Holidays
Feast Day of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Commemorating Christ revealing his divinity to Peter, James, and John on Mt. Tabor.
What Happened On
9-11 Warning
August 6, 2001
A White House briefing entitled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US" is given to George W. Bush. It stated that a large attack was to take place on United States soil. The target cities included New York City and Washington, D.C. It also mentioned the use of hijacked planes.
The 9/11 Attacks would occur the following month.
First Atomic Bomb Used in War
August 6, 1945
A uranium fission bomb with an estimated yield of 20,000 tons of TNT is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by the U.S. from the B-29 Enola Gay. 100,000 people are killed and 60% of the city is destroyed.
First Woman to Swim the English Channel
August 6, 1926
Gertrude Ederle of New York, completed the 21-mile (33.8 km) swim in 14 hours and 34 minutes, almost two hours faster than the current men's record. Her record stood until 1950.
She had previously won three Olympic medals, including a gold at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Ederle was hard of hearing since childhood due to measles and by the 1940s she was almost completely deaf. She went on to teach swimming to deaf children.
Kemmler's execution
Kemmler's execution
First Electric-Chair Execution
August 6, 1890
Convicted murderer William Kemmler is executed in New York. He had murdered his common-law wife with a hatchet.
First Person to Publicly Sell Their Own Oscar
August 6, 1992
Harold Russell sells his 1946 Best Supporting Actor award for $65,000. He was the first visibly handicapped person to appear in a major motion picture, having lost both hands in World War II. He won his Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
Gulf War
August 6, 1990
In response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations orders a boycott of Iraq and occupied Kuwait.
Yippies Invade Disneyland
August 6, 1970
200-300 Yippies (members of the Youth International Party) invade Disneyland park. They took over Tom Sawyer's Island, put on a circus, climbed buildings, sang the Mickey Mouse Club theme. About 23 Yippies were arrested and the park closed early for only the second time in its history.
Yippies were a counterculture group founded by Abbie Hoffman, his wife Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Nancy Kurshan, and Paul Krassner.
Jamaica
August 6, 1962
Jamaica gains its independence, and becomes a member of the British Commonwealth.
Holy Roman Empire
August 6, 1806
The great empire is formally dissolved after the last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicates following a military defeat by the French Army under Napoleon Bonaparte.
Birthdays
Postel with hand-drawn map of Internet top-level domains
Photo Credit: Credit
Postel with hand-drawn map of Internet top-level domainsPhoto Credit: Credit
God of the Internet
Jonathan Bruce Postel
Born August 6, 1943 d. 1998
American computer scientist, Internet pioneer. Referred to as the "God of the Internet." He was responsible for assigning addresses to domain names and for editing RFCs (Request for Comments). Also known for Postel's Law: "Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others."
Photo Credit: Jack Mitchell
Photo Credit: Jack Mitchell
Andy Warhol
Born August 6, 1928 d. 1987
American pop artist, filmmaker. Famous for his silk-screen images of Campbell's soup cans and celebrities and for movies such as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (1975). Warhol opened a large warehouse called "The Factory" in 1964 which became a gathering place for the counterculture, artists, celebrities, and musicians. He was shot in 1968 by Valerie Solanas who believed Warhol was trying to steal her work.
Lucille Ball
Born August 6, 1911 d. 1989
American Emmy-winning comedienne. TV: I Love Lucy (1951-57) and The Lucy Show (1962-68). She and husband Desi Arnaz created the television show I Love Lucy and in 1962, Ball became the first woman to run a major television studio - Desilu Productions, whose productions included I Love Lucy, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and Star Trek. Desilu Productions also pioneered a number TV production methods, such as filming before a live studio audience with a number of cameras and distinct sets adjacent to each other.
The standard at the time was to broadcast live in New York, and use a lower-quality kinescopes for the rest of the country. Desi Arnaz wanted to film the shows live so that all audiences received a high-quality image. Network executives considered the use of film too expensive, so Arnaz agreed to cover the costs in exchange for the rights to the prints. As a result, Desilu made a fortune from the reruns in what is considered one of the shrewdest deals in television history.
Tallest Married Couple
Anna Swan
Born August 6, 1846 d. 1888
Canadian giant, 7 feet 11 inches (2.42 m) tall. She and her husband, Martin Van Buren Bates at 7 feet 7.5 inches (2.324 m), were the tallest married couple. They were billed as "The Giants of Seville."
JonBenét Ramsey
Born August 6, 1990 d. 1996
American child beauty pageant queen, murder victim. The murder of the six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey in her Boulder, Colorado home drew national attention. The day after her murder, the Ramsey's discovered she was missing and found a three-page ransom note. Her body was found later that day in the wine cellar. Trace DNA taken from her clothes was found to belong to an unknown male. This case is still unsolved.
Soleil Moon Frye
Born August 6, 1976
American actress. TV: Punky Brewster (title role).
Ray Buktenica
Born August 6, 1943
American actor. TV: Rhoda (Brenda's boyfriend Benny).
Peter Bonerz
Born August 6, 1938
American actor. TV: The Bob Newhart Show (Jerry the dentist).
Robert Mitchum
Born August 6, 1917 d. 1997
American actor. Film: The Night of the Hunter (1955) and Thunder Road (1958). At age 14, he was sentenced to a Georgia chain gang for vagrancy, from which he escaped.
Hoot Gibson (Edmund Richard Gibson)
Born August 6, 1892 d. 1962
American silent-western actor, performing in some 200 silent films and 75 talkies from 1912-59. He also won the title of World's All-Around Champion Cowboy (1912).
Sir Alexander Fleming
Born August 6, 1881 d. 1955
English bacteriologist. He discovered the bacteria fighting capabilities of penicillin (1928), for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize (1945).
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Born August 6, 1809 d. 1892
English poet, poet laureate of England (1850-92). He wrote Charge of the Light Brigade (1855), inspired by the Crimean War battle.
Deaths
Warner Oland as Charlie Chan and the Dr. Yogami werewolf
Warner Oland as Charlie Chan and the Dr. Yogami werewolf
Charlie Chan and the First Movie Werewolf
Warner Oland (Johan Verner Ölund)
Died August 6, 1938 b. 1879
Swedish-born actor. Film: Dr. Fu Manchu movies (title role), Charlie Chan movies (title role), and Werewolf of London (1935).
Werewolf of London (1935) was the first major Hollywood film to feature a werewolf. Oland's werewolf character, Dr. Yogami, scratches Dr. Glendon (played by Henry Hull), who then becomes the main werewolf character of the film. Although, Hull was the lead character in the film, Oland's character was the first werewolf in the film.
Kemmler's execution
Kemmler's execution
William Kemmler
Died August 6, 1890 b. 1860
American murderer. He was the first person executed in the electric chair.
Pete Fountain (Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr.)
Died August 6, 2016 b. 1930
American jazz clarinetist, New Orleans French Quarter musician. As a member of the Lawrence Welk orchestra (1957-59), he was one of the most famous musicians on TV. However, left the show in early 1959 after Welk got angry with Fountain for "jazzing up" the Christmas song Silver Bells.
Marvin Hamlisch
Died August 6, 2012 b. 1944
American Oscar-Grammy-winning composer. Music: A Chorus Line (1975), The Way We Were (1973), and The Sting (1973).
Rick James (James Johnson)
Died August 6, 2004 b. 1948
American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Come Get It (1978), Give It to Me Baby (1981, #1), and Super Freak (1981). In 1994 he was sentenced to 5½ years in prison for violent drug-induced attacks on women.
Harry Reasoner
Died August 6, 1991 b. 1923
American Emmy-winning newscaster. TV: 60 Minutes (1968-70, 1978–91).
Riddle: What do you get if you cross a gorilla with a computer?
Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini)
Died August 6, 1978 b. 1897
262nd Pope (1963-78). He was the first pope to fly in an airplane, the first to visit Jesus' birthplace, and the first to visit the U.S. In 1968, he issued an encyclical banning all forms of artificial birth control.
Calixtus III (Alfons de Borja)
Died August 6, 1458 b. 1378
Spanish-born religious leader, 209th Pope (1455-58). He vindicated Joan of Arc, proclaiming her innocent. He made his nephew, Rodrigo Borgia, cardinal and generalissimo of the papal forces, with him later becoming Pope Alexander VI.
Saint Hormisdas
Died August 6, 523 b. ????
religious leader, 52nd Pope (514-523).
Saint Sixtus II
Died August 6, 258 b. ????
Greek-born religious leader, 24th Pope (257-258).