April 6

Historic Events

2026

The crew of Artemis II makes the first crewed circumlunar flight since Apollo 17 in 1972, returning humanity to the Moon's vicinity and breaking Apollo 13's record by ~4,000 miles as the furthest crewed spaceflight. ›

2018

A bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team collides with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others. ›

2017

U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an "aggression", adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties. ›

2012

Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali. ›

2011

In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 193 victims of Los Zetas were exhumed from several mass graves. ›

2010

Maoist rebels kill 76 CRPF officers in Dantewada district, India. ›

2009

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing 307. ›

2008

The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists. ›

2005

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day. ›

2004

Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment. ›

1998

Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India. ›

1997

In Greene County, Tennessee, the Lillelid murders occur. ›

1994

The Rwandan genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down. ›

1992

The Bosnian War begins. ›

1985

Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Field Marshal Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab. ›

1984

Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya. ›

1974

In Brighton, United Kingdom, ABBA wins the 1974 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo", the first of a joint-record seven Swedish wins. ›

1974

The first California Jam festival takes place at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California. Co-headlined by Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The festival set what were then records for the loudest amplification system ever installed, the highest paid attendance, and highest gross in history. ›

1973

Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft. ›

1973

The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter. ›

1972

Vietnam War: Easter Offensive: American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments. ›

1970

Newhall massacre: Four California Highway Patrol officers are killed in a shootout. ›

1968

In the downtown district of Richmond, Indiana, a double explosion kills 41 and injures 150. ›

1968

Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Party leadership election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon afterward. ›

1965

Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit. ›

1958

Capital Airlines Flight 67 crashes in Tittabawassee Township, Michigan, near Freeland Tri-City Airport, killing 47. ›

1957

The flag carrier airline of Greece for decades, Olympic Airways, is founded by Aristotle Onassis following the acquisition of "TAE - Greek National Airlines". ›

1948

The Finno-Soviet Treaty is signed in Moscow. ›

1947

The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement. ›

1945

World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans. ›

1945

World War II: The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville comes to an end. ›

1941

World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece). ›

1936

Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: Another tornado from the same storm system as the Tupelo tornado hits Gainesville, Georgia, killing 203. ›

1930

At the end of the Salt March, Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." ›

1929

Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives. ›

1926

Varney Airlines makes its first commercial flight (Varney is the root company of United Airlines). ›

1918

Finnish Civil War: The battle of Tampere ends. ›

1917

World War I: The United States declares war on Germany. ›

1911

During the Battle of Deçiq, Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, leader of the Malësori Albanians, raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro, for the first time after George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg). ›

1909

Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary's claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability. ›

1896

In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I. ›

1866

The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, is founded. It lasts until 1956. ›

1865

American Civil War: The Battle of Sailor's Creek: Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia, during the Appomattox Campaign. ›

1862

American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston. ›

1860

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, is organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, Illinois. ›

1841

U.S. President John Tyler is sworn in, two days after having become president upon William Henry Harrison's death. ›

1830

Church of Christ, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement, is organized by Joseph Smith and others at either Fayette or Manchester, New York. ›

1814

Nominal beginning of the Bourbon Restoration; anniversary date that Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba. ›

1812

British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France. ›

1808

John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, that would eventually make him America's first millionaire. ›

1800

The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. (Under the Old Style calendar then still in use in the Ottoman Empire, the treaty was signed on 21 March.) ›

1793

During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic. ›

1782

King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) establishes the Chakri dynasty. ›

1776

American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy fail in their attempt to capture a Royal Navy dispatch boat. ›

1712

The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 begins near Broadway. ›

1652

At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town. ›

1580

One of the largest earthquakes recorded in the history of England, Flanders, or Northern France, takes place. ›

1453

Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople. The city falls on May 29 and is renamed Istanbul. ›

1320

The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. ›

945

Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII crowns his son Romanos II as co-emperor. ›

402

Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia. ›

46 BC

Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus. ›