December 6th in History

Michael Dobson | December 6

Today in History

  • The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published (1768*)
  • The US Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia (1790)
  • The 13th Amendment to the US constitution, which outlawed slavery, is ratified (1865)
  • The first issue of the Washington Post is published (1877)
  • The Washington Monument in DC is completed (1884)
  • London becomes the first city in the world with licensed taxicabs (1897)
  • The Irish Free State comes into existence (1922)
  • James Joyce’s Ulysses is ruled not obscene in the US (1933)
  • The Everglades National Park is dedicated (1947)
  • Hells Angels at the Altamont Speedway kill Meredith Hunter during a Rolling Stones concert (1969)
  • Gerald Ford becomes the first US Vice President to gain office under the 25th Amendment (1973)
  • NASA photographs taken by the Mars Global Surveyor suggest the presence of liquid water on Mars (2006)
*I have two connections to the Britannica: My uncle Jack Killheffer, a brilliant man, was science editor of the Britannica in the 1970s and 1980s; I remember visiting his office in Chicago—a sea of books and an overflowing ashtray. The first American encyclopedia, Dobson’s Encyclopædia, published by Thomas Dobson (no relation as far as I know), was a copy of the Britannica “adjusted” to get rid of British bias. For more see, “Wikipedia Mon Amour,” in Random Jottings 7.

Birthdays

  • Henry VI, English monarch (1421)
  • John Mosby, Confederate raider (1833)
  • Fred Duesenberg, car manufacturer (1876)
  • Joyce Kilmer, poet (1886)
  • Ira Gershwin, lyricist (1896)
  • Alfred Eisenstaedt, photojournalist (1898)
  • Agnes Moorehead, actress (1900)
  • Baby Face Nelson, gangster (1908)
  • Irv Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins (1917)
  • Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist (1920**)
  • Wally Cox, actor (1924)
  • Bobby Van, singer (1928)
  • Kenneth Copeland, televangelist (1936)
  • David Ossman, comedian, member of the Firesign Theater (1936)
  • Richard Speck, convicted murderer (1941**)
  • JoBeth Wilson, actress (1948)
  • Doug Marlette, cartoonist (1949)
  • Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist (1952)
  • Tom Hulce, actor (1953)
  • Steven Wright, comedian (1955)
  • Janine Turner, actress (1962)
  • Judd Apatow, director (1967)
  • Ryan White, AIDS victim (1971)
**Coincidentally, both Dave Brubeck and Richard Speck were born on a December 6 and died on a December 5.

Deaths

  • Anthony Trollope, author (1882)
  • Jefferson Davis, Confederate president (1889)
  • Werner von Siemens, founder of Siemens (1892)
  • Gene Stratton-Porter, author (1924)
  • Lead Belly, blue musician (1949)
  • Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker (1951)
  • Honus Wagner, baseball player (1955)
  • Burr Tillstrom, puppeteer (1985)
  • Roy Orbison, singer-songwriter (1988)
  • Francis Bavier, actress (1989)
  • Sammy Fain, composer (1989)
  • John Payne, actor (1989)
  • Don Ameche, actor (1993)
  • Pete Rozelle, NFL commissioner (1996)
  • Werner Klemperer, actor (2000)
  • Charles McClendon, football coach (2001)
  • Philip Berrigan, priest and activist (2002)
  • Dobie Gray, singer-songwriter (2011)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Constitution Day (Spain)
  • Día de Quito (Ecuador)
  • Independence Day (Finland)
  • Microwave Oven Day (celebrating the invention of the microwave oven by Dr. Percy Spencer)
  • Miner’s Day (US, honoring the worst mining disaster in US history, December 6, 1907, in Monongah, West Virginia)
  • Mitten Tree Day (US, decorating Christmas trees with mittens to be donated to those who need them)
  • National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (White Ribbon Day) (Canada)
  • National Gaspacho Day (US food holidays)
  • National Pawnbroker’s Day (celebrated on St. Nicholas Day, as St. Nicholas is the patron saint of pawnbroking)
  • Saint Nicholas Day (Christianity)

December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years). There are 25 days remaining until the end of the year.