December 6

December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 25 days remaining.

Events:

• 1534 - Spanish found Quito, Ecuador
• 1768 - First edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published
• 1790 - United States Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified, making slavery illegal in the United States
• 1877 - First publication of the Washington Post
• 1884 - Washington Monument completed.
• 1917 - Finland declares its independence from Russia
• 1917 - Halifax explosion kills more than 1900 people, destroys part of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• 1921 - Irish Free State Agreement signed in London by British and Irish representatives
• 1933 - A federal judge rules that the James Joyce novel Ulysses is not obscene
• 1947 - Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
• 1957 - First United States attempt to launch a satellite fails, blowing up on the launchpad.
• 1973 - Gerald Ford sworn in as first unelected President of the United States
• 1977 - South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana - not recognized by any other country
• 1989 - The Ecole Polytechnique Massacre: an insane man kills 14 young women in Montreal, Quebec.

Births:

• 1421 - King Henry VI of England (+ 1471)
• 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (+ 1827)
• 1778 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, physicist and chemist (+ 1850)
• 1863 - Charles Hall[?], chemist (+ 1914)
• 1872 - William S. Hart[?], actor (+ 1946)
• 1886 - Joyce Kilmer, poet (+ 1918)
• 1887 - Lynne Fontanne[?], actress (+ 1983)
• 1890 - Rudolf Schlichter[?], painter, graphic artist and writer (+ 1955)
• 1892 - Lina Carstens[?], actress (+ 1978)
• 1896 - Ira Gershwin, lyricist (+ 1983)
• 1898 - Alfred Eisenstaedt[?], photojournalist (+ 1995)
• 1900 - Agnes Moorhead[?], actress (+ 1974)
• 1903 - Tony Lazzeri[?], Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1905 - Jameds Braddock[?], boxing champion (+ 1974)
• 1913 - Eleanor Holm[?] - Olympic Games swimming champion
• 1920 - Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
• 1921 - Otto Graham[?], American football star
• 1928 - Bobby Van[?], singer (+ 1980)
• 1929 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
• 1932 - Don King, boxing entrepreneur
• 1939 - Liv Ullman[?], actress
• 1942 - Peter Handke, author, playwright
• 1948 - JoBeth Williams[?], actress
• 1953 - Thomas Hulce[?], actor
• 1955 - Steven Wright, comedian
• 1956 - Peter Buck[?], musician
• 1958 - Nick Park, film-maker and animator
• 1962 - Janine Turner[?], actress
• 1971 - Ryan White, AIDS activist (+ 1990)
• 1993 - Elián González, Cuban refugee

Deaths:

• 1779 - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter
• 1882 - Anthony Trollope, author
• 1889 - Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America
• 1892 - Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist
• 1985 - Bur Tillstrom[?], puppeteer
• 1988 - Roy Orbison, musician
• 1989 - Frances Bavier[?], actress
• 1993 - Don Ameche[?], actor

Holidays and Observances:

• National holiday of Finland
• Spanish Constitution Day
• Saint Nicholas Day

December 5 - December 7 - November 6 - January 6 -- listing of all days

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