August 6 has produced turning points in politics, science, culture, war, law, and technology. This timeline collects notable events recorded for this calendar day.
The list below is generated from public historical datasets and refreshed automatically by date.
Timeline for August 6
20152015 Abha mosque bombing
A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the Saudi city of Abha.
2012NASA
NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
2011War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
War in Afghanistan: A United States military helicopter is shot down, killing 30 American special forces members and a working dog, seven Afghan soldiers, and one Afghan civilian. It was the deadliest single event for the United States in the War in Afghanistan.
20102010 Ladakh floods
Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people.
2008Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
2001Erwadi fire incident
Erwadi fire incident: Twenty-eight mentally ill persons tied to a chain are burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu.
1997Korean Air Flight 801
Korean Air Flight 801 crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam, killing 229 of the 254 people on board.
1996NASA
NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
1991Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW makes its first appearance as a publicly available service on the Internet.
1991Takako Doi
Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
1990Gulf War
Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
1986New South Wales
A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
1965Lyndon B. Johnson
US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
1962Jamaica
Jamaica becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1960Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
1958Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy
Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy, outlawing the Communist Party of Chile and banning 26,650 persons from the electoral lists, is repealed in Chile.
19561955
After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.
1945World War II
World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning.
1942Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
1940Estonia
Estonia is annexed by the Soviet Union.
1926Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
1926Vitaphone
First public screening using the Vitaphone process
1917Battle of Mărășești
World War I: Battle of Mărășești between the Romanian and German armies begins.
1915Battle of Sari Bair
World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
1914World War I
World War I: U-boat campaign: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
1914Serbia
World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
1901Kiowa
Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
1890Auburn Correctional Facility
At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
1870Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a German victory.
1870Battle of Wörth
Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive German victory.
1862American Civil War
American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1861Lagos Treaty of Cession
Britain imposes the Lagos Treaty of Cession to suppress slavery in what is now Nigeria.
1825Bolivian Declaration of Independence
The Bolivian Declaration of Independence is proclaimed.
1824Peruvian War of Independence
Peruvian War of Independence: Patriot forces led by Simón Bolívar defeat the Spanish Royalist army in the Battle of Junín.
1819Norwich University
Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
1806Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares the moribund empire to be dissolved, although he retains power in the Austrian Empire.
1787Constitution of the United States
Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1777American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix.
1661Treaty of The Hague (1661)
The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
1585Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi is officially appointed kampaku (Imperial Regent).
1538Bogotá
Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
1284Republic of Pisa
The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
768Antipope Constantine II
Antipope Constantine II is deposed and blinded by the Lombard troops of primicerius Christopher.
686Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad forces suffer a decisive defeat against the pro-Alid forces under Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar in the battle of Khazir.
258Pope Sixtus II
Pope Sixtus II is arrested while celebrating mass and then beheaded with several of his deacons.
