On this day: April 6

Events on April 6

• 46 BC Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus. Wikipedia
• 1453 Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople. The city falls on May 29 and is renamed Istanbul. Wikipedia
• 1652 Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck landed at Table Bay in southern Africa, establishing a settlement that later became known as Cape Town. Wikipedia
• 1652 At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town. Wikipedia
• 1782 King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) establishes the Chakri dynasty. Wikipedia
• 1793 During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic. Wikipedia
• 1812 British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston. Wikipedia
• 1896 In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I. Wikipedia
• 1911 During the Battle of Deçiq, Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, leader of the Malësori Albanians, raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro, for the first time after George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg). Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: The United States declares war on Germany. Wikipedia
• 1930 At the end of the Salt March, Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: The Luftwaffe began Operation Retribution, bombing the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade in retaliation for a coup d'état that overthrew the government that had signed the Tripartite Pact. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: German forces invaded Greece and Yugoslavia. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece). Wikipedia
• 1945 Second World War: The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville Island concluded with a decisive victory for the Australian Army's 7th Brigade against the Imperial Japanese Army's 6th Division. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans. Wikipedia
• 1957 The flag carrier airline of Greece for decades, Olympic Airways, is founded by Aristotle Onassis following the acquisition of "TAE - Greek National Airlines". Wikipedia
• 1974 In Brighton, United Kingdom, ABBA wins the 1974 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo", the first of a joint-record seven Swedish wins. Wikipedia
• 1984 Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya. Wikipedia
• 1994 The Rwandan genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down. Wikipedia
• 1998 Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India. Wikipedia
• 2004 Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment. Wikipedia
• 2005 Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day. Wikipedia
• 2012 Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali. Wikipedia
• 2017 U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an "aggression", adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties. Wikipedia

Born on April 6

• 1135 Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (March 30 also proposed, died 1204) Wikipedia
• 1725 Pasquale Paoli, French soldier and politician (died 1807) Wikipedia
• 1741 Nicolas Chamfort, French author and playwright (died 1794) Wikipedia
• 1773 James Mill, Scottish historian, economist, and philosopher (died 1836) Wikipedia
• 1812 Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (died 1870) Wikipedia
• 1820 Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (died 1910) Wikipedia
• 1826 Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (died 1898) Wikipedia
• 1904 Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1911 Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1979) Wikipedia
• 1920 Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1928 James Watson, American biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1942 Barry Levinson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1949 Horst Ludwig Störmer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1963 Rafael Correa, Ecuadorian economist and politician, 54th President of Ecuador Wikipedia
• 1964 Tim Walz, American politician, Governor of Minnesota & vice presidential candidate Wikipedia
• 1969 Paul Rudd, American actor Wikipedia
• 1975 Zach Braff, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1983 Mitsuru Nagata, Japanese footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Ryota Moriwaki, Japanese footballer Wikipedia
• 1998 Peyton List, American actress and model Wikipedia
• 1998 Nahuel Molina, Argentine footballer Wikipedia
• 2001 Oscar Piastri, Australian racing driver Wikipedia

Died on April 6

• 943 Nasr II, ruler (amir) of the Samanid Empire (born 906) Wikipedia
• 1174 Umara al-Yamani, Yemeni poet and historian (born 1121) Wikipedia
• 1199 Richard I, king of England (born 1157) Wikipedia
• 1340 Basil, emperor of Trebizond (Turkey) Wikipedia
• 1376 Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (born 1310) Wikipedia
• 1520 Raphael, Italian painter and architect (born 1483) Wikipedia
• 1528 Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (born 1471) Wikipedia
• 1829 Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (born 1802) Wikipedia
• 1961 Jules Bordet, Belgian microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1870) Wikipedia
• 1971 Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1882) Wikipedia
• 1992 Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2000 Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian politician, 1st President of Tunisia (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 2017 Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2022 Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian and Soviet politician (born 1946) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Chakri Day, commemorating the establishment of the Chakri dynasty. (Thailand) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach (Lutheran Church). Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Brychan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eutychius of Constantinople Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Galla of Rome Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marcellinus of Carthage Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Notker the Stammerer Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Pierina Morosini Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Sixtus I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Day of Sport for Development and Peace Wikipedia
• National Fisherman Day (Indonesia) Wikipedia
• New Beer's Eve (United States) Wikipedia
• Tartan Day (United States & Canada) Wikipedia
• Waltzing Matilda Day (Australia) Wikipedia
• International Asexuality Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 6” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.