December 6
1776 - The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1790 - The United States Congress relocated from New York City to Philadelphia.
1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria at age 35.
1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1848 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, was ratified as Georgia became the 27th state to endorse it.
1872 - Having left New York on November 5, the brigantine Mary Celeste was found adrift off the coast of Portugal with everyone aboard mysteriously missing.
1907 - The worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia.
1917 - Some 2,000 people were killed when an explosives-laden French cargo ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Norwegian vessel Imo at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the Canadian city.
1917 - Finland declared its independence from Russia.
1922 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty, which established the Irish Free State, came into force one year to the day after it was signed in London.
1923 - A presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.
1933 - The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, repealing prohibition, was ratified.
1947 - Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.
1957 - America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1957 - The AFL-CIO expelled the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
1962 - Thirty-seven coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Robena No. 3 Mine operated by U.S. Steel in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.
1973 - House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned after pleading no contest to income tax evasion.
1992 - Thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in India, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.
1994 - Orange County, California, filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion.
1998 - Hugo Chavez, who staged a bloody coup attempt against the Venezuelan government six years earlier, is elected president.
2002 - At Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid. Lott subsequently resigned his leadership position.
2004 - Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly-elected president.
2006 - The bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded that President George W. Bush's war policies had failed in almost every regard, and said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating."
2007 - President George W. Bush announced a plan to freeze interest rates on subprime mortgages held by hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
2009 - An Italian jury convicted American student Amanda Knox of murdering her former roommate, English student Meredith Kercher, in 2007.
2016 - President-elect Donald Trump officially announced he would nominate retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be his defense secretary, bringing his pick onstage at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
2020 - During a debate with her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, ahead of two Georgia runoff elections that would determine control of the Senate, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler repeatedly refused to acknowledge that Trump had lost reelection.
Birthdays
25 - Stefanie Scott (actress)
27 - Giannis Antetokounmpo (basketball player)
29 - Johnny Manziel (football player)
30 - CoCo Vandeweghe (tennis player)
31 - Stormi Henley (model)
36 - Dulce Maria (actress)
37 - Nora Kirkpatrick (actress)
40 - Ashley Madekwe (actress)
45 - Lindsay Price (actress)
45 - Colleen Haskell (actress)
54 - Judd Apatow (writer/director)
59 - Janine Turner (actress)
66 - Bill Lloyd (singer)
66 - Steven Wright (comedian)
67 - Miles Chapin (actor)
68 - Kin Shriner (actor)
68 - Wil Shriner (actor)
68 - Tom Hulce (actor)
73 - JoBeth Williams (actress)
76 - James Naughton (actor)
83 - Patrick Bauchau (actor)
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Today in Sports History - December 6
1939 - Iowa running back Nile Kinnick wins the Heisman Trophy.
1960 - Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds were granted the Los Angeles Angels baseball franchise by the American League.
1961 - Syracuse running back Ernie Davis wins the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first African-American player to win the award.
1975 - Ohio State running back Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy.
1986 - Miami (FL) quarterback Vinny Testaverde wins the Heisman Trophy.
1990 - The National Hockey League granted a membership to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators.
1992 - Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers sets an NFL record with his 101st career touchdown reception.
1997 - #2 Nebraska defeats #14 Texas A&M 54-15 in San Antonio to win the Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
2003 - Army became the first team in major college football history to finish a season at 0-13 after a 34-6 loss to Navy.
2018 - Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry rushes for 238 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars; included in that total was a 99-yard TD run, tying the NFL record for longest TD run in NFL history (Tony Dorsett).
1776 - The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1790 - The United States Congress relocated from New York City to Philadelphia.
1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria at age 35.
1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1848 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, was ratified as Georgia became the 27th state to endorse it.
1872 - Having left New York on November 5, the brigantine Mary Celeste was found adrift off the coast of Portugal with everyone aboard mysteriously missing.
1907 - The worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia.
1917 - Some 2,000 people were killed when an explosives-laden French cargo ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Norwegian vessel Imo at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the Canadian city.
1917 - Finland declared its independence from Russia.
1922 - The Anglo-Irish Treaty, which established the Irish Free State, came into force one year to the day after it was signed in London.
1923 - A presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.
1933 - The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, repealing prohibition, was ratified.
1947 - Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.
1957 - America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1957 - The AFL-CIO expelled the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
1962 - Thirty-seven coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Robena No. 3 Mine operated by U.S. Steel in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.
1973 - House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned after pleading no contest to income tax evasion.
1992 - Thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in India, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.
1994 - Orange County, California, filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion.
1998 - Hugo Chavez, who staged a bloody coup attempt against the Venezuelan government six years earlier, is elected president.
2002 - At Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid. Lott subsequently resigned his leadership position.
2004 - Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly-elected president.
2006 - The bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded that President George W. Bush's war policies had failed in almost every regard, and said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating."
2007 - President George W. Bush announced a plan to freeze interest rates on subprime mortgages held by hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
2009 - An Italian jury convicted American student Amanda Knox of murdering her former roommate, English student Meredith Kercher, in 2007.
2016 - President-elect Donald Trump officially announced he would nominate retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be his defense secretary, bringing his pick onstage at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
2020 - During a debate with her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, ahead of two Georgia runoff elections that would determine control of the Senate, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler repeatedly refused to acknowledge that Trump had lost reelection.
Birthdays
25 - Stefanie Scott (actress)
27 - Giannis Antetokounmpo (basketball player)
29 - Johnny Manziel (football player)
30 - CoCo Vandeweghe (tennis player)
31 - Stormi Henley (model)
36 - Dulce Maria (actress)
37 - Nora Kirkpatrick (actress)
40 - Ashley Madekwe (actress)
45 - Lindsay Price (actress)
45 - Colleen Haskell (actress)
54 - Judd Apatow (writer/director)
59 - Janine Turner (actress)
66 - Bill Lloyd (singer)
66 - Steven Wright (comedian)
67 - Miles Chapin (actor)
68 - Kin Shriner (actor)
68 - Wil Shriner (actor)
68 - Tom Hulce (actor)
73 - JoBeth Williams (actress)
76 - James Naughton (actor)
83 - Patrick Bauchau (actor)
===========================================
Today in Sports History - December 6
1939 - Iowa running back Nile Kinnick wins the Heisman Trophy.
1960 - Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds were granted the Los Angeles Angels baseball franchise by the American League.
1961 - Syracuse running back Ernie Davis wins the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first African-American player to win the award.
1975 - Ohio State running back Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy.
1986 - Miami (FL) quarterback Vinny Testaverde wins the Heisman Trophy.
1990 - The National Hockey League granted a membership to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators.
1992 - Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers sets an NFL record with his 101st career touchdown reception.
1997 - #2 Nebraska defeats #14 Texas A&M 54-15 in San Antonio to win the Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
2003 - Army became the first team in major college football history to finish a season at 0-13 after a 34-6 loss to Navy.
2018 - Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry rushes for 238 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars; included in that total was a 99-yard TD run, tying the NFL record for longest TD run in NFL history (Tony Dorsett).
