On this day: December 6

Events on December 6

• 1240 After days of bombardment, Mongol invaders under Batu Khan breached the walls of Kiev and sacked the city. Wikipedia
• 1240 Mongol invasion of Rus': Kyiv, defended by Voivode Dmytro, falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan. Wikipedia
• 1492 After exploring the island of Cuba (which he had mistaken for Japan) for gold, Christopher Columbus lands on an island he names Hispaniola. Wikipedia
• 1534 The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar. Wikipedia
• 1790 The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1865 Georgia ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Wikipedia
• 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt announced the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, justifying the exercise of "international police power" by the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere. Wikipedia
• 1904 Theodore Roosevelt articulated his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: USS Jacob Jones became the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it was torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53. Wikipedia
• 1921 The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives. Wikipedia
• 1922 Ireland is partitioned, with Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State coming into existence, one year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Wikipedia
• 1933 In United States v. One Book Called Ulysses Judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene despite coarse language and sexual content, a leading decision affirming free expression. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Camp X opens in Canada to begin training Allied secret agents for the war. Wikipedia
• 1942 The Holocaust: Members of the German Ordnungspolizei massacred 31 people in Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka within occupied Poland for helping Jews. Wikipedia
• 1956 A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Wikipedia
• 1973 The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92–3.) Wikipedia
• 1989 25-year-old Marc Lépine, claiming to be "fighting feminism", killed fourteen women before committing suicide at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Canada. Wikipedia
• 1989 The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal. Wikipedia
• 1991 Yugoslav Wars: In Croatia, forces of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) heaviest bombardment of Dubrovnik during a siege of seven months. Wikipedia
• 1995 The United States Food and Drug Administration approves Saquinavir, the first protease inhibitor to treat HIV/AIDS. Within 2 years of its approval, annual deaths from AIDS in the United States fall from over 50,000 to approximately 18,000. Wikipedia
• 1998 in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez is victorious in presidential elections. Wikipedia
• 2005 An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashes into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing all 94 on board and 12 more on the ground. Wikipedia
• 2006 NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars. Wikipedia
• 2017 Under President Donald Trump, the United States government officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Wikipedia
• 2017 Donald Trump's administration officially announces the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Wikipedia

Born on December 6

• 1421 Henry VI of England (died 1471) Wikipedia
• 1478 Baldassare Castiglione, Italian courtier, diplomat, and author (died 1529) Wikipedia
• 1778 Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (died 1850) Wikipedia
• 1792 William II of the Netherlands (died 1849) Wikipedia
• 1823 Max Müller, German-English philologist and orientalist (died 1900) Wikipedia
• 1841 Frédéric Bazille, French painter and soldier (died 1870) Wikipedia
• 1848 Johann Palisa, Austrian astronomer (died 1925) Wikipedia
• 1849 August von Mackensen, German field marshal (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1898 Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987) Wikipedia
• 1917 Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1920 George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1920 Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1942 Peter Handke, Austrian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1947 Geoffrey Hinton, British-Canadian computer scientist, cognitive scientist, and cognitive psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1948 Keke Rosberg, Finnish racing driver Wikipedia
• 1950 Joe Hisaishi, Japanese pianist, composer, and conductor Wikipedia
• 1957 Andrew Cuomo, American politician, 56th Governor of New York Wikipedia
• 1959 Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (died 2015) Wikipedia
• 1979 Tim Cahill, Australian footballer Wikipedia
• 1981 Federico Balzaretti, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1982 Alberto Contador, Spanish cyclist Wikipedia
• 1994 Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greek-Nigerian basketball player Wikipedia

Died on December 6

• 343 Saint Nicholas, Greek bishop and saint (born 270) Wikipedia
• 1185 Afonso I of Portugal (born 1109) Wikipedia
• 1352 Pope Clement VI (born 1291) Wikipedia
• 1658 Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (born 1601) Wikipedia
• 1882 Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (born 1815) Wikipedia
• 1889 Jefferson Davis, American general and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (born 1808) Wikipedia
• 1892 Werner von Siemens, German engineer and businessman, founded the Siemens Company (born 1816) Wikipedia
• 1951 Harold Ross, American journalist and publisher, founded The New Yorker (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1956 B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Justice (born 1891) Wikipedia
• 1961 Frantz Fanon, Martinique-French psychiatrist and author (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 1976 João Goulart, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Brazil (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 1988 Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1936) Wikipedia
• 1990 Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 1991 Richard Stone, English economist and statistician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of the Founding of Quito (Ecuador) Wikipedia
• Armed Forces Day (Ukraine) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Abraham of Kratia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Aemilianus (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Denise and companions Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed János Scheffler Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: María del Monte Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nicholas of Myra, and its related observances: Saint Nicholas Day, where Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus leaves little presents in children's shoes. (International) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Spain) Wikipedia
• Day of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917. Wikipedia
• National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 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.