What Happened in 2006 — Events, Births & Deaths

Ehud Olmert becomes acting Prime Minister of Israel after the incumbent, Ariel Sharon, suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke.

A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.

A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes near Hejce, Hungary, killing 42.

Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.

Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza is arrested in connection with the serial killing of at least ten elderly women.

The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.

The Goleta postal facility shootings occur, killing seven people before the perpetrator took her own life.

Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.

The last Mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.

A methane explosion in a coal mine near Nueva Rosita, Mexico, kills 65 miners.

At approximately 6:44 a.m. local Iraqi time, explosions occurred at the al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, caused the escalation of sectarian tensions in Iraq into a full-scale civil war.

The Securitas depot robbery was the UK's largest heist. Almost £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) was stolen from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in an attempt to subdue a possible military coup.

English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.

In Monterrey, Mexico, a man identified as Diego Santoy Riveroll commits a double murder against two children, followed by an attempted murder of his ex-partner, Erika. The incident is popularly known as the Cumbres case.

The terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba coordinates a series of bombings in Varanasi, India.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.

Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as the first female president of Chile.

In Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi is raped and murdered by five American soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, who also murder both of her parents and her sister.

The 2006 Chadian coup d'état attempt ends in failure.

Operation Bringing Home the Goods: Israeli troops raid an American-supervised Palestinian prison in Jericho to capture six Palestinian prisoners, including PFLP chief Ahmad Sa'adat.

Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.

The social media site Twitter (now officially named X) is founded.

Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox.

Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged 2006 Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.

At least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.

Cyclone Glenda, one of the strongest tropical cyclones in the Australian region makes landfall near Onslow, Western Australia.

Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the Government of the United Kingdom is enforced, but later merged into National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013.

Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces Iran's claim to have successfully enriched uranium.

The United Front for Democratic Change's attack on the Chadian capital of N'Djamena is repelled by the Chadian army

Twin blasts triggered by crude bombs during Asr prayer in the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi injure 13 people.

A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70.

Bombings in the Egyptian resort city of Dahab kill 23 people and injure about 80.

Construction begins on the Freedom Tower (later renamed One World Trade Center) in New York City.

Armavia Flight 967 crashes into the Black Sea near Sochi International Airport in Sochi, Russia, killing 113 people.

The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.

Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.

Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.

São Paulo violence: Rebellions occur in several prisons in Brazil.

The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.

The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.

The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence.

Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.

The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.

The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.

The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat-1, is launched.

Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra.

A Yeti Airlines de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashes at Jumla Airport in Nepal, killing nine people.

Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law.

The Qinghai–Tibet railway first operates in China.

The Valencia Metro derailment kills 41 people.

Space Shuttle program: Discovery launches STS-121 to the International Space Station. The event gained wide media attention as it was the only shuttle launch in the program's history to occur on the United States' Independence Day.

North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.

The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.

A shootout happens in Spiritwood, Canada, killing two Royal Canadian Mounted Police and wounding a third officer.

One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.

Italy win their fourth World Cup title, defeating France 5–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time.

A Pakistan International Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes near Multan International Airport, killing all 45 people on board.

Mumbai train bombings: 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.

A cross-border raid by Hezbollah militants starts the 2006 Lebanon War.

Twitter, later one of the largest social media platforms in the world, is launched.

The 7.7 Mw Pangandaran tsunami earthquake severely affects the Indonesian island of Java, killing 668 people, and leaving more than 9,000 injured.

The world's longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.

An Israeli airstrike kills 28 Lebanese civilians, including 16 children.

Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.

A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).

At least 21 suspected terrorists are arrested in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot that happened in the United Kingdom. The arrests are made in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe in an overnight operation.

The oil tanker MT Solar 1 sinks off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the country's worst oil spill.

Lebanon War: A ceasefire takes effect three days after the United Nations Security Council's approval of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, formally ending hostilities between Lebanon and Israel.

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sixty-one schoolgirls killed in Chencholai bombing by Sri Lanka Air Force air strike.

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former MP S. Sivamaharajah is shot dead at his home in Tellippalai.

Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board.

Grigori Perelman is awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refuses to accept the medal.

Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of ten, escapes from her captor Wolfgang Přiklopil, after eight years of captivity.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet.

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Lazarenko is sentenced to nine years imprisonment for money laundering, wire fraud, and extortion.

Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash.

Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.

The Waziristan Accord is signed between the Government of Pakistan and local Taliban militants in North Waziristan, obliging the Taliban to expel foreign jihadists and the government to compensate the tribes for loss of life and property and launch reconstruction projects.

Space Shuttle Program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-115 to resume assembling the International Space Station. It is the first ISS assembly mission after the Columbia disaster back in 2003.

Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the volcano in at least 10,000 years.

An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.

The Thai army stages a coup. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared.

Twenty-three people were killed in a maglev train collision in Lathen, Germany.

Typhoon Xangsane passes over Manila after impacting parts of Southern Luzon and Eastern Visayas, becoming the strongest to affect the Philippine capital in 11 years.

A Boeing 737 and an Embraer 600 collide in mid-air, killing 154 people and triggering a Brazilian aviation crisis.

Five Amish girls are murdered in a shooting at a school in Pennsylvania, United States.

WikiLeaks is launched.

North Korea conducts its first nuclear test.

The 6.7 Mw Kiholo Bay earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport.

A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a national referendum.

A funeral service takes place at the Bykivnia graves for Ukrainians who were killed by the Soviet secret police.

ADC Airlines Flight 053 crashes after takeoff from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria killing 96 people and injuring nine.

Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for their roles in the 1982 massacre of 148 Shia Muslims.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Israeli Defense Force kill 19 Palestinian civilians in their homes during the shelling of Beit Hanoun.

Sri Lankan Tamil politician Nadarajah Raviraj is assassinated in Colombo.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia is opened and dedicated by U.S. President George W. Bush, who announces that Marine Corporal Jason Dunham will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor.

Queen Elizabeth II unveils the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army.

Al Jazeera English launches worldwide.

Anti-Syrian Lebanese politician and government minister Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.

A series of bombings kills at least 215 people and injures 257 others in Sadr City, making it the second deadliest sectarian attack since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.

The House of Commons of Canada approves a motion introduced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper recognizing the Québécois as a nation within Canada.

The law on same-sex marriage comes into force in South Africa, legalizing same-sex marriage for the first time on the African continent.

Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-116 carrying the P5 truss segment of the International Space Station.

The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.

Felipe Calderón, the president of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican drug war.

The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced.

United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.

Two earthquakes in Hengchun, Taiwan measuring 7.0 and 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale kill two and disrupt telecommunications across Asia.

War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed.

The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.

Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.

The Indonesian passenger ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths.

Former president of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.

Claudio Echeverri, Argentine footballer

Marc Guiu, Spanish footballer

Stefanos Tzimas, Greek footballer

Sarah Toscano, Italian singer-songwriter and actress

Beckett Sennecke, Canadian ice hockey player

Sára Bejlek, Czech tennis player

Gianluca Prestianni, Argentine footballer

Lucas Bergvall, Swedish footballer

Megan Skiendiel, American singer, dancer and actress

Windy Zhan, Hong Kong singer and actress

Xochitl Gomez, American actress

Lewis Miley, English footballer

Sadie Sandler, American actress

Konsta Helenius, Finnish ice hockey player

Vasilije Adžić, Montenegrin footballer

Haerin, Korean singer

Gukesh Dommaraju, Indian chess player

Macklin Celebrini, Canadian ice hockey player

Pablo García, Spanish footballer

Zépiqueno Redmond, Dutch footballer

Eli Junior Kroupi, French footballer

Mckenna Grace, American actress, singer and songwriter

Sam Lavagnino, American child voice actor

Caleb Wilson, American basketball player

Dani Muñoz, Spanish footballer

Endrick, Brazilian footballer

Javon Walton, American actor and boxer

Héctor Fort, Spanish footballer

Summer McIntosh, Canadian swimmer

Kimi Antonelli, Italian race car driver

Victoria Mboko, Canadian tennis player

Kang Ju-hyeok, South Korean footballer

Prince Hisahito of Akishino, Japanese prince

Ian Chen, American actor

Oliver Peake, Australian cricketer

Alisha Palmowski, British female racing driver

Myles Lewis-Skelly, English footballer

Priah Ferguson, American actress

Jacob Tremblay, Canadian actor

Yoon Do-young, South Korean footballer

Darja Varfolomeev, Russian-German rhythmic gymnast

Hong Eunchae, South Korean singer

Mason Ramsey, American singer

Cooper Flagg, American basketball player

Callan McKenna, Scottish footballer

Ethan Mbappé, French footballer

Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician (born 1930)

Nam June Paik, South Korean-American artist (born 1932)

Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (born 1926)

Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (born 1914)

James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (born 1974)

Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (born 1966)

S. Rajaratnam, Singaporean politician, 1st Senior Minister of Singapore (born 1915)

Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (born 1905)

Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)

Peter Osgood, English footballer (born 1947)

Jack Wild, English actor (born 1952)

Nurasyura binte Mohamed Fauzi, Singaporean rape and murder victim (born 2003)

Gordon Parks, American photographer, director, and composer (born 1912)

Tom Fox, American activist (born 1951)

Anna Moffo, American soprano (born 1932)

John Profumo, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for War (born 1915)

Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1931)

Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (born 1941)

Victor Sokolov, Russian-American priest and journalist (born 1947)

Robert C. Baker, American businessman, invented the chicken nugget (born 1921)

Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (born 1944)

Maureen Stapleton, American actress (born 1925)

Peter Tomarken, American television personality, game show host (born 1942)

Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (born 1929)

Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (born 1913)

Dan Curtis, American director and producer (born 1928)

Stanisław Lem, Ukrainian-Polish author (born 1921)

Rudolf Vrba, Czech Holocaust survivor and educator (born 1924)

Neil Williams, English cricketer (born 1962)

In Tam, Cambodian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1916)

Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist, poet, and critic (born 1918)

Albert Scott Crossfield, American engineer, pilot, and astronaut (born 1921)

Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (born 1919)

Alida Valli, Italian actress (born 1921)

Brian Labone, English footballer (born 1940)

Moshe Teitelbaum, Romanian-American rabbi and author (born 1914)

Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (born 1943)

Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1969)

Floyd Patterson, American boxer and actor (born 1935)

Hussein Maziq, Libyan politician, Prime Minister of Libya (born 1918)

Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (born 1945)

Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1921)

Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (born 1921)

Keith Smith, English rugby player and coach (born 1952)

Clinton Jones, American Episcopal priest and gay rights activist (born 1916)

Frederick Franck, Dutch-American painter, sculptor, and author (born 1909)

Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (born 1946)

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant (born 1966)

Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded Rip Off Press (born 1941)

Matta El Meskeen, Egyptian monk, theologian, and author (born 1919)

Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (born 1915)

Raymond Devos, Belgian-French comedian and clown (born 1922)

Herb Pearson, New Zealand cricketer (born 1910)

Jared C. Monti, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1975)

Gert Fredriksson, Swedish canoe racer (born 1919)

Thirunalloor Karunakaran, Indian poet and scholar (born 1924)

Kenneth Lay, American businessman (born 1942)

Kasey Rogers, American actress (born 1925)

Bruno Kirby, American actor (born 1949)

Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand Māori queen (born 1931)

Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (born 1955)

Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer and manager (born 1923)

Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (born 1928)

Gérard Brach, French director and screenwriter (born 1927)

Richard Burmer, American composer and engineer (born 1955)

Matt Gadsby, English footballer (born 1979)

William Bernard Ziff Jr., American businessman, founded Ziff Davis (born 1930)

Malcolm Arnold, English trumpet player and composer (born 1921)

Byron Nelson, American golfer and coach (born 1912)

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, American politician (born 1938)

Paul Halmos, Hungarian-American mathematician (born 1916)

Mark Porter, New Zealand racing driver (born 1974)

Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist and author (born 1926)

Junji Kinoshita, Japanese playwright and scholar (born 1914)

Paul Mauriat, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1925)

Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorean footballer (born 1937)

Asima Chatterjee, Indian chemist (born 1917)

Pat Dobson, American baseball player and coach (born 1942)

Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos, Portuguese painter and poet (born 1923)

Dave Cockrum, American author and illustrator (born 1943)

K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (born 1938)

John Feeney, New Zealand director and producer (born 1922)

Paul Arizin, American basketball player (born 1928)

Lamar Hunt, American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (born 1932)

Don Jardine, Canadian wrestler and trainer (born 1940)

Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (born 1929)

Saparmyrat Nyýazow, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (born 1940) (date death announced)