On Dec. 6, 1923, a presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.
On Dec. 6, 1898, Alfred Eisenstaedt, the German-born photographer whose pioneering images for Life magazine helped define American photojournalism, was born. Following his death on Aug. 23, 1995, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On Dec. 6, 1998, Hugo Chavez, who had staged a bloody coup attempt against the Venezuelan government six years earlier, was elected president.
On This Date
| 1790 | Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia. |
|---|---|
| 1907 | The worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va. |
| 1923 | A presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress. |
| 1947 | Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated. |
| 1957 | The AFL-CIO expelled the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. |
| 1957 | America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla. |
| 1969 | A free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., was marred by the deaths of four people, including a man who was stabbed by a Hell's Angel. |
| 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, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion. |
| 2003 | Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in major college football history after a 34-6 loss to Navy. |
| 2004 | Al-Qaida struck the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, with explosives and machine guns, killing nine people. |
| 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." |
Historic Birthdays
Alfred Eisenstaedt
12/6/1898 - 8/23/1995
German photojournalist.
Go to obituary »
| 50 |
Baldassare Castiglione 12/6/1478 - 2/2/1529 Italian diplomat and writer |
|---|---|
| 83 |
Niccoli Zucchi 12/6/1586 - 5/21/1670 Italian astronomer |
| 75 |
Sophie von La Roche 12/6/1731 - 2/18/1807 German writer |
| 55 |
Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin 12/6/1805 - 6/13/1871 French magician |
| 76 |
(Friedrich) Max Muller 12/6/1823 - 10/28/1900 German orientalist scholar |
| 82 |
John Singleton Mosby 12/6/1833 - 5/30/1916 American Confederate guerrilla leader |
| 65 |
Evelyn Underhill 12/6/1875 - 6/15/1941 English mystical poet |
| 31 |
(Alfred) Joyce Kilmer 12/6/1886 - 7/30/1918 American poet |
| 76 |
Sir Osbert Sitwell 12/6/1892 - 5/4/1969 English writer |
| 86 |
Ira Gershwin 12/6/1896 - 8/17/1983 American lyricist of Broadway musicals and films |
| 68 |
James J. Braddock 12/6/1905 - 11/29/1974 American boxing champion |