Mason, Canadian blues musician (b. 1938)
 December 23 – Marilyn Waltz, American actress, model, and Playboy Playmate (b. 1931)
 December 24 – Braguinha, Brazilian songwriter (b. 1907)
 December 24 – Charlie Drake, English comedian (b. 1925)
 December 24 – Frank Stanton, American television executive (b. 1908)
 December 24 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian musician, composer, poet and comedian (b. 1961)
 December 25 – James Brown, American singer (b. 1933)
 December 26 – Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
 December 29 – Charles Addo Odametey, Ghanaian football player (b. 1937)
 December 30 – Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq (b. 1937)
 December 30 – Antony Lambton, Viscount Lambton, British politician (b. 1922)

Nobel Prizes 

 Chemistry – Roger D. Kornberg.
 Economics – Edmund Phelps.
 Literature – Orhan Pamuk.
 Peace – Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank.
 Physics – John C. Mather, George F. Smoot.
 Physiology or Medicine – Andrew Z. Fire, Craig C. Mello.

References

Other websites