March 6 in History

32 people are killed and 82 are injured when gunmen open fire on a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Forbes names Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person, for the first time, at $112 billion net worth.

A suicide bomber kills 68 people (including first responders) in Baghdad on the same day that a gunman kills eight students in Jerusalem.

Air Algérie Flight 6289 crashes at the Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport in Tamanrasset, Algeria, killing 102 out of the 103 people on board.

Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in Operation Flavius.

The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds, killing 193.

In the United Kingdom, a walkout at Cortonwood Colliery in Brampton Bierlow signals the start of a strike that lasted almost a year and involved the majority of the country's miners.

The Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy is shown in motion to a national TV audience for the first time by Robert J. Groden and Dick Gregory.

Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement of their border dispute.

Cold War: Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the United States.

Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad officially gives boxing champion Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali.

Constantine II becomes the last King of Greece.

Ghana becomes the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence from the British.

Georgy Malenkov succeeds Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.

World War II: Cologne is captured by American troops. On the same day, Operation Spring Awakening, the last major German offensive of the war, begins.

World War II: Soviet Air Forces bomb the evacuated town of Narva in German-occupied Estonia, destroying the entire historical Swedish-era town.

World War II: Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel launches the Battle of Medenine in an attempt to slow down the British Eighth Army. It fails, and he leaves Africa three days later.

World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, ends with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion, the bulk of the garrison of the town of Grevena, leading to its liberation a fortnight later.

International Unemployment Day demonstrations globally initiated by the Comintern.

Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces become the first to use airships in war, as two dirigibles drop bombs on Turkish troops encamped at Janzur, from an altitude of 1,800 m.

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Led by William Speirs Bruce, the Antarctic region of Coats Land is discovered from the Scotia.

An anarchist assassin tries to kill German Emperor Wilhelm II.

The Supreme Court of the United States rules 7–2 in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case that the Constitution does not confer citizenship on black people.

Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo: After a thirteen-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers, including frontiersman Davy Crockett and colonel Jim Bowie, defending the Alamo are killed and the fort is captured.

The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by United States President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, brings Maine into the Union as a free state, and makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.

The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.

The town of Kajaani, known at the time as Cajanaburg, is founded by Count Per Brahe, the Governor-General of Finland.

Election of Pope Nicholas V following the death of Pope Eugene IV on 23 February 1447.

Treaty of Paris of 1323 is signed.

The Siege of Château Gaillard ends in a French victory over King John of England, who loses control of Normandy to King Philip II Augustus.

The 42 Martyrs of Amorium are killed after refusing to convert to Islam.

The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.

Millicent Simmonds, American actress

Milo Manheim, American actor

Armando Bacot, American basketball player

Jacob Bertrand, American actor

Ylena In-Albon, Swiss tennis player

Kyle Trask, American football player

Lee Lu-da, South Korean singer and actress

Alisha Boe, Norwegian actress

Christian Coleman, American sprinter

Mohamed Magdy, Egyptian footballer

Timo Werner, German footballer

Josh Hart, American basketball player

Georgi Kitanov, Bulgarian footballer

Marcus Smart, American basketball player

Nicklas Jensen, Danish ice hockey player

Andrés Rentería, Colombian footballer

John Jenkins, American basketball player

Tyler, the Creator, American rapper

Derek Drouin, Canadian high jumper

Dwight Buycks, American basketball player

Ray Chen, Taiwanese-Australian violinist

Agnieszka Radwańska, Polish tennis player

Agnes, Swedish singer

Marina Erakovic, New Zealand tennis player

Leonys Martín, Cuban-American baseball player

Simon Mignolet, Belgian footballer

Mário Bližňák, Slovak ice hockey player

Kevin-Prince Boateng, Ghanaian-German footballer

Chico Flores, Spanish footballer

Jake Arrieta, American baseball player

Francisco Cervelli, Venezuelan-Italian baseball player

Timothy DeLaGhetto, American Internet personality

Charlie Mulgrew, Scottish footballer

Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, French ice hockey player

Bakaye Traoré, French-Malian footballer

Daniel Winnik, Canadian ice hockey player

Daniël de Ridder, Dutch footballer

Eskil Pedersen, Norwegian politician

Andranik Teymourian, Armenian-Iranian footballer

Ellen Muth, American actress

Emílson Cribari, Brazilian footballer

David Flair, American wrestler

Tim Howard, American soccer player

Garry Monk, English footballer and manager

Sage Rosenfels, American football player

Chad Wicks, American wrestler

Nantie Hayward, South African cricketer

Giorgos Karagounis, Greek footballer

Shabani Nonda, Congolese footballer

Ken Anderson, American wrestler and actor

Aracely Arámbula, Mexican actress and singer

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Canadian pianist and conductor

Guy Garvey, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Michael Finley, American basketball player

Peter Lindgren, Swedish guitarist and songwriter

Greg Ostertag, American basketball player

Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player

Darrick Martin, American basketball player and coach

Carla McGhee, American basketball player and coach

Julio Bocca, Argentine ballet dancer and director

Glenn Greenwald, American journalist and author

Connie Britton, American actress

Alan Davies, English comedian, actor and screenwriter

Linda Pearson, Scottish sport shooter

D. L. Hughley, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Alison Nicholas, British golfer

Sleepy Floyd, American basketball player and coach

Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian

Peter Roebuck, English cricketer, journalist, and sportcaster (died 2011)

Steve Vizard, Australian television host, actor, and producer

Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (died 1994)

Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (died 2015)

Harald Schumacher, German footballer and manager

Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepali banker and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Nepal

Carolyn Porco, American astronomer and academic

Denis Napthine, Australian politician, 47th Premier of Victoria

Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (died 2004)

Arthur Roche, English archbishop

Shaukat Aziz, Pakistani economist and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Pakistan

Martin Buchan, Scottish footballer and manager

Stephen Schwartz, American composer and producer

Rob Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and activist (died 2025)

Jean Seaton, English historian and academic

Dick Fosbury, American high jumper (died 2023)

Patrick Baudry, French military officer and astronaut

Martin Kove, American actor

David Gilmour, English guitarist and singer-songwriter

Angelo Castro Jr., Filipino actor and journalist (died 2012)

Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (died 2015)

Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano and actress

Mary Wilson, American singer (died 2021)

Peter Brötzmann, German saxophonist and clarinet player (died 2023)

Ken Danby, Canadian painter (died 2007)

R. H. Sikes, American golfer (died 2023)

Willie Stargell, American baseball player (died 2001)

Kit Bond, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Missouri (died 2025)

Adam Osborne, Thai-Indian engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (died 2003)

Cookie Rojas, Cuban-American baseball player

Keishu Tanaka, Japanese politician, 17th Japanese Minister of Justice (died 2022)

Ivan Boesky, American businessman (died 2024)

Norman Coburn, Australian actor

Valentina Tereshkova, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut

Marion Barry, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Mayor of the District of Columbia (died 2014)

Choummaly Sayasone, Laotian politician, 5th President of Laos

Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (died 2010)

Jean Boht, English actress (died 2023)

Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2008)

Timofei Moșneaga, Moldovan physician and politician, Moldovan Minister of Health (died 2014)

Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (died 2014)

Tom Foley, American lawyer and politician, 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 2013)

David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (died 2005)

Gordon Cooper, American engineer, pilot, and astronaut (died 2004)

Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014)

Ann Curtis, American swimmer (died 2012)

Alan Greenspan, American economist and politician (died 2026)

Ray O'Connor, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Western Australia (died 2013)

Andrzej Wajda, Polish director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2016)

Sarah Caldwell, American opera director, impresario, and stage director (died 2006)

Ottmar Walter, German footballer (died 2013)

William H. Webster, American lawyer and jurist, Director of Central Intelligence (died 2025)

Ed McMahon, American comedian, game show host, and announcer (died 2009)

Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (died 1968)

Lewis Gilbert, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2018)

Howard McGhee, American trumpeter (died 1987)

Donald Davidson, American philosopher and academic (died 2003)

Will Eisner, American illustrator and publisher (died 2005)

Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq (died 2014)

Emma Bailey, American auctioneer and author (died 1999)

Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (died 1987)

Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Polish poet and author (died 1966)

Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (died 1959)

Bob Wills, American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader (died 1975)

José Antonio Aguirre, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Basque Country (died 1960)

Empress Nagako of Japan (died 2000)

Gina Cigna, French-Italian soprano and actress (died 2001)

Lefty Grove, American baseball player (died 1975)

Henri Jeanson, French journalist and author (died 1970)

Albert Tessier, Canadian priest and historian (died 1976)

Furry Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1981)

Ella P. Stewart, pioneering Black American pharmacist (died 1987)

Bert Smith, English international footballer (died 1969)

Ring Lardner, American journalist and author (died 1933)

Molla Mallory, Norwegian-American tennis player (died 1959)

María Collazo, Uruguayan journalist and activist (died 1942)

F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect, co-designed Villa Vizcaya (died 1980)

Guy Kibbee, American actor and singer (died 1956)

Rose Fyleman, English writer and poet (died 1957)

A. A. Kannisto, Finnish politician (died 1930)

Sarah Roberts, subject of a vampire legend (died 1913)

Afonso Costa, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 59th Prime Minister of Portugal (died 1937)

Oscar Straus, Viennese composer and conductor (died 1954)

Duan Qirui, Chinese warlord and politician (died 1936)

Georg Luger, Austrian gun designer, designed the Luger pistol (died 1923)

Viktor Burenin, Russian author, poet, playwright, and critic (died 1926)

George du Maurier, French-English author and illustrator (died 1896)

Philip Sheridan, Irish-American general (died 1888)

Annie Feray Mutrie, British painter (died 1893)

Charles I of Württemberg (died 1891)

William Claflin, American businessman and politician, 27th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1905)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English-Italian poet and translator (died 1861)

Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist and astronomer (died 1826)

Karol Kurpiński, Polish composer and conductor (died 1857)

Lucy Barnes, American writer (died 1809)

Antoine-Henri Jomini, Swiss-French general (died 1869)

Antoine-François Andréossy, French general and diplomat (died 1828)

Henry Laurens, English-American merchant and politician, 5th President of the Continental Congress (died 1792)

Pehr Kalm, Swedish-Finnish botanist and explorer (died 1779)

Francis Atterbury, English bishop and poet (died 1732)

Cyrano de Bergerac, French author and playwright (died 1655)

Santi di Tito, Italian painter (died 1603)

Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and diplomat (died 1556)

Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (died 1540)

Michelangelo, Italian painter and sculptor (died 1564)

Jakob Fugger, German merchant and banker (died 1525)

John II of Castile (died 1454)

John of Gaunt (probable; d. 1399)

Australian Suicide, Australian professional wrestler (born 1992)

Brian James, British guitarist (born 1955)

Lou Ottens, Dutch engineer and inventor (born 1926)

Graham Pink, British nurse (born 1929)

Peter Nicholls, Australian science fiction critic and encyclopedist (born 1939)

Robert Osborne, American actor and historian (born 1932)

Nancy Reagan, American actress, 42nd First Lady of the United States (born 1921)

Sheila Varian, American horse trainer and breeder (born 1937)

Fred Craddock, American minister and academic (born 1928)

Ram Sundar Das, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Bihar (born 1921)

Enrique "Coco" Vicéns, Puerto Rican-American basketball player and politician (born 1926)

Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (born 1969)

Frank Jobe, American soldier and surgeon (born 1925)

Sheila MacRae, English-American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1921)

Martin Nesbitt, American lawyer and politician (born 1946)

Manlio Sgalambro, Italian philosopher, author, and poet (born 1924)

Chorão, Brazilian singer-songwriter (born 1970)

Stompin' Tom Connors, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1936)

Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1944)

W. Wallace Cleland, American biochemist and academic (born 1930)

Francisco Xavier do Amaral, East Timorese politician, 1st President of East Timor (born 1937)

Donald M. Payne, American businessman and politician (born 1934)

Helen Walulik, American baseball player (born 1929)

Sasao Gouland, governor of Chuuk State, Micronesia (born 1933)

Endurance Idahor, Nigerian footballer (born 1984)

Mark Linkous, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1962)

Betty Millard, American philanthropist and activist (born 1911)

Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, producer, and actor (born 1964)

Peter Poreku Dery, Ghanaian cardinal (born 1918)

Jean Baudrillard, French photographer and theorist (born 1929)

Ernest Gallo, American businessman, co-founded E & J Gallo Winery (born 1909)

Anne Braden, American journalist and activist (born 1924)

Kirby Puckett, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1960)

Ali Farka Touré, Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1939)

Hans Bethe, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906)

Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (born 1920)

Tommy Vance, English radio host (born 1943)

Teresa Wright, American actress (born 1918)

Gladys Marín, Chilean activist and political figure (born 1938)

Hercules, American wrestler (born 1957)

Frances Dee, American actress (born 1909)

Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1969)

John Colicos, Canadian actor (born 1928)

Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain king (born 1933)

Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 4th President of Guyana (born 1918)

Michael Manley, Jamaican soldier, pilot, and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica (born 1924)

Ursula Torday, English author (born 1912)

Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and politician, 9th Greek Minister of Culture (born 1920)

Mairéad Farrell, Provisional IRA volunteer (born 1957)

Daniel McCann, Provisional IRA volunteer (born 1957)

Seán Savage, Provisional IRA volunteer (born 1965)

Georgia O'Keeffe, American painter (born 1887)

Billy Collins Jr., American boxer (born 1961)

Martin Niemöller, German pastor and theologian (born 1892)

Homer N. Wallin, American admiral (born 1893)

Henry Wilcoxon, Dominican-American actor and producer (born 1905)

Ayn Rand, Russian-American philosopher, author, and playwright (born 1905)

George Geary, English cricketer and coach (born 1893)

Rambhau Mhalgi, Indian politician and member of the Lok Sabha (born 1921)

Alvin R. Dyer, American religious leader (born 1903)

Maxie Rosenbloom, American boxer (born 1903)

Ernest Becker, American anthropologist and author (born 1924)

Pearl S. Buck, American novelist, essayist, short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892)

William Hopper, American actor (born 1915)

John Haden Badley, English author and educator, founded the Bedales School (born 1865)

Nelson Eddy, American actor and singer (born 1901)

Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer, linguist, and philosopher (born 1882)

Margaret Dumont, American actress (born 1889)

Paul of Greece (born 1901)

George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (born 1904)

Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician (born 1884)

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, British-born German nobleman and Nazi politician (born 1884)

Jürgen Stroop, German SS general, and executed war criminal (born 1895)

Ivor Novello, Welsh singer-songwriter and actor (born 1893)

Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Ukraine (born 1880)

Albert François Lebrun, French engineer and politician, 15th President of France (born 1871)

Ross Lockridge Jr., American author, poet, and academic (born 1914)

Alice Woodby McKane, First Black woman doctor in Savannah, Georgia (born 1865)

Francis Aveling, Canadian priest, psychologist, and author (born 1875)

Gutzon Borglum, American sculptor and academic, designed Mount Rushmore (born 1867)

Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (born 1852)

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (born 1841)

Anton Cermak, Czech-American lawyer and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (born 1873)

John Philip Sousa, American conductor and composer (born 1854)

Ömer Seyfettin, Turkish author and educator (born 1884)

Oskars Kalpaks, Latvian colonel (born 1882)

John Henninger Reagan, American surveyor, judge, and politician, 3rd Confederate States of America Secretary of the Treasury (born 1818)

Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (born 1856)

Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (born 1834)

Kaʻiulani of Hawaii (born 1875)

Camilla Collett, Norwegian novelist and activist (born 1813)

Louisa May Alcott, American novelist and poet (born 1832)

Charles Farrar Browne, American-English author and educator (born 1834)

William Whewell, English priest, historian, and philosopher (born 1794)

Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish colonel and diplomat, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (born 1778)

Deaths at the Battle of the Alamo:

Deaths at the Battle of the Alamo:

Deaths at the Battle of the Alamo:

Deaths at the Battle of the Alamo:

Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (born 1713)

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (born 1690)

Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Durham (born 1705)

Henry Pelham, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1694)

Francis Beaumont, English playwright (born 1584)

Pedro Arias Dávila, Spanish explorer and diplomat (born 1440)

Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers

Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (born 1458)

Alvise Loredan, Venetian admiral and statesman (born 1393)

Colette of Corbie, French abbess and saint in the Catholic Church (born 1381)

Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn

Rose of Viterbo, Italian saint (born 1235)

Ulric I, Margrave of Carniola

Lu Guangqi, Chinese official and chancellor

Su Jian, Chinese official and chancellor

Chrodegang, Frankish bishop and saint

Li Ke, prince of the Tang Dynasty (born 619)

Liu Bian (poisoned by Dong Zhuo) (born 176)