December 6

343 Saint Nicholas died on December 6, 343 AD. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting silver coins in the shoes of his followers. Saint Nicholas' feast day of December 6th was celebrated in Holland with the giving of gifts to children who behaved well. Dutch immigrants brought St. Nicholas and traditions of his feast day to their colonies in America. He became popularized there as Santa Claus and his gift-giving day moved from December 6 to Christmas Day.

A 13th-century depiction of St. Nicholas from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

1273 While saying Mass on December 6, 1273, Thomas Aquinas experienced a heavenly vision, which he later described as an intense and overwhelming experience of God's presence. He was so moved by the experience that he abandoned his work on the Summa Theologica, a major theological work that he had been composing for several years. Aquinas passed away three months l;ater.

1421 Henry VI of England was born on December 6, 1421 at Windsor Castle. He succeeded to the throne as King of England the day after his father's death, Henry V, on September 1, 1422 at the age of nine months. He was the youngest person ever to be the English monarch. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents.

1521 Ferdinand Magellan first sighted South America on December 6, 1521 during his round the world voyage. They anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro a week later. There the crew was resupplied, but bad conditions caused them to delay. Afterwards, they continued to sail south along South America's east coast, looking for the strait that Magellan believed would lead to the Spice Islands.

1534 The city of Quito in Ecuador was founded by 204 Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar on December 6, 1534. 29 years later, Quito became the seat of a Real Audiencia (administrative district) of Spain and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Today it is Ecuador's capital and its most populous city. It is the closest capital city in the world to the equator.

Quito by Rafael Salas. Painting of mid-19th century

1735 The first recorded successful operation to remove an appendix was on December 6, 1735, at St. George’s Hospital in London, when French surgeon Claudius Amyand took out a perforated appendix from an 11-year-old boy, Hanvil Andersen. The organ had apparently been perforated by a pin he had swallowed. The patient made a recovery and was discharged a month later.

1742 French chemist Nicolas LeBlanc was born on December 6, 1742. He devised in about 1790 of a process for manufacturing soda ash from brine (a form of salt), which transformed soapmaking from a handicraft to an industry. LeBlanc devised his method of producing soda ash to win a prize offered by the French Academy of Sciences, but the Revolutionary government merely granted him a patent.

1768 The first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh on December 6, 1768. It sold for 6d (tuppence more for a slightly posher version). Releasing the numbers in weekly instalments, the Britannica was completed in 1771.  The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopedia still in production.

1790 The U.S. Congress moved from New York City to Congress Hall, a building near the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 6, 1790. It served as the seat of the United States Congress from that date to May 14, 1800.

1790 On December 6, 1790 the capital city of the U.S. moved from New York City to Philadelphia. The Residence Act of 1790, passed by Congress, established Philadelphia as the temporary capital for a period of ten years while the permanent capital, Washington, D.C., was being planned and built. Philadelphia served as the capital until 1800 when the government moved to the newly constructed city of Washington, D.C.

1877 The Washington Post was founded on December 6, 1877 and its first edition was published the same day. It was initially a four-page newspaper with a circulation of 10,000 copies. Three years later it added a Sunday edition, becoming the city's first newspaper to publish seven days a week.

1877 Thomas Edison accidentally invented the phonograph in 1877 while trying to record telegraph signals. The first phonograph consisted of a diaphragm attached to a stylus. A foil-covered cylinder was turned by hand. Edison made the first ever gramophone recording when he spoke the words “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on December 6, 1877.

1882 The English novelist Anthony Trollope was laughing at a family reading of F Anstey’s Vice Versa at his brother in law’s evening party when he was struck down by a paralytic stroke. He died a month later aged 67 on December 6, 1882 in a nursing home on the site of 34 Welbeck Street, London.

1897 London became the world's first city to host licensed taxi cabs on December 6, 1897. They were black and yellow, and electric. These electric cabs were soon nicknamed 'Hummingbirds’ due to the idiosyncratic humming noise they made.

1916 By the end of 1916, the First World War was going badly for Great Britain. David Lloyd George gathered together a coalition of Liberal and Conservative MPs to form a new government. The day after Prime Minister H. H. Asquith resigned, Lloyd George took his place on December 6, 1916.
His effective administrating during World War I meant Lloyd George was credited as "The man who won the war."

Lloyd George in 1916

1917 A ship in Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada, carrying TNT and picric acid caught fire after a collision with another ship on December 6, 1917. An evaluation of the explosion's force puts it at 2.9 kilotons TNT equivalent making it the world's largest man-made accidental explosion.

1922 One year to the day after The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, the south of Ireland became the Irish Free State on December 6, 1922. Sixteen years later, the Irish Free State was replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.

1948 The only recorded interview with Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was conducted on December 6, 1948, by Finnish author and journalist Kalervo Kilpi. The interview, which lasted about an hour, was recorded on phonograph discs and later transcribed.

1964 The original Rankin-Bass holiday favorite Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964 on NBC.  The stop motion animated TV special about Rudolph is currently the longest running Christmas special on US television.

1994 After studies suggested there could be up to £1 billion worth of oil lying beneath Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II gave permission on December 6, 1994 for drilling to take place in its grounds. However, the Government did not renew the license needed for exploration to take place.

2007 On December 6, 2007, South Korea's Chang-Hyun Choi, who is affected by cerebral palsy and is paralyzed from the neck down, completed his record-breaking journey of 17,398 miles (28,000 km) by mouth controlled motorized wheelchair across 35 countries in Europe and the Middle East.

2012 The art of weaving the traditional Ecuadorian toquilla hat was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists on December 6, 2012. The inscription recognizes the craftsmanship, skills, and cultural significance associated with the traditional production of these hats in Ecuador. This cultural heritage is an important aspect of Ecuador's identity and craftsmanship.