On This Day: August 6 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. 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 Ladens 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 Actress Vera Farmiga turns 41 years old today. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) turns 44 years old today. 1951 Catherine Hicks, Actress (7th Heaven), turns 63 1956 Stepfanie Kramer, Actress, turns 58 1957 Faith Prince, Actress, turns 57 1965 David Robinson, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 49 1972 Geri Halliwell, Singer (Spice Girls), turns 42 1974 Ever Carradine, Actress, turns 40 1976 Soleil Moon Frye, Actress, turns 38
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 11:45:57 +0000