June 6
Events
Pre-1600
- 913 - Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine's uncle Alexander on his deathbed.
- 1505 - The M8.2–8.8 Lo Mustang earthquake affects Tibet and Nepal, causing severe damage in Kathmandu and parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain.
- 1513 - War of the League of Cambrai: In the Battle of Novara, Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing them to abandon Milan; Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
- 1523 - Swedish regent Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden and, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union, 6 June is designated the country's national day.
1601–1900
- 1654 - Swedish Queen Christina abdicated her throne in favour of her cousin Charles Gustav and converted to Catholicism.
- 1674 - Shivaji is crowned as the first Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire at Raigad Fort.
- 1762 - Seven Years' War: British forces begin the Siege of Havana and temporarily capture the city.
- 1813 - War of 1812: In the Battle of Stoney Creek, considered a critical turning point in the war, a British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
- 1822 - Alexis St Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont's studies on digestion.
- 1832 - The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.
- 1844 - The Young Men's Christian Association is founded in London.
- 1859 - Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales. The date is still celebrated as Queensland Day.
- 1862 - American Civil War: The First Battle of Memphis, a naval engagement fought on the Mississippi River, results in the capture of Memphis, Tennessee by Union forces from the Confederates.
- 1882 - The Shewan forces of Menelik II of Ethiopia defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and their victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.
- 1889 - The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.
- 1892 - The Chicago "L" elevated rail system begins operation.
- 1894 - Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.
1901–present
- 1912 - The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
- 1918 - World War I: U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day's casualties during the Battle of Belleau Wood while attempting to recapture the wood at Château-Thierry.
- 1925 - The original Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company.
- 1933 - The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey.
- 1934 - New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- 1942 - World War II: The United States Navy's victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway is a major turning point in the Pacific Theater. All four Japanese fleet carriers taking part—,, and —are sunk, as is the heavy cruiser. The American carrier and the destroyer are also sunk.
- 1944 - World War II: Commencement of Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of Normandy begins with the execution of Operation Neptune—commonly referred to as D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel with about 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. By the end of the day, the Allies have landed on five invasion beaches and are pushing inland.
- 1944 - World War II: Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges by Allied paratroopers, also known as Operation Coup de Main
- 1966 - March Against Fear: African-American civil rights activist James Meredith is wounded in an ambush by white sniper James Aubrey Norvell. Meredith and Norvell are photographed by Jack R. Thornell, whose photo will receive the 1967 Pulitzer Prize in Photography, the last one to be awarded in the category.
- 1971 - Soyuz 11 is launched. The mission ends in disaster when all three cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev are suffocated by uncontrolled decompression of the capsule during re-entry on 29 June.
- 1971 - Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collides with a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II of the United States Marine Corps over the San Gabriel Mountains, killing 50.
- 1975 - British referendum results in continued membership of the European Economic Community, with 67% of votes in favour.
- 1976 - Chief Minister of Sabah Faud Stephens, Peter Joinud Mojuntin, and several other politicians are killed in a plane crash near Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Malaysia.
- 1982 - 1982 Lebanon War: The war begins as forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
- 1985 - The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's "Angel of Death"; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.
- 1992 - Copa Airlines Flight 201 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes into the Darién Gap in Panama, killing all 47 aboard.
- 1993 - Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia.
- 1994 - China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, killing all 160 people on board.
- 2002 - Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
- 2017 - Syrian civil war: The Battle of Raqqa begins with an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces to capture the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
- 2023 - Russo-Ukrainian War: The Kakhovka Dam is destroyed.
- 2024 - The launch of SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4
Births
Pre-1600
- 1436 - Regiomontanus, German mathematician, astronomer, and bishop
- 1519 - Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist
- 1599 - Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator
1601–1900
- 1606 - Pierre Corneille, French playwright and producer
- 1622 - Claude-Jean Allouez, French-American missionary and explorer
- 1714 - Joseph I of Portugal, King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death
- 1755 - Nathan Hale, American soldier
- 1756 - John Trumbull, American soldier and painter
- 1799 - Alexander Pushkin, Russian author and poet
- 1810 - Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German philologist and scholar
- 1825 - Friedrich Bayer, German pharmacist, founded Bayer
- 1841 - Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher
- 1843 - Henriette Wulfsberg, Norwegian school owner and writer
- 1850 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate in 1909 for physics
- 1851 - Angelo Moriondo, Italian inventor of the espresso machine
- 1857 - Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician and physicist
- 1862 - Henry Newbolt, English historian, author, and poet
- 1867 - David T. Abercrombie, American entrepreneur and co-founder of lifestyle brand Abercrombie & Fitch
- 1868 - Robert Falcon Scott, English sailor and explorer
- 1872 - Alix of Hesse, German princess and Russian empress
- 1872 - Arthur Henry Adams, Australian journalist and author
- 1875 - Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1890 - Ted Lewis, American singer, clarinet player, and bandleader
- 1891 - Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Indian author and academic
- 1891 - Erich Marcks, German general in WWII who planned Operation Barbarossa
- 1896 - Henry Allingham, English World War I soldier and supercentenarian
- 1896 - Italo Balbo, Italian air marshal and fascist politician who played a key role in developing Mussolini's air force
- 1897 - Joel Rinne, Finnish actor
- 1898 - Jacobus Johannes Fouché, South African politician, 2nd State President of South Africa
- 1898 - Ninette de Valois, English ballerina, choreographer, and director
- 1900 - Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician
1901–present
- 1901 - Jan Struther, English author, poet and hymnwriter who created the character Mrs Miniver
- 1901 - Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia
- 1902 - Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader
- 1903 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor
- 1906 - Max August Zorn, German mathematician and academic who is noted for Zorn's Lemma
- 1907 - Bill Dickey, American baseball player and manager who played in eight World Series, winning seven
- 1909 - Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-English historian and philosopher
- 1915 - Vincent Persichetti, American pianist and composer
- 1916 - Hamani Diori, Nigerien academic and politician, 1st President of Niger
- 1917 - Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation
- 1918 - Kenneth Connor, English comedy actor
- 1918 - Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1919 - Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, English army officer and politician, 6th Secretary General of NATO
- 1920 - Virginia Oliver, American lobster fisherwoman
- 1923 - V. C. Andrews, American author, illustrator, and painter
- 1923 - Jean Pouliot, Canadian broadcaster
- 1925 - Maxine Kumin, American poet and author
- 1925 - Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation and a noted code talker during World War II
- 1926 - Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor
- 1929 - James Barnor, Ghanaian photographer
- 1929 - Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician
- 1930 - Frank Tyson, English-Australian cricketer, coach and journalist
- 1931 – Richard Hickock, American convicted murderer
- 1932 - David Scott, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut who was the commander of Apollo 15
- 1933 - Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 - Albert II, King of the Belgians from 9 August 1993 to 21 July 2013
- 1934 - Taichi Yamada, Japanese screenwriter and novelist
- 1935 - Jon Henricks, Australian swimmer; winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1956
- 1936 - D. Ramanaidu, Indian actor, director, and producer, founded Suresh Productions
- 1936 - Levi Stubbs, American soul singer; lead vocalist of the Four Tops
- 1939 - Louis Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer
- 1939 - Gary U.S. Bonds, American singer-songwriter
- 1940 - Willie John McBride, Northern Irish rugby player who toured with the British Lions five times
- 1943 - Richard Smalley, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate in 1996 for chemistry
- 1944 - Monty Alexander, Jamaican jazz pianist
- 1944 - Phillip Allen Sharp, American molecular biologist; 1993 Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 - Tommie Smith, American sprinter and football player; winner of 1968 Olympic 200m gold medal in a world record time
- 1946 - Tony Levin, American bass player and songwriter
- 1947 - David Blunkett, British Labour politician; Home Secretary 2001–2004
- 1947 - Robert Englund, American actor; best known for Nightmare on Elm Street
- 1947 - Ada Kok, Dutch butterfly stroke swimmer; winner of three Olympic medals including gold in 1968
- 1947 - Keith Daniel Williams, American convicted rapist and triple murderer
- 1948 - Arlene Harris, American entrepreneur, inventor, investor and policy advocate
- 1949 - Holly Near, American folk singer and songwriter
- 1951 - Dwight Twilley, American pop/rock singer and songwriter
- 1952 - Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright; winner of four Tony Awards
- 1954 - Wladyslaw Zmuda, Polish footballer and manager; 91 caps for Poland and voted Best Young Player at the 1974 FIFA World Cup
- 1955 - Sam Simon, American director, producer and screenwriter; co-developer of The Simpsons
- 1956 - Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player; winner of eleven Grand Slam singles titles including five consecutive Wimbledons
- 1959 - Colin Quinn, American comedian and actor
- 1960 - Steve Vai, American musician
- 1960 - Raudin Anwar, Indonesian diplomat
- 1962 - Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japanese director
- 1963 - Jason Isaacs, English actor
- 1966 - Sophie Jamal, Canadian endocrinologist involved in scientific misconduct
- 1966 - Tony Yeboah, Ghanaian footballer
- 1967 - Paul Giamatti, American actor and producer
- 1972 - Natalie Morales, American television journalist and NBC News anchor
- 1973 - Jackie Arklöv, Swedish mercenary and convicted murderer
- 1974 - Uncle Kracker, American musician
- 1974 - Sonya Walger, British-American actress
- 1977 - David Connolly, Irish footballer
- 1979 - Roberto De Zerbi, Italian football manager
- 1980 - Pete Hegseth, American author, political commentator and 29th United States Secretary of Defense
- 1983 - Michael Krohn-Dehli, Danish footballer
- 1985 - Sebastian Larsson, Swedish footballer
- 1985 - Drew McIntyre, Scottish professional wrestler
- 1985 - Becky Sauerbrunn, American footballer; twice a winner of the FIFA Women's World Cup, also an Olympic gold medallist
- 1986 - Gin Wigmore, New Zealand singer and songwriter
- 1988 - Anthony Pilkington, Irish footballer
- 1990 - Gavin Hoyte, English born footballer who represented Trinidad and Tobago
- 1990 - Anthony Rendon, American baseball player
- 1990 - Pape Souaré, Senegalese footballer
- 1992 - DeAndre Hopkins, American football player
- 1993 - Vic Mensa, American rapper and singer
- 1994 - Yvon Mvogo, Swiss footballer
- 1995 - Julian Green, American soccer player
- 1996 - Jack Hetherington, Australian rugby league player
- 1998 - Kenny Pickett, American football player
- 2000 - Haechan, South Korean singer
- 2001 - Rayan Aït-Nouri, French-Algerian footballer