Notable Historical Events - 2006
2006 Historical Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
Jan 1 |
Sydney, Australia swelters through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometre peaked at 45 degrees celsius, sparking bushfires and power outages. |
Jan 4 |
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. |
Jan 8 |
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake with its epicenter just off the Greek island of Kythira hits much of the country and is felt throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea. |
Jan 10 |
32nd People's Choice Awards: Johnny Depp & Sandra Bullock win (Motion Picture) and Ray Romano & Jennifer Garner win (TV) |
Jan 12 |
A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims. |
Jan 12 |
Turkey releases Mehmet Ali Ağca from jail after he served 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II. |
Jan 12 |
The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship. |
Jan 12 |
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council. |
Jan 12 |
During an emotional ceremony, Mark Messier's #11 jersey is retired by the New York Rangers |
Jan 16 |
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state. |
Jan 19 |
A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes in Hungary. |
Jan 19 |
The New Horizons probe is launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto. |
Jan 19 |
Terrorist blows himself up in Tel Aviv, killing only himself but injuring 20 people, one of them seriously. |
Jan 22 |
Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president. |
Jan 22 |
Kobe Bryant scores a career-high 81 points in a victory against the Toronto Raptors, the second most in NBA history in one single game |
Jan 24 |
After losing the federal election to Stephen Harper, Paul Martin resigns as leader of the Liberal party |
Jan 25 |
Three independent observing campaigns announce the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star. |
Jan 26 |
Western Union discontinues use of its telegram service. |
Jan 31 |
Alan Greenspan retires as Chairman of the Federal Reserve |
Feb 4 |
A stampede occurs in the ULTRA Stadium near Manila killing 71. |
Feb 5 |
Super Bowl XL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Seattle Seahawks, 21-10 at the Ford Field MVP: Hines Ward, Pittsburgh, WR |
Feb 7 |
Uma Thurman is named a knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France for outstanding achievement in the field of art and literature |
Feb 8 |
48th Grammy Awards: Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, John Legend wins |
Feb 9 |
Al Michaels joins NBC's "Sunday Night Football" broadcast with Johh Madden |
Feb 12 |
A powerful winter storm blankets the Northeastern United States dumping 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington DC up to Boston, Massachusetts. The storm dumped a record 26.9 inches of snow in New York City. |
Feb 12 |
NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 23-17 |
Feb 16 |
The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army. |
Feb 17 |
A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126. |
Feb 22 |
At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent. |
Feb 23 |
Dubai Ports World agrees to postpone its plans to take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill. |
Feb 24 |
President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue possible military coup. |
Mar 1 |
Tarja Halonen is inaugurated as President of Finland for the second and last time. |
Mar 1 |
English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station. |
Mar 4 |
Final contact attempt with Pioneer 10 by the Deep Space Network. No response was received. |
Mar 4 |
26th Golden Raspberry Awards: Dirty Love wins |
Mar 4 |
20th Soul Train Music Awards: Jamie Foxx, Destiny's Child & John Legend win |
Mar 5 |
78th Academy Awards - "Crash," Philip Seymour Hoffman & Reese Witherspoon win |
Mar 6 |
South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signs a bill into legislation that would ban most abortions in the state. |
Mar 9 |
Liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn. |
Mar 10 |
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars. |
Mar 10 |
Mass unrest by the PCC started in São Paulo (the biggest city in Brazil) which would eventually kill more than 152 people. |
Mar 11 |
Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile. |
Mar 16 |
The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council. |
Mar 20 |
Cyclone Larry makes landfall in eastern Australia, destroying most of the country's banana crop. |
Mar 20 |
Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Deby. |
Mar 21 |
Immigrant workers constructing the Burj Dubayy in Dubai, The United Arab Emirates and a new terminal of Dubai International Airport join together and riot, causing $1M in damage. |
Mar 22 |
ETA, armed Basque separatist group, declares permanent ceasefire. |
Mar 22 |
BC Ferries' M/V Queen of the North runs aground on Gil Island British Columbia and sinks; 101 on board, 2 presumed deaths. |
Mar 22 |
Three Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox. |
Mar 23 |
The Federal Reserve discontinues publishing M3 money supply. |
Mar 24 |
Long-term protests in Belarus are broken by police. |
Mar 24 |
Pope Benedict XVI adds 15 men to the College of Cardinals, in the first consistory of his Pontificate. |
Mar 25 |
Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. |
Mar 25 |
Protesters demanding a re-election in Belarus following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, 2006 clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested. |
Mar 26 |
In Scotland the prohibition of smoking in all substantially enclosed public places comes into force. |
Mar 26 |
The military junta ruling Burma officially named Naypyidaw, a new city in Mandalay Division, as the new capital. Yangon had formerly been the nation's capital. |
Mar 27 |
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights holds its final meeting. |
Mar 28 |
At least 1 million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law. |
Mar 30 |
Marcos Pontes is the first Brazilian astronaut in space. |
Mar 30 |
UK Terrorism Act 2006 becomes law. |
Apr 1 |
The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the 'British FBI', is created in the United Kingdom. |
Apr 2 |
Over 60 tornadoes break out, hardest hit is Tennessee with 29 people killed. |
Apr 3 |
Steve Yzerman scores his final NHL goal (#692) against the Calgary Flames |
Apr 6 |
NZSL (New Zealand sign language) is made an official language of New Zealand |
Apr 8 |
Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos motorcycle gang. |
Apr 9 |
70th Golf Masters Championship: Phil Mickelson wins, shooting a 281 |
Apr 10 |
Hundreds of thousands protest H.R. 4437 (aka the "Sensenbrenner Bill") in the United States. |
Apr 10 |
40th CMT Music Awards: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood & Kenny Chesney wins |
Apr 11 |
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium. |
Apr 13 |
Powerful tornadoes rip through Iowa City, Iowa. |
Apr 22 |
243 people are injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra. |
Apr 22 |
Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar, Afghanistan by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants, the worst single day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War. |
Apr 24 |
King Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the demands of protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in 2002. |
Apr 27 |
Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City. |
May 1 |
The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow. |
May 3 |
Armavia Flight 967 crashes into the Black Sea, killing 113 people on board, with no survivors. |
May 3 |
Zacarias Moussaoui is sentenced to life in prison in Alexandria, Virginia. |
May 5 |
The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army |
May 6 |
132nd Kentucky Derby: Edgar Prado aboard Barbaro wins in 2:01.36 |
May 9 |
Estonia ratifies the European Constitution. |
May 9 |
George Preca is canonised as the first Maltese saint in history. |
May 13 |
2006 São Paulo violence: a major rebellion occurs in several prisons in Brazil. |
May 16 |
A large earthquake (7.4 on the Richter scale) occurs near New Zealand. |
May 17 |
The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico to be an artificial reef |
May 18 |
The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country. |
May 21 |
The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin people choose independence with a majority of 55%. |
May 21 |
The Swedish ice hockey team Tre Kronor takes gold in the World Championship, becoming the first nation to hold both the World and Olympic titles separately in the same year. |
May 22 |
Results from the Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006 are announced. 55.4% of voters vote to become independent from the Serbia and Montenegro Union. |
May 23 |
41st Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans & Keith Urban wins |
May 26 |
The May 2006 Java earthquake kills over 5,700 people, leaves 200,000 homeless. |
May 27 |
The May 2006 Java earthquake strikes at 5:53:58 AM local time (22:53:58 UTC May 26) devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta killing over 6,600 people. |
May 28 |
Indianapolis 500: Sam Hornish Jr wins in 3:10:58.7590 (252.804 km/h) |
May 28 |
Barry Bonds hits his 715th career home run, passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list |
Jun 3 |
The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence. |
Jun 5 |
Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. |
Jun 7 |
British Houses of Parliament temporarily shut down due to anthrax alert. |
Jun 10 |
138th Belmont: Fernando Jara aboard Jazil wins in 2:27.81 |
Jun 11 |
60th Tony Awards: Jersey Boys & The History Boys win |
Jun 11 |
52nd LPGA Championship won by Se Ri Pak |
Jun 18 |
The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat is launched. |
Jun 18 |
106th US Golf Open: Geoff Ogilvy shoots a 285 at Winged Foot GC NY |
Jun 19 |
Prime ministers of several northern European nations participate in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Spitsbergen, Norway. |
Jun 20 |
60th NBA Championship: Miami Heat beat Dallas Mavericks, 4 games to 2 |
Jun 21 |
Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra. |
Jun 28 |
The Republic of Montenegro was admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations by General Assembly resolution 60/264. |
Jun 29 |
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law. |
Jul 1 |
The first operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the People's Republic of China. |
Jul 3 |
Asteroid labeled as 2004 XP14 flies 432,308 km (268,624 miles) by Earth. |
Jul 3 |
Steve Yzerman officially retires from the NHL, finishing with 692 goals and 1755 points |
Jul 4 |
Space Shuttle program: STS-121 Mission - Space Shuttle Discovery launches at 18:37:55 UTC. |
Jul 4 |
North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan/East Sea. |
Jul 5 |
North Korea missle tests: at least two short-range Nodong-2 missiles, one SCUD missile and one long-range Taepodong-2 missile. |
Jul 5 |
Emergency United Nations Security Council meeting at the U.N in New York City because of North Korean missile tests that day |
Jul 6 |
The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years. |
Jul 8 |
113th Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Amélie Mauresmo beats J Henin-Hardenne (2-6 6-3 6-4) |
Jul 9 |
At least 122 people are killed after a Sibir Airlines Airbus A310 passenger jet, carrying 200 passengers on board veers off the runway while landing at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia in wet conditions. |
Jul 9 |
Italy beats France 5-3 for soccer's 18th World Cup in Germany |
Jul 9 |
120th Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Roger Federer beats Rafael Nadal (6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3) |
Jul 10 |
Pakistan International Flight PK-688 crashes in Multan, Pakistan shortly after takeoff, killing all 45 people on board. |
Jul 11 |
209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India. |
Jul 11 |
77th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-2 at PNC Park, Pittsburgh |
Jul 12 |
Hezbollah initiates Operation True Promise. |
Jul 16 |
14th ESPY Awards: Lance Armstrong, Annika Sorenstam win |
Jul 23 |
135th British Golf Open: Tiger Woods shoots a 270 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club |
Jul 27 |
The Federal Republic of Germany is deemed guilty in the loss of Bashkirian 2937 and DHL Flight 611, because it is illegal to outsource flight surveillance. |
Jul 30 |
World's longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years. |
Jul 31 |
Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana (La Pequeña Habana in Spanish), Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated. |
Aug 4 |
Dame Silvia Cartwright steps down as the Governor-General of New Zealand and is replaced by The Honourable Anand Satyanand, who is sworn in on 23 August. |
Aug 10 |
Scotland Yard disrupts major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States. All toiletries are banned from commercial airplanes. |
Aug 20 |
88th PGA Championship: Tiger Woods shoots a 270 at Medinah Country Club |
Aug 23 |
Natascha Kampusch, who was abducted at the age of 10, managed to escape from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after 8 years of captivity. |
Aug 24 |
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet. |
Aug 24 |
After signing a one-day contract with the San Francisco 49ers, Jerry Rice officially retires from the NFL |
Aug 27 |
Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky bound for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash. |
Aug 27 |
58th Emmy Awards: 24, The Office, Kiefer Sutherland & Mariska Hargitay win |
Aug 30 |
Greg Maddux wins his 330th career game |
Aug 31 |
Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" was recovered from a raid by Norwegian police. The painting was said to be in a better-than-expected condition. |
Aug 31 |
23rd MTV Awards: Panic! At the Disco, Kelly Clarkson & James Blunt wins |
Sep 1 |
Luxembourg became the first country to complete the move to all digital television broadcasting. |
Sep 1 |
Roger Goodell begins his tenure as NFL Commissioner |
Sep 13 |
At Dawson College (Montreal), Kimveer Gill kills one student and wounds 19 others before committing suicide. |
Sep 18 |
Right wing protesters riot the building of the Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary, one day after an audio tape was made public, in which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány admitted he and his party lied during the 2006 general elections. |
Sep 19 |
The Thai military stages a coup in Bangkok. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared. |
Sep 22 |
A German maglev train crashes, killing 23. |
Sep 22 |
The F-14 Tomcat retires from the United States Navy. |
Sep 22 |
Hezbollah claims "Divine Victory" over Israel in a massive demonstration in Beirut. |
Sep 26 |
Martin Scorsese's "The Departed", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg, premieres in New York City |
Sep 29 |
US Representative Mark Foley resigns after allegations of inappropriate emails to house pages were introduced. |
Sep 30 |
the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Constitutional Act that proclaimed the new Constitution of Serbia. |
Oct 2 |
Five school girls are murdered by Charles Carl Roberts in a shooting at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania before Roberts commits suicide. |
Oct 9 |
North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device. |
Oct 11 |
"30 Rock", starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, and Tracy Morgan, debuts on NBC |
Oct 17 |
The United States population reaches 300 million. |
Oct 22 |
A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a National referendum held in Panama. |
Oct 24 |
Justice Rutherford of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down the "motive clause", an important part of the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act. |
Oct 28 |
Funeral service for the peace of the executed at Bykivnia forest, outside of Kiev, Ukraine, with reburial of 817 Ukrainian civilians (out of some 100,000) executed by Bolsheviks at Bykivnia in 1930s - early 1940s. |
Nov 5 |
Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982. |
Nov 6 |
40th Country Music Association Award: Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood & Keith Urban wins |
Nov 10 |
Sri Lankan Tamil Parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj assassinated in Colombo. |
Nov 11 |
The New Zealand war memorial monument was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army. |
Nov 12 |
The former Soviet republic of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia. |
Nov 17 |
Official naming of element 111, Roentgenium (Rg). |
Nov 19 |
94th CFL Grey Cup: BC Lions defeats Montreal Alouettes, 25-14 |
Nov 20 |
Moises Alou signs a one year-contract with the New York Mets worth $7.5 million |
Nov 21 |
Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut. |
Nov 21 |
33rd American Music Award: Kelly Clarkson, Sean Paul & Rascal Flatts win |
Nov 24 |
Israeli rapist Benny Sela escapes from police custody while being transferred to a court hearing. |
Nov 27 |
The Canadian House of Commons endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion to declare Québécois a nation within a unified Canada. |
Nov 27 |
Francesco Cossiga, Italian politician and former President of the Italian Republic, resigned from his position as lifetime senator. |
Dec 3 |
95th Davis Cup: Russia beats Argentina in Moscow (3-2) |
Dec 4 |
An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo. |
Dec 5 |
Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji. |
Dec 5 |
Greg Maddux signs a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres worth $10 million |
Dec 6 |
NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars. |
Dec 7 |
A tornado struck Kensal Green, North West London, seriously damaging around 150 properties. |
Dec 9 |
Moscow suffers its worst fire since 1977, killing 45 women in a drug rehabitational center. |
Dec 10 |
One million Lebanese opposition supporters gather in downtown Beirut, calling for the government to resign. |
Dec 11 |
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. |
Dec 12 |
Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry. |
Dec 13 |
The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, announced as extinct. |
Dec 15 |
First flight of the F-35 Lightning II. |
Dec 15 |
B.B. King is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush |
Dec 20 |
A judge rules against the death penalty in the case of Naveed Haq, a man convicted in the shooting death and injuries at the Jewish Federation in Seattle. |
Dec 21 |
Puzzle Play aired to network Ten, replacing In the Box |
Dec 26 |
The 2006 Hengchun earthquake with 7.1 magnitude hit Taiwan. |
Dec 30 |
Madrid Barajas International Airport is bombed. |
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