Washington National Cathedral (Photo: I. Clifford, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Today in History

• Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves (1540)
• The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress (1893)
• Maria Montessori opens her first school (1907)
• New Mexico becomes a US state (1912)
• Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin her work (1929)
• Thomas Edison signs his last patent application (1931)
• FDR delivers his “Four Freedoms” speech (1941)
• Congress certifies George W. Bush as winner of the 2000 Presidential election (2001)

Birthdays

• Joan of Arc, French military leader, martyr, and saint (1412)
• Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, co-inventor of the hot air balloon (1745)
• Jedidiah Smith, explorer (1799)
• Heinrich Schliemann, archeologist who discovered Troy (1822)
• Gustave Doré, painter (1832)
• Carl Sandburg, poet (1878)
• Tom Mix, cowboy actor (1880)
• Kahil Gibran, poet and philosopher (1883)
• Danny Thomas, comedian and actor (1912)
• Loretta Young, actress (1913)
• Alan Watts, philosopher (1915)
• Earl Scruggs, banjo player (1924)
• John DeLorean, car manufacturer (1925)
• Capucine, model and actress (1928)
• E. L. Doctorow, novelist (1931)
• Lou Holtz, football coach (1937)
• Van McCoy, musician (1940)
• Bonnie Franklin, actress (1944)
• Rowan Atkinson, actor (1955)
• Eddie Redmayne, actor (1982)

Deaths

• Louis Braille, inventor of Braille (1852)
• Gregor Mendel, geneticist (1884)
• Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1919)
• Victor Fleming, filmmaker (1949)
• Dizzy Gillespie, jazz trumpeter (1993)
• Rudolf Nureyev, dancer (1993)
• Don Martin, cartoonist (2000)
• Lou Rawls, singer-songwriter (2006)

Holidays and Celebrations

• Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
• Epiphany (Christianity)
• National Technology Day
• Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

January 6 is the sixth day of the year. There are 359 days (360 in leap years) remaining until the end of the year.