December 6

963 – Leo VIII elected Pope
1631 – First predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed
1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia
1825 – Pres John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory
1862 – Pres Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux indians
1877 – First sound recording made by Thomas Edison
1877 – Washington Post publishes 1st edition
1884 – Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Wash, DC
1917 – French munition ship “Mont Blanc” explodes in Halifax, kills 1,700
1933 – Ban on James Joyce’ “Ulysses” in US lifted
1941 – NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild Airport in Queens
1957 – First US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up
1964 – “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” first airs on TV
1994 – Maltese Falcon auctioned for $398,590
2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars
2012 – 7 people are killed and 770 injured during Egyptian protests
Births
1421 – Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
1642 – Johann Christoph Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1703)
1886 – Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, author, and poet (d. 1918)
1896 – Ira Gershwin, American songwriter (d. 1983)
1898 – Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photographer and journalist (d. 1995)
1901 – Eliot Porter, American photographer and academic (d. 1990)
1920 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (d. 2012)
1948 – Keke Rosberg, Finnish race car driver
1952 – Craig Newmark, American computer programmer and entrepreneur; founded Craigslist
Deaths
1882 – Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (b. 1815)
1889 – Jefferson Davis, American general and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808)
1892 – Werner von Siemens, German engineer and businessman, founded the Siemens Company (b. 1816)
1951 – Harold Ross, American journalist and publisher, founded The New Yorker (b. 1892)
1988 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)