April 6

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'etat.
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 - Dede Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, Leader of the Malesori 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 Juvenal 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 - Jose 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 - Rene 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 Muhsam, 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 - Andre 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 - Andre 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 Sjogren, 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 Holm, 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 Durer, 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 Lubke, 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 - Juvenal 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