On this day: July 6

Events on July 6

• 640 Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt). Wikipedia
• 1253 Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania. Wikipedia
• 1439 The reunion of the Catholic and Orthodox Church is proclaimed and celebrated with a public holiday. Wikipedia
• 1484 Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River. Wikipedia
• 1614 Raid on Żejtun: The south east of Malta, and the town of Żejtun, suffer a raid from Ottoman forces. This was the last unsuccessful attempt by the Ottomans to conquer the island of Malta. Wikipedia
• 1614 The Ottoman Empire made a final attempt to conquer the island of Malta, but were repulsed by the Knights Hospitaller. Wikipedia
• 1777 American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga: After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York. Wikipedia
• 1779 Battle of Grenada: The French defeat British naval forces in the Caribbean during the American Revolutionary War. Wikipedia
• 1809 Napoleon's French forces defeated Archduke Charles' Austrian army at the Battle of Wagram, the decisive confrontation of the War of the Fifth Coalition. Wikipedia
• 1854 The Republican Party of the United States held its first convention in Jackson, Michigan. Wikipedia
• 1885 Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog. Wikipedia
• 1915 First World War: The British and French prime ministers, H. H. Asquith and René Viviani, met at Calais to discuss future offensives including the Gallipoli campaign. Wikipedia
• 1916 First World War: Russian troops won a victory in the Battle of Kostiuchnówka, with the Polish Legions playing a key role on the Austro-Hungarian side. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt. Wikipedia
• 1941 Second World War: After a three-month siege, the Italian garrison of Saïo (in modern-day Ethiopia) surrendered to Belgian, British and Ethiopian troops. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk. Wikipedia
• 1942 Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse. Wikipedia
• 1947 The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles. Wikipedia
• 1964 Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1966 Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President. Wikipedia
• 1967 Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war. Wikipedia
• 1975 The Comoros declares independence from France. Wikipedia
• 1988 The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life. Wikipedia
• 1997 The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland. Wikipedia
• 2006 A gunman killed an 18-year-old man and injured six other people in a mass shooting on Cabildo Avenue in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Wikipedia

Born on July 6

• 1580 Johann Stobäus, German lute player and composer (died 1646) Wikipedia
• 1796 Nicholas I of Russia (died 1855) Wikipedia
• 1832 Maximilian I of Mexico (died 1867) Wikipedia
• 1887 Marc Chagall, Belarusian-French painter and poet (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1903 Hugo Theorell, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1907 Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (died 1954) Wikipedia
• 1907 George Stanley, Canadian soldier, historian, and author, designed the flag of Canada (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1914 Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter, founded WWE (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1921 Nancy Reagan, American actress and activist, 42nd First Lady of the United States (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1923 Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of the Third Polish Republic (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1927 Janet Leigh, American actress and author (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1935 Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama Wikipedia
• 1940 Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakh politician, 1st President of Kazakhstan Wikipedia
• 1940 Jeannie Seely, Grammy Award-winning country music singer-songwriter and Grand Ole Opry member (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1946 George W. Bush, American businessman and politician, 43rd President of the United States Wikipedia
• 1946 Sylvester Stallone, American actor, director, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1946 Peter Singer, Australian philosopher and academic Wikipedia
• 1951 Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1975 50 Cent, American rapper and actor Wikipedia
• 1979 Kevin Hart, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1980 Eva Green, French actress and model Wikipedia
• 1986 David Karp, American businessman, founder of Tumblr Wikipedia

Died on July 6

• 1189 Henry II, king of England (born 1133) Wikipedia
• 1415 Jan Hus, Czech priest, philosopher, and reformer (born 1369) Wikipedia
• 1533 Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet and playwright (born 1474) Wikipedia
• 1535 Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and martyr (born 1478) Wikipedia
• 1553 Edward VI, king of England and Ireland (born 1537) Wikipedia
• 1835 John Marshall, American captain and politician, 4th United States Secretary of State (born 1755) Wikipedia
• 1854 Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (born 1789) Wikipedia
• 1893 Guy de Maupassant, French short story writer, novelist, and poet (born 1850) Wikipedia
• 1962 William Faulkner, American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1971 Louis Armstrong, American singer and trumpet player (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1989 János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, Hungarian Minister of the Interior (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2005 Claude Simon, Malagasy-French novelist and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2020 Ennio Morricone, Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpet player (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2022 James Caan, American actor (born 1940) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• The first day of the Festival of San Fermín, which lasts until July 14. (Pamplona) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Goar of Aquitaine Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maria Goretti Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Mary Theresa Ledóchowska Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Moninne Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Romulus of Fiesole Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas More Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Cayman Islands) Wikipedia
• Day of the Capital (Kazakhstan) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Comoros), celebrates the independence of the Comoros from France in 1975. Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Malawi), celebrates the independence of Malawi from United Kingdom in 1964. Wikipedia
• International Kissing Day (informally observed) Wikipedia
• Jan Hus Day (Czech Republic) Wikipedia
• Kupala Night (Poland, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) Wikipedia
• Statehood Day (Lithuania) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Peru) Wikipedia

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