What happened on this day – August 6?
History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children. – Nelson Mandela
On this day:
1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean
1777 – American Revolutionary War: The bloody Battle of Oriskany prevents American relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix.
1806 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares the moribund empire to be dissolved, although he retains power in the Austrian Empire.
1819 – Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
1890 – At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
1914 – World War I: First Battle of the Atlantic: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
1926 – Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
1942 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
1945 – World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb “Little Boy” is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning.
1962 – Jamaica becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1991 – Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan’s first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
1997 – Korean Air Flight 801 crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam killing 229 of 254 people on board.
2001 – In Erwadi fire incident, 28 mentally ill persons tied to a chain were burnt to death at a faith based institution at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu, India.
2010 – Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people.
2012 – NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
2015 – A suicide bomb attack kills at least 15 people at a mosque in the Saudi city of Abha.
