January 6
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Featured Event
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On this day in 1992, at an ice rink in Detroit, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed in the leg by a man dressed in black. The injury forced her to withdraw from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, clearing the way for her rival Tonya Harding to win the competition, qualify for the 1994 Winter Olympics, and become the center of attention in one of figure skating’s biggest scandals. [Read today’s edition of Today in History >>]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
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Born this day in 1367, King Richard II of England, an ambitious ruler who reigned from 1377 to 1399, was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) because of his arbitrary and factional rule.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 6
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Jon Cherry/Getty Images News
2021
Supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, where Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
© Matt Stone/mon photo 6/Boston Herald—MediaNews Group/Getty Images
2002
The Boston Globe launched its Spotlight series exposing rampant sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in the Boston archdiocese and a cover-up by church authorities. The paper won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its “courageous, comprehensive” reporting of the abuse. [Test your knowledge about the Pulitzer Prizes.]
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
2001
The U.S. Congress certified George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000 presidential election following a legal battle. [Explore a list of U.S. presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote.]
UPI/Bettmann Archive
1993
American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Dizzy Gillespie, one of the leading figures of the bebop movement, died at age 75. [How much do you know about musicians?]
David Falconer—EPA/National Archives, Washington, D.C.
1974
In an effort to conserve energy during an oil crisis, Daylight Saving Time began several months early in the United States and was slated to remain in place for more than a year. The change, however, proved hugely unpopular, and its duration was later amended.
© Kari Rene Hall—Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
1973
Schoolhouse Rock! debuted on ABC, during the heyday of Saturday morning children’s television programming. It became one of the most successful education projects in U.S. history. [Learn more about the people, places, and events that defined the 1970s.]
Prasanth Chandran
1966
Composer A.R. Rahman, known as “the Mozart of Madras,” was born in Madras (now Chennai), India. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about composers.]
© Mirabal Sisters Foundation, reproduced by permission.
1959
At a small gathering to celebrate the new year, the Mirabal sisters decided to create a nationwide movement in the Dominican Republic to oppose the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1950
Great Britain announced its recognition of the People’s Republic of China. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about China.]
UPI/Bettmann Archive
1941
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his Four Freedoms in his State of the Union message to Congress. [Take our U.S. presidents quiz.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1878
Poet, historian, and folklorist Carl Sandburg, whose Abraham Lincoln: The War Years won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1940, was born in Galesburg, Illinois. [Test your knowledge of authors and poets.]
J.P. Ziolo
1838
Composer Max Bruch—known for his Scottish Fantasy and Violin Concerto No. 1, which are still in repertoire today—was born in Cologne, in what is today Germany. [How much do you know about classical composers?]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1811
American Civil War statesman Charles Sumner was born in Boston. [Take our quiz about the American Civil War.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZC4-630)
1759
George Washington, the future first president of the United States, married Martha Dandridge in Virginia. [How much do you know about U.S. first ladies?]
© Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
1540
Henry VIII of England married Anne of Cleves, the fourth of his six wives. [Take our quiz about Henry VIII and his wives.]