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Updated August 5, 2012, 2:28 pm
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.
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.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1825 Upper Peru became the autonomous republic of Bolivia. 1890 The electric chair was used for the first time, to execute a convicted murderer at Auburn State Prison in New York. 1890 Hall of fame pitcher Cy Young made his major league debut with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League. 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia, and Serbia declared war against Germany at the outbreak of World War I. 1962 Jamaica became an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations. 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. 1978 Pope Paul VI died at age 80. 2007 The Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah collapsed, trapping six coal miners. (All six miners died, along with three rescuers.) 2008 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.) 2008 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. 2009 Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31. 2011 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. 2011 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. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actress Vera Farmiga turns 39 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) turns 42 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
1951 Catherine Hicks, Actress (“7th Heaven”), turns 61 1956 Stepfanie Kramer, Actress, turns 56 1957 Faith Prince, Actress, turns 55 1965 David Robinson, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 47 1972 Geri Halliwell, Singer (Spice Girls), turns 40 1974 Ever Carradine, Actress, turns 38 1976 Soleil Moon Frye, Actress, turns 36
Historic Birthdays
Lucille Ball 8/6/1911 – 4/26/1989 American radio, film and television actress.Go to obituary »
53 Niccolo Salvi 8/6/1697 – 2/8/1751
Italian sculptor83 Alfred Tennyson 8/6/1809 – 10/6/1892
English poet; raised to the peerage in 188489 Andrew Taylor Still 8/6/1828 – 12/12/1917
American founder of osteopathy54 Frank Cobb 8/6/1869 – 12/21/1923
American journalist and editor of the New York World73 Sir Alexander Fleming 8/6/1881 – 3/11/1955
Scottish bacteriologist; discovered penicillin in 192891 Louella Parsons 8/6/1881 – 12/9/1972
American journalist and movie columnist33 Dutch Schultz 8/6/1902 – 10/24/1935
American bootlegger67 Ronald Duncan 8/6/1914 – 6/3/1982
English playwright, poet and writer54 Richard Hofstadter 8/6/1916 – 10/24/1970
American historian79 Robert Mitchum 8/6/1917 – 7/1/1997
American motion-picture star61 Jackie Presser 8/6/1926 – 7/9/1988
American Teamsters Union leader (1983-88)58 Andy Warhol 8/6/1928 – 2/22/1987
American artist best known for initiating the Pop art movement
Thanks to my Indian grocer. Also, in memory of my fellow countrymen (from my motherland) who were victims of an act of terrorism today.
