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August 6

Events

1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
1661 - The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
1787 - Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention.
1806 - Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates ending the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
1819 - Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Spain.
1845 - The Russian Geographical Society is founded in Saint Petersburg.
1861 - The British annex Lagos, Nigeria.
1862 - American Civil War: the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with USS Essex near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Wœrth is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory.
1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
1901 - Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
1909 - Alice Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip.
1912 - The Bull Moose Party meets at the Chicago Coliseum.
1914 - World War I: First Battle of the Atlantic - two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Helgoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
1914 - World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
1914 - Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.
1915 - World War I: Battle of Sari Bair - the Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
1917 - World War I: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins.
1923 - Henry Sullivan swims the English Channel.
1926 - Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim across the English Channel.
1926 - In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
1926 - Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
1942 - Queen Wilhelmina becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
1945 - World War II: Hiroshima is devastated when an atomic bomb, "Little Boy", is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people were killed instantly, and some tens of thousands died in subsequent years due to burns and radiation poisoning.
1956 - After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.
1958 - Australian runner Herb Elliot breaks the world record for the mile at the Morton Stadium in Dublin, with a time of 3:54.5.
1960 - Cuban Revolution: in response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
1961 - Cosmonaut Gherman Titov makes the second successful manned orbital flight for the (USSR).
1962 - Jamaica becomes independent.
1964 - Prometheus, the world's oldest tree, is cut down.
1965 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
1966 - Braniff Airlines Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, NE killing all 42 on board.
1976 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi.
1986 - A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney.
1988 - The Tompkins Square Park Police Riot in New York City spurs reform of the NYPD, who were responsible for the melee that transpired the night of August 6-7.
1990 - Gulf War: the United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
1991 - Doi Takako, chair of the Social Democratic Party (Japan), becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
1993 - According to a Japanese government and Tokyo Broadcasting System networks report, heavy rains and debris kill 72 in the Kagoshima and Aira areas, of Kyūshū, Japan.
1996 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
1997 - Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228.
2008 - A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'etat in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi

Births

1180 - Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239)
1504 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1575)
1609 - Richard Bennett, British Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1675)
1619 - Barbara Strozzi, Italian singer and composer (d. 1677)
1638 - Nicolas Malebranche, French philosopher (d. 1715)
1644 - Louise de la Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
1656 - Claude de Forbin, French naval commander (d. 1733)
1666 - Maria Sofia of the Palatinate, queen of Portugal (d. 1699)
1697 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1745)
1715 - Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer (d. 1747)
1766 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (d. 1828)
1768 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (d. 1813)
1775 - Daniel O'Connell, Irish politician (d. 1847)
1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892)
1826 - Thomas Alexander Browne, Australian writer (d. 1915)
1844 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900)
1844 - James Henry Greathead, British engineer (d. 1896)
1861 - Edith Roosevelt, American First Lady of the United States (d. 1948)
1868 - Paul Claudel, French poet (d. 1955)
1874 - Charles Fort, American writer and researcher (d. 1932)
1877 - Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (d. 1952)
1880 - Hans Moser, Austrian actor (d. 1964)
1881 - Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)
1881 - Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1955)
1881 - Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist (d. 1972)
1887 - Dudley Benjafield, British racing driver (d. 1957)
1888 - Heinrich Schlusnus, German baritone (d. 1952)
1889 - George Kenney, American Air Force General (d. 1977)
1889 - John Middleton Murry, English poet (d. 1957)
1891 - William Slim, British general (d. 1970)
1892 - Hoot Gibson, American actor (d. 1962)
1893 - Wright Patman, American politician (d. 1976)
1900 - Cecil H. Green, American geophysicist (d. 2003)
1902 - Dutch Schultz, American bootlegger (d. 1935)
1904 - Henry Iba, American basketball coach (d. 1993)
1906 - Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (d. 1984)
1908 - Helen Jacobs, American tennis player (d. 1997)
1908 - Will Lee, American actor (d. 1982)
1910 - Charles Crichton, British film director (d. 1999)
1911 - Lucille Ball, American actress (d. 1989)
1911 - Norman Gordon, South African cricketer
1914 - Arthur Charles Dobson, British racing driver (d. 1980)
1916 - Richard Hofstadter, American historian (d. 1970)
1916 - Dom Mintoff, Maltese Prime Minister
1917 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
1918 - Norman Granz, American record producer (d. 2001)
1920 - Ella Raines, American actress (d. 1988)
1922 - Sir Freddie Laker, English entrepreneur (d. 2006)
1923 - Jess Collins, American artist (d. 2004)
1925 - Barbara Bates, American actress (d. 1969)
1926 - Clem Labine, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1926 - Frank Finlay, British actor
1926 - Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (d. 1999)
1928 - Herb Moford, American baseball player (d. 2005)
1928 - Andy Warhol, American artist (d. 1987)
1929 - Roch La Salle, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
1930 - Abbey Lincoln, American jazz singer
1932 - Howard Hodgkin, British painter
1933 - A. G. Kripal Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 1987)
1934 - Piers Anthony, English writer
1934 - Billy Boston, Welsh rugby league footballer
1937 - Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist (d. 2000)
1937 - Barbara Windsor, English actress
1938 - Paul Bartel, American actor (d. 2000)
1938 - Peter Bonerz, American actor
1940 - Mukhu Aliyev, Russian politician, President of Dagestan
1940 - Louise Sorel, American actress
1941 - Lyle Berman, American poker player
1941 - Ray Culp, American baseball player
1942 - George Jung, American convicted drug felon
1943 - Jon Postel, American computer scientist (d. 1998)
1945 - Ron Jones, British TV director (d. 1995)
1945 - Andy Messersmith, American baseball player
1946 - Allan Holdsworth, British musician
1946 - Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean politician
1946 - Masaaki Sakai, Japanese comedian
1947 - Tony Dell, Australian cricketer
1949 - Dino Bravo, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1993)
1949 - Alan Campbell, Northern Irish clergyman
1949 - Clarence Richard Silva, Catholic Bishop of Honolulu
1950 - Dorian Harewood, American actor
1951 - Catherine Hicks, American actress
1951 - Daryl Somers, Australian television personality
1952 - Vinnie Vincent, American musician (Kiss)
1953 - Iqbal Qasim, Pakistani cricketer
1954 - Paul Steigerwald, American sports announcer
1957 - Bob Horner, American baseball player
1957 - Jim McGreevey, American politician
1962 - Marc Lavoine, French singer and actor
1962 - Michelle Yeoh, Chinese-Malaysian actress
1963 - Kevin Mitnick, American computer hacker
1964 - Moosie Drier, American actor and director
1965 - Yuki Kajiura, Japanese composer
1965 - Juliane Köhler, German actress
1965 - David Robinson, American basketball player
1965 - Mark Speight, British television presenter (d. 2008)
1965 - Vincent Wells, England cricketer
1967 - Archbishop Alexy (Bondarenko), Ukrainian-born theologian
1967 - Mike Greenberg, American sportscaster
1967 - Julie Snyder, Quebec talk show host and producer
1969 - Simon Doull, New Zealand cricketer
1969 - Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003)
1970 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian/American film director
1970 - Erwin Thijs, Belgian cyclist
1971 - Merrin Dungey, American actress
1971 - Scott Minto, English footballer
1971 - Piyal Wijetunge, Sri Lankan cricketer
1972 - Geri Halliwell, British singer (Spice Girls)
1973 - Vera Farmiga, American actress
1973 - Max Kellerman, American sportscaster
1973 - Stuart O'Grady, Australian cyclist
1974 - Ever Carradine, American actress
1974 - Luis Vizcaino, Dominican baseball player
1975 - Victor Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball player
1975 - Renate Götschl, Austrian alpine skier
1975 - Jamie McGonnigal, American actor
1976 - Melissa George, Australian actress
1976 - Soleil Moon Frye, American actress
1977 - Leandro Amaral, Brazilian footballer
1977 - Jennifer Lyons, American actress
1977 - Jimmy Nielsen, Danish footballer
1977 - Luciano Zavagno, Argentine footballer
1978 - Marisa Miller, American model
1980 - Danny Collins, Welsh footballer
1980 - Wilber Pan, American/Taiwanese singer
1981 - Travis McCoy, American alternative hip-hop artist
1982 - Adrianne Curry, American model and reality television personality
1982 - Karl Davies, British actor
1982 - Justin Germano, American baseball player
1982 - Kevin van der Perren, Belgian figure skater
1982 - Ryan Sypek, American actor
1983 - Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer
1985 - Garrett Weber-Gale, American Olympic swimmer
1990 - Jon Benet Ramsey, American beauty pageant contestant and murder victim (d. 1996)