Updated
August 6, 2014,
5:33 am
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On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, that instantly killed an estimated 66,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare.
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On Aug. 6, 1911, Lucille Ball, the American radio, television and film comedic actress, was born. Following her death on April 26, 1989, her obituary appeared in The Times.
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Other birthdays »
| 1825
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Upper Peru became the autonomous republic of Bolivia.
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| 1890
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The electric chair was used for the first time, to execute a convicted murderer at Auburn State Prison in New York.
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| 1890
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Hall of fame pitcher Cy Young made his major league debut with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League.
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| 1914
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Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia, and Serbia declared war against Germany at the outbreak of World War I.
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| 1962
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Jamaica became an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations.
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| 1965
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President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
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| 1978
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Pope Paul VI died at age 80.
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| 2007
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The Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah collapsed, trapping six coal miners. (All six miners died, along with three rescuers.)
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| 2008
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The government declared that Army scientist Bruce Ivins was solely responsible for the anthrax attacks that killed five in 2001. (Ivins had committed suicide on July 29.)
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| 2008
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A U.S. military jury convicted Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, of supporting terrorism in the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay.
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| 2009
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Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31.
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| 2011
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Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the elite Navy commando unit that had slain Osama bin Laden; seven Afghan commandos also died.
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| 2011
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Violence erupted in London amid anger over the fatal police shooting of a 29-year-old father of four; rioting and looting spread to other parts of the city and other English cities over the next several
days, leaving five dead.
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Historic Birthdays
Lucille Ball
8/6/1911 - 4/26/1989
American radio, film and television actress.
Go to obituary »
| 53
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Niccolo Salvi 8/6/1697 - 2/8/1751
Italian sculptor
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| 83
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Alfred Tennyson 8/6/1809 - 10/6/1892
English poet; raised to the peerage in 1884
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| 89
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Andrew Taylor Still 8/6/1828 - 12/12/1917
American founder of osteopathy
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| 54
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Frank Cobb 8/6/1869 - 12/21/1923
American journalist and editor of the New York World
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| 73
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Sir Alexander Fleming 8/6/1881 - 3/11/1955
Scottish bacteriologist; discovered penicillin in 1928
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| 91
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Louella Parsons 8/6/1881 - 12/9/1972
American journalist and movie columnist
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| 33
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Dutch Schultz 8/6/1902 - 10/24/1935
American bootlegger
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| 67
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Ronald Duncan 8/6/1914 - 6/3/1982
English playwright, poet and writer
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| 54
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Richard Hofstadter 8/6/1916 - 10/24/1970
American historian
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| 79
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Robert Mitchum 8/6/1917 - 7/1/1997
American motion-picture star
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| 61
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Jackie Presser 8/6/1926 - 7/9/1988
American Teamsters Union leader (1983-88)
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| 58
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Andy Warhol 8/6/1928 - 2/22/1987
American artist best known for initiating the Pop art movement
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