August 06
1806
The Holy Roman Empire ended with the abdication of Emperor Francis II.
1825
Bolivia declared its independence from Peru.
1926
Gertrude Ederle became the first U.S. woman to swim across the English Channel.
1945
The first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
1962
Jamaica gained its independence within the Britain Commonwealth.
1965
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed the poll taxes and literacy tests that had restricted black voter registration in the South.
1997
British prime minister Tony Blair and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams meet—the first time in 76 years that a British leader and an IRA ally meet.
2003
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy to replace Gray Davis as governor of California to Jay Leno on the Tonight Show.
2012
Curiosity, an SUV-size rover, successfully landed on Mars. The rover’s research has been planned for the next two years, but since Curiosity’s electricity is powered by plutonium, it could be operational and provide insight into Mars for decades to come.
Birthdays
Alfred Tennyson
1809–1892, English poet.
Alexander Fleming
bacteriologist (1881)
Helen Jacobs
tennis player (1908)
Lucille Ball
American actress (1911)
Richard Hofstadter
historian (1916)
Robert Mitchum
actor (1917)
Andy Warhol
artist, filmmaker (1928)