On This Day — 6 July

2000s

2022

The Georgia Guidestones, a monument in the United States, are heavily damaged in a bombing, and are dismantled later the same day.

Georgia Guidestones

2021

An Antonov An-26 operating as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 crashes on approach to Palana Airport, killing all 28 aboard.

Antonov An-26

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2013

At least 42 people are killed in a shooting at a school in Yobe State, Nigeria.

Mamudo school massacre

2013

A Boeing 777 operating as Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring 181 of the 307 people on board.

Boeing 777

2013

A 73-car oil train derails in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and explodes into flames, killing at least 47 people and destroying more than 30 buildings in the town's central area.

Lac-Mégantic rail disaster

2006

The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.

Nathu La

2003

The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively.

Yevpatoria

1900s

1998

Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city's international airport.

Hong Kong International Airport

1997

The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland.

The Troubles

1996

A McDonnell Douglas MD-88 operating as Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 experiences a turbine engine failure during takeoff from Pensacola International Airport, killing two and injuring five of the 147 people on board.

McDonnell Douglas MD-80

1995

In the Bosnian War, under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia begins its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

Bosnian War

1989

The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff.

1989 Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus attack

1988

The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.

Piper Alpha

1982

While attempting to return to Sheremetyevo International Airport, Aeroflot Flight 411, an Ilyushin Il-62, crashes near Mendeleyevo, Moscow Oblast, killing all 90 people on board.

Sheremetyevo International Airport

1975

The Comoros declares independence from France.

Comoros

1967

Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.

Nigerian Civil War

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1966

Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President.

Republic

1964

Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.

Malawi

1962

As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place.

Project Plowshare

1962

The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time.

The Late Late Show (Irish talk show)

1957

Althea Gibson wins at the Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.

Althea Gibson

1957

John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.

John Lennon

1947

Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India.

1947 Sylhet referendum

1947

The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.

AK-47

1944

Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to his court-martial.

Jackie Robinson

1944

The Hartford circus fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hartford circus fire

1942

Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

Anne Frank

1941

World War II: The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk.

World War II

1940

Story Bridge, a major landmark in Brisbane, as well as Australia's longest cantilever bridge is formally opened.

Story Bridge

1939

Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany closes the last remaining Jewish enterprises.

Anti-Jewish legislation in pre-war Nazi Germany

1937

Spanish Civil War: Battle of Brunete: The battle begins with Spanish Republican troops going on the offensive against the Nationalists to relieve pressure on Madrid.

Spanish Civil War

1936

A major breach of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet (61 m) into the River Irwell.

Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal

1933

The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2.

Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1919

The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.

R33-class airship

1918

The Left SR uprising in Russia starts with the assassination of German ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach by Cheka members.

Left SR uprising

1917

World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.

World War I

1800s

1892

Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded.

Strike action

1887

David Kalākaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, which transfers much of the king's authority to the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Kalākaua

1885

Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.

Louis Pasteur

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1854

The Republican Party of the United States held its first convention in Jackson, Michigan.

Republican Party (United States)

1809

The second day of the Battle of Wagram; France defeats the Austrian army in the largest battle to date of the Napoleonic Wars.

Battle of Wagram

1801

First Battle of Algeciras: Outnumbered French Navy ships defeat the Royal Navy in the fortified Spanish port of Algeciras.

First Battle of Algeciras

Before 1800

1791

At Padua, the Emperor Leopold II calls on the monarchs of Europe to join him in demanding the king of France Louis XVI's freedom.

Padua

1779

Battle of Grenada: The French defeat British naval forces in the Caribbean during the American Revolutionary War.

Battle of Grenada

1777

American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga: After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.

American Revolutionary War

1751

Pope Benedict XIV suppresses the Patriarchate of Aquileia and establishes from its territory the Archdiocese of Udine and Gorizia.

Pope Benedict XIV

1685

Battle of Sedgemoor: Last battle of the Monmouth Rebellion. Troops of King James II defeat troops of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.

Battle of Sedgemoor

1630

Thirty Years' War: Four thousand Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.

Thirty Years' War

1614

Raid on Żejtun: The south east of Malta, and the town of Żejtun, suffer a raid from Ottoman forces. This was the last unsuccessful attempt by the Ottomans to conquer the island of Malta.

Raid on Żejtun

1573

Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.

Córdoba, Argentina

1573

French Wars of Religion: Siege of La Rochelle ends.

French Wars of Religion

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1560

The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.

Treaty of Edinburgh

1557

King Philip II of Spain, consort of Queen Mary I of England, sets out from Dover to war with France, which eventually resulted in the loss of the city of Calais, the last English possession on the continent, and Mary I never seeing her husband again.

Philip II of Spain

1536

The explorer Jacques Cartier lands at St. Malo at the end of his second expedition to North America. He returns with none of the gold he expected to find.

Jacques Cartier

1495

First Italian War: Battle of Fornovo: Charles VIII defeats the Holy League.

Italian War of 1494–1495

1484

Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.

Diogo Cão

1483

Richard III and Anne Neville are crowned King and Queen of England.

Richard III of England

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1438

A temporary compromise between the rebellious Transylvanian peasants and the noblemen is signed in Kolozsmonostor Abbey.

Transylvanian peasant revolt

1415

Jan Hus is condemned by the assembly of the council in the Konstanz Cathedral as a heretic and sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Jan Hus

1411

Ming China's Admiral Zheng He returns to Nanjing after the third treasure voyage and presents the Sinhalese king, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to the Yongle Emperor.

Ming dynasty