On This Day — 6 January
2000s
2025
Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister of Canada after nine years in office.
Justin Trudeau
2021
Supporters of U.S. president Donald Trump storm the United States Capitol Building to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in four deaths and evacuation of the U.S. Congress.
Donald Trump
2019
Muhammad V of Kelantan resigns as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, becoming the first monarch to do so.
Muhammad V of Kelantan
2017
Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
Fort Lauderdale airport shooting
2012
Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
January 2012 al-Midan bombing
2005
Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner during the American Civil Rights Movement.
Edgar Ray Killen
2005
A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
Graniteville train crash
1900s
1995
A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
Manila
1994
U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Nancy Kerrigan
1993
Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
Border Security Force
1993
Four people are killed when Lufthansa CityLine Flight 5634 crashes on approach to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, France.
Lufthansa CityLine Flight 5634
1992
President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
President of Georgia
1989
Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
Satwant Singh
1974
In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the United States implements the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, switching to permanent daylight saving time for a trial period.
1973 oil crisis
1974
Aeroflot Flight H-75 crashes near Mukachevo, killing 24.
Aeroflot Flight H-75
1969
Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 crashes in Lafayette Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States, killing 11.
Allegheny Airlines Flight 737
1968
Aeroflot Flight 1668 crashes near Olyokminsk, killing 45.
Aeroflot Flight 1668
1967
Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
Vietnam War
1960
National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
National Airlines Flight 2511
1960
The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties.
Associations Law
1951
Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
Korean War
1947
Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
Pan Am
1946
The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
1946 North Vietnamese legislative election
1941
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1929
King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution, starting the January 6th Dictatorship.
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
1929
Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India's poorest and sick people.
Mother Teresa
1912
New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
New Mexico
1912
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
Geophysics
1900
Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
Second Boer War
1800s
1839
The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
Night of the Big Wind
1838
Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
Alfred Vail
1809
Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
Portuguese conquest of French Guiana
Before 1800
1781
In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Battle of Jersey
1725
J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123, a chorale cantata for Epiphany.
Johann Sebastian Bach
1724
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, a Bach cantata, for Epiphany, is performed the first time.
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65
1721
The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
South Sea Company
1661
English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
Stuart Restoration
1641
Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
Arauco War
1579
The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
Union of Arras
1540
King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
Henry VIII
1536
The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco
1492
The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
Catholic Monarchs of Spain
1449
Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
Constantine XI Palaiologos
1355
Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
1322
Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned "young king" in the same ceremony.
Stefan Dečanski
1205
Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
Philip of Swabia
1066
Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
Edward the Confessor