On this day in history

December 6

25 births · 18 deaths · 5 events

Prev Sagittarius Next

Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

104

Anglo-Irish Treaty

104 years ago

Born this day

1948

Yoshihide Suga

Turns 77

Photo (modified): 内閣官房内閣広報室 · CC BY 4.0

Oldest record

1682nd

Saint Nicholas

death anniversary

View profile

Famous births25

1421 · 604 yrs

Henry VI of England

Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and claimant to the French throne from 1422 to 1453 under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 49

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous · Public domain

1478 · 547 yrs

Baldassarre Castiglione

Baldassare Castiglione, Count of Casatico (Italian:; 6 December 1478 – 2 February 1529), was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissance author. Castiglione wrote Il Cortegiano or The Book of the Courtier, a courtesy book dealing with questions of the etiquette and morality of the courtier.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 50

View profile Photo (modified): Raphael · Public domain

1778 · 247 yrs

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (6 December 1778 – 9 May 1850) was a French chemist and physicist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 71

View profile Photo (modified): François-Séraphin Delpech · Public domain

1792 · 233 yrs

William II of the Netherlands

William II (Dutch: Willem II, French: Guillaume II; 6 December 1792 – 17 March 1849) was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 1840 until his death. William II was the son of William I and Wilhelmine of Prussia.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 56

View profile Photo (modified): Nicolaas Pieneman · Public domain

1814 · 211 yrs

Juan Prim, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos

Juan Prim y Prats, 1st Count of Reus, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos, 1st Viscount of Bruch (Spanish pronunciation:; Catalan: Joan Prim i Prats; 6 December 1814 – 30 December 1870) was a Spanish general and statesman who was briefly Prime Minister of Spain until his assassination.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 56

View profile Photo (modified): Luis de Madrazo · Public domain

1823 · 202 yrs

Friedrich Max Müller

Friedrich Max Müller (German:; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious studies.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): Alexander Bassano · Public domain

1841 · 184 yrs

Frédéric Bazille

Jean Frédéric Bazille (French pronunciation:; December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted en plein air.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 28

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown Unknown . Upload, stitch and restoration by Jebulon · Public domain

1848 · 177 yrs

Johann Palisa

Johann Palisa (6 December 1848 – 2 May 1925) was an Austrian astronomer. He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 122 in all, from 136 Austria in 1874 to 1073 Gellivara in 1923.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1849 · 176 yrs

August von Mackensen

Anton Ludwig Friedrich August Mackensen (ennobled as von Mackensen in 1899; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), was a German field marshal. He commanded Army Group Mackensen during World War I (1914–1918) and became one of the German Empire's most prominent and competent military leaders.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 95

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1898 · 127 yrs

Gunnar Myrdal

Karl Gunnar Myrdal ( MUR-dahl, MEER-; Swedish:; 6 December 1898 – 17 May 1987) was a Swedish economist and sociologist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 127

View profile Photo (modified): Uppsala-Bild / Upplandsmuseet · Public domain

1920 · 105 yrs

George Porter

George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, (6 December 1920 – 31 August 2002) was a British chemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 105

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1920 · 105 yrs

Dave Brubeck

David Warren Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 105

View profile Photo (modified): Pablosecca · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 25

Famous deaths18

AD 343 · 1682 yrs

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1185 · 840 yrs

Afonso I of Portugal

Dom Afonso I (born Afonso Henriques; 1106/1109/1111 – 6 December 1185) nicknamed "the Conqueror" (Portuguese: O Conquistador), "the Founder" (O Fundador) and "the Great" (O Magno) by the Portuguese, was the first king of Portugal, from 26 July 1139 until his death on 6 December 1185.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 76

View profile Photo (modified): António de Holanda · Public domain

1658 · 367 yrs

Baltasar Gracián

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (Spanish:; 8 January 1601 – 6 December 1658), better known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit priest and Baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 57

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous · Public domain

1799 · 226 yrs

Joseph Black

Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 71

View profile Photo (modified): James Heath (engraver) after Henry Raeburn · Public domain

1882 · 143 yrs

Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope ( TROL-əp; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire and the Palliser novels, as well as The Way We Live Now.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 67

View profile Photo (modified): C. E. Fry & Son · Public domain

1889 · 136 yrs

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was the only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, leading the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain

1892 · 133 yrs

Werner von Siemens

Ernst Werner Siemens (von Siemens from 1888; SEEM-ənz; German:; 13 December 1816 – 6 December 1892) was a German electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist. Siemens's name has been adopted as the SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): Photograph · Public domain

1945 · 80 yrs

Yun Ch'iho

Yun Ch'iho (Korean: 윤치호; 23 January 1865 – 6 December 1945) was a Korean politician. His name is sometimes spelled Yun Tchi-Ho, his art name was Chwaong (좌옹), and his courtesy name was Sŏnghŭm (성흠).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ActivismDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1956 · 69 yrs

B. R. Ambedkar

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and politician who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 135

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1961 · 64 yrs

Frantz Fanon

Frantz Omar Fanon (US:; French:; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French psychiatrist and political philosopher, who made critical contributions to the fields of post-colonial studies and critical theory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 101

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1976 · 49 yrs

João Goulart

João Belchior Marques Goulart (1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 24th president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 108

View profile Photo (modified): Brazilian Government. Donated to the United States Government. · Public domain

1988 · 37 yrs

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 90

View profile Photo (modified): Jack de Nijs for Anefo · CC0

Showing 12 of 18

Events5

1917 · 108 yrs

Halifax explosion

On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian vessel SS Imo collided in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Laden with high explosives, Mont-Blanc caught fire and detonated, devastating the Richmond district of Halifax.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

1921 · 104 yrs

Anglo-Irish Treaty

The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (Irish: An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the government of the Irish…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1956 · 69 yrs

Blood in the Water match

The "Blood in the Water" match (Hungarian: melbourne-i vérfürdő lit. Blood bath of Melbourne; Russian: Кровь в бассейне, romanized: Krov' v basseyne, lit. 'Blood in the swimming pool') was a water polo match between Hungary and the USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

1998 · 27 yrs

1998 Asian Games

The 1998 Asian Games (Thai: เอเชียนเกมส์ 2541 or เอเชียนเกมส์ 1998), officially known as the 13th Asian Games (Thai: กีฬาเอเชียนเกมส์ครั้งที่ 13) and the XIII Asiad,, or simply Bangkok 1998 (Thai: กรุงเทพมหานคร 1998), were an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2008 · 17 yrs

2008 Greek riots

The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γρηγορόπουλος), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer in Exarcheia district of central Athens.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

Nearby dates

Born on December 6? Find your birthday matches →

Share December 6

Living room with framed Who Shares My Birthday poster

Close-up

FrameShown to scale · framed 34 × 46 cmThis is the frame we'll deliver, with a white mount

Printable keepsake

Your birthday matches poster

A personalised A3 framed print of everyone famous born on December 6, what happened on your birthday in history and your zodiac sign. We print and frame it for you and deliver it to your door (UK only).

Name on poster

Your photo

Kept private and only used to make your poster.