Historical Events on 6 Dec

Historical Events on 6 Dec

1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary
1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev under Danylo of Halych and Voivode Dmytro falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
1534 - The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
1648 - Colonel Pride of the New Model Army purges the Long Parliament of MPs sympathetic to King Charles I of England, in order for the King's trial to go ahead; came to be known as "Pride's Purge".
1768 - The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
1790 - The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1845 - Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is founded at Yale College.
1849 - American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
1877 - The first edition of the Washington Post is published.
1884 - The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is completed.
1897 - London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs.
1907 - A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia kills 362 workers.
1916 - World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
1917 - Finland declares independence from Russia.
1917 - Halifax Explosion: In Canada, a munitions explosion kills more than 1900 people and destroys part of the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1921 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.
1922 - One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
1933 - U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene.
1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War.
1947 - The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
1956 - A water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
1957 - Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.
1965 - Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduate level.
1969 - Meredith Hunter is killed by the Hells Angels during a The Rolling Stones's concert at the Altamont Speedway in California.
1971 - Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi's recognition of Bangladesh.
1973 - The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3).
1975 - Balcombe Street Siege: An IRA Active Service Unit takes a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London.
1977 - South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
1978 - Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
1989 - The École Polytechnique Massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
1991 - In Croatia, forces of the Yugoslav People's Army bombard Dubrovnik after laying siege to the city since May.
1992 - Extremist Hindu activists demolish Babri Masjid - a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya, India which had been used as temple since 1949. Hindus believe this structure was built on the site of the birthplace of Lord Rama.
1997 - A Russian Antonov An-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
1998 - Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.
2001 - The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador.
2005 - Several villagers are shot dead during protests in Dongzhou, China.
2006 - NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.