2006(MMVI) was acommon year starting on Sundayof theGregorian calendar,the 2006th year of theCommon Era(CE) andAnno Domini(AD) designations, the 6th year of the3rd millenniumand the21st century,and the 7th year of the2000sdecade.
| Millennium: | 3rd millennium |
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2006 was designated as theInternational Year of Deserts and Desertification.[1]
Events
editJanuary
edit- January 1–4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during aprice dispute.[2]
- January 12 –A stampededuring theStoning of the Devilritual on the last day at theHajjinMina, Saudi Arabia,kills at least 362pilgrims.[3][4]
- January 15 –NASA'sStardustmission successfully ends, the first to return dust from acomet.[5]
- January 19 –NASAlaunches the first interplanetary space probe toPluto,theNew Horizons.[6]
- January 22 –Evo Moralesis inaugurated aspresident of Bolivia.
- January 25 –Hamaswins the2006 Palestinian legislative election.[7]
- January 29 – The roof of one of the buildings at theKatowice International FaircollapsedinKatowice,Poland, killing 65 and injuring 170.[8]
- January 30 – Jennifer San Marco goes ona killing spreeinGoleta, California,United States that leaves seven people dead before she takes her own life.[9]
February
edit- February 4 – Egyptian passenger ferry,MSal-Salam Boccaccio 98,sinks in theRed Seaoff the coast of Saudi Arabia, killing over 1,000 people.[10]
- February 6 –Stephen Harperis sworn in as thePrime Minister of Canada.
- February 10–26 – The2006 Winter Olympicsare held inTurin, Italy.[11]
- February 17 – Amassive mudslideoccurs inSouthern Leyte,Philippines killing an estimated 1,126 people.[12]
- February 22 –2006 al-Askari mosque bombing:Explosions occur at theal-Askari ShrineinSamarra,Iraq. The attack on the shrine, one of the holiest sites inShia Islam,causes the escalation ofsectarian violence in Iraqinto a full-scale war (theIraqi Civil War of 2006–2008).[13]
March
edit- March 9 –NASA'sCassini–Huygensspacecraft announces a geyser-like emission of vapor, dust, and small ice crystals onSaturn's moonEnceladus,possibly indicating the presence of water.[14][15]
- March 10 – NASA'sMars Reconnaissance Orbiterenters orbit aroundMars.[16]
- March 10 –Michelle Bacheletbecomes the first femalepresident of Chile.
- March 15 – TheUnited Nations General Assemblyvotes overwhelmingly to establish theUnited Nations Human Rights Council.[17]
- March 21 –Microbloggingandsocial networking servicewebsite Twitter was launched.
April
edit- April 4 – TheFaddoul Brothers,kidnapped on February 23, 2006, inCaracas,Venezuela, are found dead, causing outrage and mass protests against insecurity in the country.[18][19][20]
- April 11
- TheEuropean Space Agency'sVenus Expressspaceprobe entersVenus' orbit.[21]
- PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejadconfirms that Iran hassuccessfully produceda few grams of low-gradeenriched uranium.[22][23]
- April 20 – Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a jointuranium enrichmentfirm on Russian soil;[24]nine days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to ade factotermination of the deal.
May
edit- May 17 – TheHuman Genome Projectpublishes the finalchromosomesequence, inNature.[25]
- May 18–20 – TheEurovision Song Contest 2006takes place inAthens,Greece, and is won byFinnishband entrantLordiwith the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".
- May 27 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquakeshakes centralJavain Indonesia with anMSKintensity of IX (Destructive), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.[26][27]
June
edit- June 3 –Montenegrodeclares its independence fromSerbia and Montenegroafter a May 21referendumand becomes asovereign state.Two days later, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro officially disbands afterSerbiadeclares its independence as well, ending an 88-year union between the two countries[28]and leaving Serbia as the successor country to the union.[29][30]
- June 9 – July 9 – The2006 FIFA World Cuptakes place in Germany; Italy defeats France in the final.[31][32]
- June 28
- Israellaunches an offensivein theGaza Stripin response to rocketfire byHamasinto Israeli territory.[33]
- The United States Armed Forces withdraws its forces in Iceland, thereby disbanding theIceland Defense Force.[34]
July
edit- July 1 – TheQinghai–Tibet railwaybegins operation, makingTibetthe finalprovince-level entityof China to establish a conventional railway.[35]
- July 6 – TheNathu Lapass between India and China, sealed during theSino-Indian War,re-opens for trade after 44 years.[36]
- July 11 –A series of seven bomb blastshits the city ofMumbai,India, killing more than 200 people.[37]
- July 12 – Israeli troopsinvade Lebanonin response toHezbollahkidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel two days later.[38]
August
edit- August 10 – News was revealed of a thwartedterrorist plot to detonate liquid explosivesdisguised as soft drinks, aboard multiple transatlantic air flights.
- August 14 –Sri Lankan civil war,Chencholai bombing:61 female students inMullaitivuare killed by theSri Lankan Air Forcein an air strike.[39]
- August 16 – Russian government patrol boatshoots at a Japanese fishing boat,killing one crew member.[40][41]
- August 22 –Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612crashes near the Russian border in Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board.[42]
- August 24 – TheInternational Astronomical Uniondefines'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, removingPluto's status as a planet and reclassifying it as adwarf planet76 years after its discovery.Ironically,this was in the same year whenNASAsent itsfirst probeto thecelestial body.[43][6]
September
edit- September 1 –Analogterrestrial television is switched off in Luxembourg, being the first country to do so.
- September 7 – British Prime MinisterTony Blairannounces his intention to resign by the end of 2007.[44]
- September 7 –Partial lunar eclipse,visible over most of Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.
- September 19 – TheRoyal Thai Armyoverthrows the government of Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatrain acoup.[45]
- September 22 –Annular solar eclipse,visible in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, parts of Brazil, and the southern Atlantic.
- September 28 –Typhoon XangsanepassedManilaon its way to causing more than 300 deaths, mostly in the Philippines and Vietnam.[46]
- September 29 –Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907,aBoeing 737-800,collides with anEmbraer Legacy 600over theAmazon rainforest,killing all 154 occupants on board the 737 whereas all 7 onboard the Legacy survives.[47][48][49]
October
edit- October 6 –Fredrik ReinfeldtreplacesGöran PerssonasPrime Minister of Sweden.
- October 9
- North Korea claims to have conducted its first-evernuclear test.[50]
- GooglepurchasedYouTube for US$1.65 billion.[51]
- October 11–13 –St Andrews Agreementis held in Scotland between the British and Irish governments on devolution in Northern Ireland.
- October 13 – South KoreanBan Ki-moonis elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, succeedingKofi Annan.[52]
- October 22 –Fernando Alonsowins his secondWorld Drivers Championship
- October (date unknown) –The Offshore MPAproject is initiated.[53]
November
edit- November 2 –No. 5, 1948byJackson Pollockbecomes themost expensive paintingafter it is sold privately for$140 million.[54]
- November 3 –MicrosoftreleasesOffice 2007for manufacturing.
- November 5 – FormerPresident of IraqSaddam Husseinissentenced to deathby hanging by theIraqi Special Tribunal.He is later executed by hanging for crimes against humanity on December 30.[55]
- November 8 – Microsoft releasesWindows Vistafor manufacturing.
- November 11 – Sony releases thePlayStation 3.
- November 12 – The breakaway state of South Ossetia holds areferendumon independence from Georgia.[56]
- November 19 –Nintendoreleases theWii.
- November 22 –A toxic waste dumping incident occurs in Côte d'Ivoirebya Panama ship sent by Singaporean oil company,causing 3 deaths and the poison treatment of 1500 people.[57][58]
- November 23 – A series ofcar bombs and mortar attacksinSadr City,Baghdad,kills at least 215 people and injure 257 other people.[59]
December
edit- December 1 –WikiLeaksleaksHassan Dahir Aweys'conspiracyto assassinateSomali governmentofficials.[60]
- December 5 – The military seizes power in Fiji, in acoup d'étatled by CommodoreFrank Bainimarama.[61]
- December 11
- Felipe Calderónsends the Mexican military to combat the drug cartels and put down the violence in the state of Michoacán, initiating theMexican Drug War.[62]
- Analogterrestrial television is switched off permanently in the Netherlands.
- December 24 – Ethiopia admits its troops haveintervened in Somalia.[63]
- December 29 – UK settles itsAnglo-American loan,post-WWII loan debt.
- December 30 – Former Iraqi presidentSaddam Hussein,wasexecuted by hanging.
Births and deaths
editNobel Prizes
edit
New English words and terms
editReferences
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