January
01 – Sydney, Australia, swelters through its hottest New Year’s Day on record, with the temperature peaking at 45.8 degrees Celsius, sparking bushfires and power outages.
04 – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffers a second, more serious stroke, and his authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
07 – Charles Kennedy resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats in Britain after admitting that he has a drinking problem.
12 – A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
12 – Turkey releases Mehmet Ali Ağca from jail after he served 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II.
16 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf becomes President of Liberia, and Africa’s first elected female head of state.
20 – A whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.
25 – Hamas wins the 2006 Palestinian legislative election.
26 – Western Union discontinues its telegram service.
30 – Jennifer San Marco goes on a killing spree in Goleta, California, leaving seven people dead before she takes her own life.
February
04 – A stampede occurs in the ULTRA Stadium near Manila, killing 71.
05 – Super Bowl XL takes place in Detroit, where the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks, and The Rolling Stones perform on a massive tongue-shaped stage.
11 – US Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots and injures Harry Whittington while on a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas.
16 – The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H) is decommissioned by the United States Army.
22 – Around £53 million (US$92 million) is stolen from a Securitas depot at Tonbridge, Kent, in the largest cash robbery in British crime history.
24 – President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in an attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
March
01 – Former Chelsea and England footballer Peter Osgood dies following a heart attack at a family funeral. He is 59.
02 – Child actor and Oliver! and HR Pufnstuf star Jack Wild dies of oral cancer, aged just 53.
04 – Egyptian passenger ferry, MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98, sinks in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, killing over 1,000 people.
06 – Stephen Harper is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Canada.
09 – The notorious former politician John Profumo dies aged 91 of a stroke at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
09 – Liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn.
11 – Former president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević, is found dead in his cell while facing the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague. A post-mortem examination reveals he died of a heart attack, but there is speculation it may have been brought on by the wrong medication.
11 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as the first female president of Chile.
15 – 18th Commonwealth Games open in Melbourne, Australia.
16 – The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
20 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC in an attempt to overthrow President Idriss Déby.
21 – Social networking site Twitter is launched. The first tweet is sent out by founder Jack Dorsey: “just setting up my twttr”.
22 – Three Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days’ captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox.
25 – A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood.
April
11 – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium.
21 – Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday at Windsor. The Prince of Wales makes a televised address in tribute.
22 – Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometres north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants. It’s the worst single-day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War.
27 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
May
03 – Al-Qaeda member Zacarias Moussaoui is sentenced to life in prison for his part in the 9/11 attacks.
10 – Giogio Napolitano is elected President of Italy, the first former communist to become President.
13 – Liverpool beats West Ham United, 3-1 on penalties, in the FA Cup final at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
17 – The American aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico to form an artificial reef.
19 – The film adaptation of Dan Brown’s controversial bestseller The Da Vinci Code premieres in cinemas, generating massive global box office returns and religious debate.
20 – Freddie Garrity, former singer with Freddie & The Dreamers, dies in Bangor, North Wales, at the age of 69.
20 – Lordi win the 51st Eurovision Song Contest for Finland, singing Hard Rock Hallelujah in Athens.
26 – An earthquake in Java, Indonesia, kills over 5,700 people and leaves 200,000 homeless.
27 – Another earthquake strikes Java, devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta and killing over 6,600 people.
June
07 – The Houses of Parliament in London are temporarily shut down due to an anthrax alert.
25 – England advance to the World Cup quarter-finals for the second tournament in succession by beating Ecuador 1–0 with a goal from captain David Beckham.
28 – Israel launches an offensive in the Gaza Strip.
29 – The US Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush‘s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates US law and the Geneva Convention.
July
01 – England’s World Cup campaign ends in the quarter-finals when they lose on penalties to Portugal after a goalless draw.
03 – A bomb kills seven people near a military checkpoint in Trincomalee. Sri Lanka.
07 – Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd, dies from pancreatic cancer in Cambridge, England, aged 60.
07 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest opens, shattering the opening-weekend box office record with $135.6 million and solidifying Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow as an icon.
08 – The General Synod of the Church of England agrees to allow women to serve as bishops for the first time.
09 – Italy beats France, 5-3 on penalties, in the World Cup Final at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.
09 – Roger Federer wins his 4th straight Wimbledon title, beating Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
10 – Pakistan International Flight PK-688 crashes in Multan, Pakistan shortly after takeoff, killing all 45 people on board.
11 – Seven bomb blasts hit the city of Mumbai, India, during the evening rush hour, killing more than 200 people.
12 – Israeli troops attack Beirut’s airport and invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. Hezbollah declares war against Israel two days later.
15 – Twitter officially launches to the public, beginning its rapid climb into the epicentre of breaking news, politics, and celebrity culture.
17 – The space shuttle Discovery safely returns to Earth after a successful 13-day mission.
25 – An Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon hits a UN observation post and kills four unarmed UN observers.
27 – Cyclist Floyd Landis is suspended when a test taken after his Tour de France win shows an abnormally high level of testosterone.
30 – Israeli bombing of Qana, Lebanon, causes the collapse of an apartment building that kills nearly 60 civilians.
30 – British music TV show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time after airing for 42 years.
31 – President Fidel Castro of Cuba announces that while he recovers from surgery, he is temporarily turning power over to his brother, Defence Minister Raül Castro.
August
19 – New Zealand defeats Australia to win the Rugby Union Tri-Nations title.
21 – Tuheitia Paki is crowned king of the Maori in New Zealand.
24 – The International Astronomical Union approves a measure to remove Pluto from the list of planets and give it the new classification of “dwarf planet”. The move sparks international public outcry and debate.
25 – Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko is sentenced to nine years in federal prison for money laundering, wire fraud, and extortion.
27 – Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport, Lexington, Kentucky, killing all 47 passengers and two of three crew members.
30 – Canadian-born American actor Glenn Ford dies at his home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 90.
31 – Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream is recovered during a raid by Norwegian police. The painting was said to be in a “better-than-expected” condition.
September
01 – The US men’s basketball team is upset at the World Basketball Championships in Saitama, Japan, as Greece pulls off a 101-95 semi-final victory.
04 – Beloved Australian conservationist and exuberant host of The Crocodile Hunter TV series, Steve Irwin, dies after being fatally stung in the heart by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland. He is 44.
05 – Facebook expands beyond high school and college students, opening registration to anyone with a valid email address, supercharging its global growth.
08 – Australian racing driver Peter Brock dies near Perth in Western Australia, aged 61. Brocky dominated the Australian Touring Car circuit for almost 40 years, usually driving the “05” car for Holden. He won the Bathurst 1000 endurance race nine times, the Sandown 500 touring car race nine times, the Australian Touring Car Championship three times, the Bathurst 24 Hour once, and was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2001.
13 – Kimveer Gill kills one student and wounds 19 others before committing suicide at Dawson College in Montreal.
19 – A coup d’état in Thailand overthrows the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
20 – Television presenter Richard Hammond suffers a serious brain injury when he crashes a jet-powered car whilst filming for Top Gear.
20 – Katie Couric becomes the first solo female anchor of a major network weekday evening newscast.
22 – A German maglev train collides with a maintenance vehicle near Lathen, Lower Saxony, killing 23 people and injuring 11.
22 – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claims “Divine Victory” over Israel in a speech to supporters in Beirut after the last Israeli soldiers withdraw from southern Lebanon.
26 – Colombian drug lord Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela is sentenced to 30 years in a US prison after pleading guilty to cocaine conspiracy charges.
October
02 – Charles Carl Roberts kills five schoolgirls in a shooting incident at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, then commits suicide.
04 – WikiLeaks is launched by internet activist Julian Assange.
06 – Fredrik Reinfeldt replaces Göran Persson as Prime Minister of Sweden.
09 – North Korea conducts its first nuclear test.
09 – Google announces the blockbuster acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion, validating online video as the ultimate future of digital entertainment.
15 – After an investigation, police in Israel recommend that the attorney general file charges of rape and sexual assault against the Israeli President, Moshe Katsav.
24 – A 16-year-old country-pop singer named Taylor Swift releases her self-titled debut album, quietly setting off one of the greatest careers in music history.
29 – Lula da Silva is elected President of Brazil, defeating Geraldo Alckmin in the second round.
31 – P.W. (Pieter Willem) Botha – known as “Die Groot Krokodil” or “The Great Crocodile” – dies near George, Western Cape, South Africa. As prime minister (1978-84) and president (1984-89) of South Africa, he was fully committed to white supremacy but sought to find a middle ground between those who supported apartheid and the increasingly frustrated and militant nonwhite population.
November
01 – Former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko is poisoned with Polonium-210 in the UK. He dies of acute radiation syndrome on 23 November, causing widespread accusations that the Russian government is behind the poisoning.
05 – Former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is sentenced to death by hanging by the Iraqi Special Tribunal.
08 – Microsoft releases Windows Vista.
09 – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologises for the killing of 18 Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanun, Gaza, the previous day.
11 – Sony releases the PlayStation 3 gaming system in Japan and North America, introducing Blu-ray technology and high-definition social gaming infrastructure to the console wars.
11 – The US vetoes a UN Security Council resolution taking Israel to task for disproportionate violence in Gaza.
17 – The James Bond franchise is completely revitalised with Daniel Craig’s debut in Casino Royale, bringing a gritty, visceral, and grounded tone to the 007 franchise.
19 – Nintendo releases the Wii video game console. Its revolutionary motion-control remote disrupts the entire gaming industry and expands video gaming to a massive casual audience.
20 – American filmmaker and director Robert Altman (born February 1925) dies in Los Angeles, California.
20 – The US Mint unveils four new one-dollar coins, each bearing the likeness of one of the first four US presidents.
23 – A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kills at least 215 people and injures 257 other people.
24 – Israeli rapist Benny Sela escapes from police custody while being transferred to a court hearing.
27 – Australian-born British DJ and radio personality Alan “Fluff” Freeman dies at Brinsworth House in Twickenham, aged 79, after a short illness.
30 – South Africa’s Civil Union Act of 2006 legalises same-sex marriage, making it the fifth country in the world and the first in Africa to do so.
December
05 – The military seizes power in Fiji, in a coup d’état led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
05 – Human rights advocate and former South African President Nelson Mandela is awarded the prestigious International J. William Fulbright Prize, highlighting a major moment in global civic leadership.
05 – Audrey Hepburn’s Givenchy little black dress from the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s is auctioned for charity for a record £467,200 ($923,187) at Christie’s in London.
10 – Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet dies in Santiago.
14 – Israel stops Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya from returning to the Gaza Strip from Egypt for seven hours until he agrees to leave behind the large amounts of cash he is carrying. Cash brought in from other countries is the only means now open to the Palestinian Authority to pay government expenses.
15 – American blues legend BB King is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President George W Bush.
16 – Time magazine publishes its famous “Person of the Year” issue featuring a mirrored cover that reads “You.”, acknowledging the collective power of millions of internet users.
23 – British comedian Charlie Drake, famous for the long-running TV series The Worker and his catch-cry “Hello, my darlings”, dies at Brinsworth House in Twickenham after suffering multiple strokes the previous night. He is 81.
25 – Singer James Brown – known as “Mr Dynamite”, “the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business”, “Godfather of Soul”, and “Soul Brother No. 1”- dies of pneumonia in Atlanta, Georgia, aged 73.
26 – Former US President Gerald R Ford dies at his home in California, aged 93.
29 – The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
30 – Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging at the Iraqi-US military base Camp Justice, in Kazimain, Baghdad. The hanging – partly broadcast on state TV in Iraq – comes after he is found guilty of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court regarding the killing of 148 Iraqi Shia Muslims in 1982.
Also this year . . .
- The XX Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy.
- Zuleyka Rivera (Puerto Rico) is crowned Miss Universe.
- The population of the United States reaches 300 million.
- The death toll of American troops in Iraq since March 2003 reaches 3,000.
- ‘Delta Blues’ wins the Melbourne Cup, ridden by Yasunari Iwata.