On This Day — 6 April

2000s

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.

Humboldt Broncos

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.

2017 Shayrat missile strike

2012

Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali.

Azawad

2011

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

San Fernando, Tamaulipas

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2010

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

April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada

2009

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

2009 L'Aquila earthquake

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2008

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

2008 Egyptian general strike

2005

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

Jalal Talabani

2004

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

Rolandas Paksas

1900s

1998

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

Nuclear weapons testing

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1997

In Greene County, Tennessee, the Lillelid murders occur.

Lillelid murders

1994

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

Rwandan genocide

1992

The Bosnian War begins.

Bosnian War

1985

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

Gaafar Nimeiry

1984

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

Cameroon

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.

Brighton

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.

California Jam

1973

Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.

Pioneer 11

1973

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

American League

1972

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

Vietnam War

1970

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

Newhall incident

1968

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

Richmond, Indiana

1968

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

Pierre Trudeau

1965

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

Intelsat I

1958

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

Capital Airlines Flight 67

1957

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

Greece

1948

The Finno-Soviet Treaty is signed in Moscow.

Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948

1947

The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement.

Tony Awards

1945

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

Sarajevo

1945

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

Battle of Slater's Knoll

1941

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

World War II

1936

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

1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak

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."

Salt March

1929

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

Huey Long

1926

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

Varney Air Lines

1918

Finnish Civil War: The battle of Tampere ends.

Finnish Civil War

1917

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

World War I

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).

Battle of Deçiq

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.

Robert Peary

1800s

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.

Athens

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.

Grand Army of the Republic

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.

Battle of Sailor's Creek

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.

American Civil War

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.

Community of Christ

1841

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

John Tyler

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.

Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)

1814

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

Bourbon Restoration in France

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

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.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

1808

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

John Jacob Astor

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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.)

Treaty of Constantinople (1800)