Puneet Varma (Editor)

2006

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2006

2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (dominical letter A) of the Gregorian calendar, the 2006th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 6th year of the 3rd millennium, the 6th year of the 21st century, and the 7th year of the 2000s decade.

Contents

2006 was designated as:

  • International Year of Deserts and Desertification
  • International Asperger's Year

    • January

  • January 1 – Russia cuts the shipment of natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
  • January 12 – A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 pilgrims.
  • January 15 – NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.
  • January 19 – NASA launches the first space mission to Pluto as a rocket hurls the New Horizons spacecraft on a nine-year journey.

    • February

  • February 3 – Egyptian passenger ferry, MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98, sinks in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, killing over 1,000 people.
  • February 10–26 – The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy.
  • February 17 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines killing an estimated 1,126 people.

    • March

  • March 9 – NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.
  • March 10 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters orbit around Mars.
  • March 16 – The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the United Nations Human Rights Council.
  • March 28 – A scramjet jet engine, HyShot III, designed to fly at seven times the speed of sound, is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.

    • April

  • April 11
  • The European Space Agency's Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus' orbit.
  • President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium.
  • April 20 – Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; nine days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de facto termination of the deal.

    • May

  • May – The Human Genome Project publishes the last chromosome sequence, in Nature.
  • May 27 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of IX (Destructive), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.

    • June

  • June 3 – Montenegro declares independence after a May 21 referendum. The state union of Serbia and Montenegro is dissolved on June 5, leaving Serbia as the successor state.
  • June 9 – July 9 – The 2006 FIFA World Cup begins in Germany; which is won by Italy.
  • June 28
  • Israel launches an offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to rocketfire by Hamas into Israeli territory.
  • The United States Armed Forces withdraws its forces in Iceland, thereby disbanding the Iceland Defense Force.

    • July

  • July 1 – The Qinghai–Tibet Railway launches a trial operation, making Tibet the last province-level entity of China to have a conventional railway.
  • July 6 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.
  • July 12 – Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel two days later.

    • August

  • August 22 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border in Ukraine, killing all 171 people on board.
  • August 24 – The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of 'dwarf planet' more than 70 years after its discovery.

    • September

  • September 19 – The Royal Thai Army overthrows the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup d'état.
  • September 29 – Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collides with a business jet over the Amazon rainforest, killing all 155 on board.

    • October

  • October 9 – North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test.
  • October 13 – South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, succeeding Kofi Annan.

    • November

  • November 2 – No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock becomes the most expensive painting after it is sold privately for $140 million.
  • November 5 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging by the Iraqi Special Tribunal.
  • November 12 – The breakaway state of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia.
  • November 23 – A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kill at least 215 people and injure 257 other people.

    • December

  • December 5 – The military seizes power in Fiji, in a coup d'état led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
  • December 11 – Felipe Calderón sends the Mexican military to combat the drug cartels and put down the violence in the state of Michoacán, initiating the Mexican Drug War.
  • December 24 – Ethiopia admits its troops have intervened in Somalia.
  • December 26 – An oil pipeline explodes in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, killing at least 200 people.

    • Births

  • September 6 – Prince Hisahito of Akishino of Japan, son of Kiko, Princess Akishino and Prince Akishino
  • October 5 – Jacob Tremblay, Canadian child actor

    • January

  • January 3 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1953)
  • January 4 – Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)
  • January 6 – Lou Rawls, African-American singer (b. 1933)
  • January 7 – Heinrich Harrer, mountaineer, explorer and author (b. 1912)
  • January 14 – Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920)
  • January 15 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
  • January 19 – Wilson Pickett, American singer (b. 1941)
  • January 21 – Ibrahim Rugova, first President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
  • January 24 – Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)
  • January 27 – Johannes Rau, President of Germany (b. 1931)
  • January 30 – Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)

    • February

  • February 4 – Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist, and writer (b.1921)
  • February 8
  • Ron Greenwood, English football manager (b. 1921)
  • Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music/film composer (b. 1914)
  • February 10 – J Dilla, American music producer (b. 1974)
  • February 12 – Peter Benchley, American writer (b. 1940)
  • February 13
  • Andreas Katsulas, American actor (b. 1946)
  • P. F. Strawson, English philosopher (b. 1919)
  • February 14 – Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923)
  • February 15 – Sun Yun-suan, Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1913)
  • February 23 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
  • February 24
  • Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)
  • Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)

    • March

  • March 1 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947)
  • March 2 – Jack Wild, English actor (b. 1952)
  • March 6
  • Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (b. 1961)
  • Kirby Puckett, U.S. baseball player (b. 1960)
  • March 9 – John Profumo, British politician (b. 1915)
  • March 11
  • Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (b. 1931)
  • Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia (b. 1941)
  • March 13
  • Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)
  • Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)
  • March 14 – Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (b. 1929)
  • March 25
  • Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
  • Richard Fleischer, American film director (b. 1916)
  • Buck Owens, American country & western singer, songwriter (b. 1929)
  • March 27 – Stanisław Lem, Polish writer (b. 1921)
  • March 28 – Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)

    • April

  • April 2 – Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, German wife of soldier Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (b. 1913)
  • April 5 – Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)
  • April 8 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author (b. 1923)
  • April 11 – Proof, American rapper (D12) (b. 1973)
  • April 12 – Rajkumar, Indian actor (b. 1929)
  • April 21 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1931)
  • April 23 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
  • April 24 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
  • April 25 – Jane Jacobs, American-born writer and activist (b. 1916)
  • April 29 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (b. 1908)

    • May

  • May 3 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921)
  • May 6
  • Lillian Asplund, last American survivor of the Titanic disaster (b. 1906)
  • Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (b. 1926)
  • May 11 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
  • May 12 – Hussein Maziq, Former Libyan prime minister (b. 1918).
  • May 13 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
  • May 21 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and songwriter (b. 1909)
  • May 22 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organisation (b. 1945)
  • May 23 – Lloyd Bentsen, American politician (b. 1921)
  • May 25 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer and songwriter (b. 1941)
  • May 26 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
  • May 30 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (b. 1926)

    • June

  • June 1 – Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
  • June 6
  • Billy Preston, American artist and musician (b. 1946)
  • June 7 – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant (b. 1966)
  • June 11 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)
  • June 12 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (b. 1923)
  • June 13 – Charles Haughey, Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1925)
  • June 23 – Aaron Spelling, American television producer (b. 1923)
  • June 25 – Arif Mardin, Turkish-born music producer (b. 1932)

    • July

  • July 1 – Ryutaro Hashimoto, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
  • July 5
  • Gert Fredriksson, Swedish kayaker (b. 1919)
  • Kenneth Lay, American businessman (b. 1942)
  • July 7
  • Syd Barrett, English singer, songwriter, and guitarist (b. 1946)
  • Rudi Carrell, Dutch entertainer (b. 1934)
  • Elias Hrawi, 9th President of Lebanon (b. 1925)
  • John Money, Sexologist (b. 1921)
  • July 8 – June Allyson, American actress (b. 1917)
  • July 10 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel (b. 1965)
  • July 13 – Red Buttons, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)
  • July 16 – Bob Orton, American wrestler (b. 1929)
  • July 17 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (b. 1918)
  • July 19 – Jack Warden, American actor (b. 1920)
  • July 20 – Ted Grant, British politician (b. 1913)
  • July 21
  • Ta Mok, Cambodian military leader (b. 1926)
  • Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese-born actor (b. 1933)
  • July 28 – David Gemmell, British author (b. 1948)
  • July 30 – Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist (b. 1921)

    • August

  • August 3
  • Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (b. 1915)
  • Arthur Lee, American musician (b. 1945)
  • August 9 – James Van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914)
  • August 13
  • Tony Jay, English-born actor (b. 1933)
  • Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish musician (b. 1975)
  • August 15
  • Te Atairangikaahu, Maori queen (b. 1931)
  • Faas Wilkes, former Dutch football player (b. 1923)
  • August 16 – Alfredo Stroessner, President of Paraguay (b. 1912)
  • August 19 – Óscar Míguez, Uruguayan football player (b. 1927)
  • August 20 – Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)
  • August 21
  • Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916)
  • S. Yizhar, Israeli writer (b. 1916)
  • August 23
  • Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician and bandleader (b. 1928)
  • Wolfgang Přiklopil, Austrian kidnapper of Natascha Kampusch (b. 1962)
  • August 26 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924)
  • August 27
  • Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian filmmaker (b. 1922)
  • María Capovilla, Ecuadorian supercentenarian and last remaining person born during the 1880s (b. 1889)
  • August 30
  • Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (b. 1916)
  • Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)

    • September

  • September 1 – György Faludy, Hungarian poet (b. 1910)
  • September 2 – Bob Mathias, American athlete (b. 1930)
  • September 4
  • Steve Irwin, Australian environmentalist and television personality (b. 1962)
  • Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (b. 1942)
  • September 10 – Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (b. 1918)
  • September 11 – Joachim Fest, German historian and journalist (b. 1926)
  • September 14 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born actor and bodybuilder (b. 1926)
  • September 15 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist (b. 1929)
  • September 23 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (b. 1921)
  • September 26
  • Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912)
  • Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American propagandist for Japan in World War II (b. 1916)

    • October

  • October 7 – Anna Politkovskaya, American-born Russian journalist (b. 1958)
  • October 9 – Paul Hunter, British snooker player (b. 1978)
  • October 11 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (b. 1972)
  • October 16 – Valentín Paniagua, President of Peru (b. 1936)
  • October 20 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910)
  • October 22 – Choi Kyu-hah, President of South Korea (b. 1919)
  • October 28
  • Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and official (b. 1917)
  • Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (b. 1955)
  • October 30 – Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (b. 1926)
  • October 31 – P. W. Botha, former State President of South Africa (b. 1916)

    • November

  • November 1
  • Adrienne Shelly, American actress & director (b. 1966)
  • William Styron, American writer (b. 1925)
  • November 3 – Paul Mauriat, French musician (b. 1925)
  • November 5 – Mustafa Bülent Ecevit, Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist (b. 1925)
  • November 8 – Basil Poledouris, American composer (b. 1945)
  • November 9 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (b. 1941)
  • November 10 – Jack Palance, American actor (b. 1919)
  • November 15 – Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian fashion model (b. 1985)
  • November 16 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
  • November 17
  • Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927)
  • Ruth Brown, American singer (b. 1928)
  • November 20 – Robert Altman, American film director (b. 1925)
  • November 21
  • Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese politician (b. 1972)
  • Hassan Gouled Aptidon, former President of Djibouti (b. 1916)
  • November 23
  • Alexander Litvinenko, Russian-born spy (b. 1962)
  • Philippe Noiret, French actor (b. 1930)
  • Anita O'Day, American singer (b. 1919)
  • Willie Pep, American boxer (b. 1922)
  • November 24 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer and songwriter (b. 1950)

    • December

  • December 1 – Claude Jade, French actress (b. 1948)
  • December 5 – David Bronstein, Soviet Union chess grandmaster (b. 1924)
  • December 7 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American political theorist and U.N. ambassador (b. 1926)
  • December 10 – Augusto Pinochet, 31st President of Chile (b. 1915)
  • December 12
  • Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
  • Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)
  • December 13 – Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (b. 1932)
  • December 14 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish record executive (b. 1923)
  • December 15 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss race car driver (b. 1939)
  • December 18 – Joseph Barbera, American animator (b. 1911)
  • December 21 – Saparmurat Niyazov, 1st President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)
  • December 22 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
  • December 25 – James Brown, American singer (b. 1933)
  • December 26 – Gerald R. Ford, American politician who served as 40th Vice President of the United States and the 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
  • December 30 – Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq (b. 1937)

    • Nobel Prizes

  • Chemistry – Roger D. Kornberg.
  • Economics – Edmund Phelps.
  • Literature – Orhan Pamuk.
  • Peace – Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank.
  • Physics – John C. Mather, and George F. Smoot.
  • Physiology or Medicine – Andrew Z. Fire, and Craig C. Mello.

    • References

    2006 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA