2006 in the United States
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
: George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
(RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
) - Vice PresidentVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
: Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
(RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
) - Chief JusticeChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
: John RobertsJohn RobertsJohn Glover Roberts, Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist... - Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
: Dennis HastertDennis HastertJohn Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
(RRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-Illinois) - Senate Majority Leader: Bill FristBill FristWilliam Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
(RRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-Tennessee) - CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
: 109th109th United States CongressThe One Hundred Ninth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members...
January
- January 1 – 35 grass fires break out in Oklahoma CityOklahoma cityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
which normally averaged 2–3 grass fires a day till 2005. Record number of grass fires break out in TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
as well. - January 2 – The annual Rose Parade in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
is drenched in heavy rain for the first time in 51 years. - January 2 – PepsicoPepsiCoPepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
announces its purchase of Star Foods for an undisclosed price saying that the purchase would strengthen its place as PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's no. 1 seller of potato chipPotato chipPotato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
s. - January 3 – Twelve dead coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine DisasterSago Mine disasterThe Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006, in the Sago Mine in Sago, in Upshur County, West Virginia, USA, near the county seat of Buckhannon. The blast and collapse trapped 13 miners for nearly two days; one miner survived...
near Buckhannon, West VirginiaBuckhannon, West VirginiaBuckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,725 at the 2000 census. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival,...
. - January 5 – The Bush administration proposes spending $114 million on educational programs to expand the teaching of Arabic, ChineseChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and other languages typically not taught in public schools. - January 5 – IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
says that it would freeze pension benefits for its American employees starting in 2008 and offer them only a 401k retirement plan in future. - January 6 – AOLAOLAOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
agrees to pay customers as much as $25 million to settle claims that it wrongly billed them for some online services and products. - January 6 – NYSE says that it has picked Bear Wagner as the firm that will handle trading of its shares when it goes public.
- January 7 – Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLayTom DeLayThomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
announces he will not seek to reassume his former post. - January 9 – Vice PresidentVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
complains of shortness of breath and visits a hospital for the same. The White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
says the trip was necessary because of fluid retention as a side effectAdverse effectIn medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
of a drug Mr. Cheney had taken to treat chronic foot ailments. - January 9 – The Dow Jones Industrial AverageDow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average , also called the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow...
closes above 11,000 (11,011.90) for the first time since June 7, 2001. - January 10 – GovernorGovernor of CaliforniaThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
proposes a $125.6 billion budget increasing spending without raising taxes. - January 11 – The Augustine VolcanoAugustine VolcanoAugustine Volcano is a Lava Dome Complex on Augustine Island in southwestern Cook Inlet in the Kenai Peninsula Borough of southcentral coastal Alaska, southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Volcano Observatory currently rates Mount Augustine as Level of Concern Color Code Green for aviation and the...
in AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986. - January 13 – The US Government reports that wholesale inflation in 2005 increased by highest amount since 1990.
- January 13 – Rick WagonerRick WagonerGeorge Richard "Rick" Wagoner, Jr. is an American businessman and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. Wagoner resigned as Chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the request of the White House...
, CEO of the loss-making General MotorsGeneral MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
says that results will improve in 2006 and 2007. - January 15 – NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's StardustStardust (spacecraft)Stardust is a 300-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on February 7, 1999 to study the asteroid 5535 Annefrank and collect samples from the coma of comet Wild 2. The primary mission was completed January 15, 2006, when the sample return capsule returned to Earth...
mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a cometCometA comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
. - January 17 – CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
executes Clarence Ray AllenClarence Ray AllenClarence Ray Allen was an American murderer who was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in California for the murders of three people. At age 76 in 2006, he became the second-oldest inmate to be executed in the United States since 1976, after John B. Nixon of Mississippi who...
(death by lethal injectionLethal injectionLethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
) sentenced to death in 1982 for arranging the murders of three people. - January 18 – American International GroupAmerican International GroupAmerican International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
, the world's largest insurer, says that its chief operating officerChief operating officerA Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
Donald P. KanakDonald P. KanakDonald P. Kanak is non-executive Chairman of Prudential Corporation Asia, the Asian division of Prudential plc. Until 2006 he was a senior executive at American International Group, and was at one time considered to succeed Hank Greenberg as CEO....
has resigned and stepped down from the board "for personal reasons". - January 19 – NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
launches the a 9-year, 3 billion mile space mission, the first to PlutoPlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
. - January 20 – A MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
judge strikes down a state law banning same-sex marriageSame-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
saying the measure violated a state constitutional amendment prohibiting sex discrimination. - January 26 – General MotorsGeneral MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
reports an $8.6 billion loss for 2005, its biggest loss since 1992. - January 27 – An inhaled form of insulinInsulinInsulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
wins federal approval offering an alternative to injectionInjection (medicine)An injection is an infusion method of putting fluid into the body, usually with a hollow needle and a syringe which is pierced through the skin to a sufficient depth for the material to be forced into the body...
s for millions of people with diabetes. - January 30 – The White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
announces that PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
has chosen Professor Edward LazearEdward LazearEdward Paul "Ed" Lazear is an award-winning American economist, considered the founder of personnel economics, and was the chief economic advisor to President George W. Bush.-Career:...
, a Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
business professor to succeed Ben BernankeBen BernankeBen Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
as chairman of his Council of Economic Advisors who will succeed Alan GreenspanAlan GreenspanAlan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. - January 31 – Samuel AlitoSamuel AlitoSamuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
is sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. - January 31 – Two federal appeals courts uphold rulings that the Partial Birth Abortion Act passed by the United States CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 2003 is unconstitutional because it does not include an exception when the health of a pregnant woman is at risk.
February
- February 1 – UAL CorporationUAL CorporationUAL Corporation is the former name of United Continental Holdings an airline holding company, incorporated in Delaware with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. UAL held a 100 percent controlling interest in United Air Lines, Inc., one of the world's largest air carriers, and is a founding member of...
, United AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
' parent company, emerges from bankruptcy after being in that position since December 9, 2002, the longest such filing in history. - February 2 – After over 30 years, the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
says it would relinquish ownership of a 2,500-year-old Greek vase to Italy. - February 3 – "Suspicious" fires destroy three small churches and damage two others in Bibb CountyBibb County, AlabamaBibb County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of William W. Bibb, the first Governor of Alabama. As of 2010 the population was 22,915. The county seat is Centreville...
, AlabamaAlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. - February 5 – Super Bowl XLSuper Bowl XLSuper Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...
: The Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
defeat the Seattle SeahawksSeattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
21-10 - February 9 – AIGAIGAIG is American International Group, a major American insurance corporation.AIG may also refer to:* And-inverter graph, a concept in computer theory* Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization in the U.S.* Arta Industrial Group in Iran...
apologizes for deceptive business practices and reaches a $1.64 billion settlement with federal and state securities and insurance regulators. - February 10–26 – The United StatesUnited States at the 2006 Winter OlympicsThe United States Olympic Committee sent 211 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics. Chris Witty, a four-time Olympian, who competed in both Summer and Winter games, and won a gold medal in speed skating at the 2002 Games, served as the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies...
compete at the Winter Olympics2006 Winter OlympicsThe 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
in TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and win 9 gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze medals. - February 11 – Vice President Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
accidentally shoots and wounds a lawyerDick Cheney hunting incidentThe Dick Cheney hunting incident occurred on February 11, 2006, when then U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, while participating in a quail hunt on a ranch in Kenedy County, Texas...
while quail hunting in southern TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. - February 14 – The Coca Cola Company says that Warren BuffettWarren BuffettWarren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
, the soft drink maker's largest shareholder would leave the board in April after 19 years in order to spend more time managing Berkshire HathawayBerkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
. - February 15 – A group of institutional investors already involved in a lawsuit with the company sue Tyco InternationalTyco InternationalTyco International Ltd. is a highly diversified global manufacturing company incorporated in Switzerland, with United States operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey...
to stop its proposed breakup plan. - February 16 – The state of MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
sues AIGAIGAIG is American International Group, a major American insurance corporation.AIG may also refer to:* And-inverter graph, a concept in computer theory* Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization in the U.S.* Arta Industrial Group in Iran...
for underreporting premiums to reduce its tax bill refusing a settlement of 1.2 million US dollars. - February 16 – The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben BernankeBen BernankeBen Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
testifies to the US Senate that Chinese ownership of US assets is not large enough to put the country at risk economically. - February 16 – The Department of Commerce reports that housing starts jumped 14.5% to a 33-year high in January.
March
- March 4 – The final contact attempt with Pioneer 10Pioneer 10Pioneer 10 is a 258-kilogram robotic space probe that completed the first interplanetary mission to Jupiter, and became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. The project was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and the contract for the construction of the...
receives no response. - March 6–20 – The first World Baseball ClassicWorld Baseball ClassicThe World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation and created by Major League Baseball , the Major League Baseball Players Association , and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world...
is held in San Diego, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, U.S.A.. - March 9 – NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Cassini-HuygensCassini-HuygensCassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI spacecraft mission studying the planet Saturn and its many natural satellites since 2004. Launched in 1997 after nearly two decades of gestation, it includes a Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric probe/lander for the moon Titan, although it has also returned...
spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from SaturnSaturnSaturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's moon EnceladusEnceladus (moon)Enceladus is the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface...
, signaling a possible presence of water. - March 10 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
enters Mars orbit. - March 16 – The Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
format is released in the United States - March 17 – The United States strikes its 2 remaining Iowa-classIowa class battleshipThe Iowa-class battleships were a class of fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940 to escort the Fast Carrier Task Forces which would operate in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Six were ordered during the course of World War II, but only four were completed in...
battleshipBattleshipA battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s from the Naval Vessel RegisterNaval Vessel RegisterThe Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
, ending the age of the battleship. - March 22 – The Federal Reserve stops the publishing of M3 money supply data.
- March 25 – Seven die in the Capitol Hill MassacreCapitol Hill massacreThe Capitol Hill massacre was a mass murder committed by 28-year-old Kyle Aaron Huff in the southeast part of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. On the morning of Saturday, March 25, 2006, Huff entered a rave afterparty and opened fire, killing six and wounding two. He then killed himself as...
in Seattle, Washington.
April
- April 29 – Massive anti-war demonstrations and a march down BroadwayBroadway (New York City)Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
mark the third year of war in Iraq.
May
- May 1 – The Great American BoycottGreat American BoycottThe Great American Boycott was a one-day boycott of United States schools and businesses by immigrants, both legal and illegal, of mostly Latin American origin that took place on May 1, 2006.The date was chosen by boycott organizers to coincide with May Day, the International Workers Day observed...
takes place across the United States as marchers protest for immigration rights. - May 5 – FiatFiatFIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
chairman Sergio MarchionneSergio MarchionneSergio Marchionne is an international manager best known for his turnaround of the Italian automotive group Fiat and, more recently, for managing the US automotive group Chrysler from bankruptcy to profitability...
announces that the Alfa RomeoAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
automobile brand will return to the United States in 2008, after a 13-year hiatus.
June
- June 7 – Al-Qaeda in IraqAl-Qaeda in IraqAl-Qaeda in Iraq is a popular name for the Iraqi division of the international Salafi jihadi militant organization al-Qaeda. It is recognized as a part of the greater Iraqi insurgency....
leader Abu Musab al-ZarqawiAbu Musab al-ZarqawiAbu Musab al-Zarqawi ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan...
and seven of his aides are killed in a U.S. air raid just north of the town of Baqouba, IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. - June 23 – In Miami, the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
arrests 7 men, accusing them of planning to bomb the Sears TowerSears TowerSears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
and other attacks in Miami. - June 25 – Warren BuffettWarren BuffettWarren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
donates over US$30 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationBill & Melinda Gates FoundationThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It is "driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family"...
.
July
- July 4 – STS-121STS-121STS-121 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. The main purposes of the mission were to test new safety and repair techniques introduced following the Columbia disaster of February 2003 as well as to deliver supplies, equipment and...
: Space Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
is launched to the International Space StationInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. It returns safely on July 17. It is the second "return to flight" mission after the Space Shuttle Columbia disasterSpace Shuttle Columbia disasterThe Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
. - July 5 – North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
test fires missiles, timed with the liftoff of Space Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
, preceding the fireworks celebrations that night in America. The long range Taepodong-2Taepodong-2The Taepodong-2 is a designation used to indicate a North Korean two or three-stage ballistic missile design that is the successor to the Taepodong-1.-Details:...
reportedly fails shortly after takeoff.
August
- August 10 – London Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan Police ServiceThe Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
make 21 arrests in connection to an apparent terrorist plot2006 transatlantic aircraft plotThe 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada...
that involved aircraft traveling from the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to the United States. Liquids and gels are banned from checked and carry-on baggage. - August 27 – Comair Flight 5191Comair Flight 5191Comair Flight 191, marketed as Delta Connection Flight 5191, was a scheduled United States domestic passenger flight from Lexington, Kentucky, to Atlanta, Georgia, operated on behalf of Delta Connection by Comair...
, carrying 50 people, crashes shortly after take off from Blue Grass AirportBlue Grass AirportBlue Grass Airport is a public airport located in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, 4 miles west of the central business district of the city of Lexington. The main terminal building was opened in 1977. The airport covers an area of and has two runways. It is also home to the Aviation...
in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. - August 28 – A Greyhound LinesGreyhound LinesGreyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
bus from New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, carrying 52 people, crashes at mile 115 on Interstate 87Interstate 87Interstate 87 is a Interstate Highway located entirely within New York State in the United States of America. I-87 is the longest intrastate Interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. Its southern end is at the Bronx approaches of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City...
near ElizabethtownElizabethtown, New YorkElizabethtown is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,315 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Essex County is a hamlet also called Elizabethtown. The name is derived from Elizabeth Gilliland, the wife of an early settler....
, killing 5 people (including the driver) and seriously injuring others.
September
- September 8 – The world's tallest living tree, a 115.61 metres (379.3 ft) tall coast redwood (sequoia) now named "HyperionHyperion (tree)Hyperion is the name of a Coast Redwood in Northern California that was measured at , which ranks it as the world's tallest known living tree. Despite its great height, Hyperion is not the largest known coast redwood; that distinction belongs to the Lost Monarch tree.Hyperion was discovered August...
", is discovered in Redwood National ParkRedwood National and State ParksThe Redwood National and State Parks are located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park and California's Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks , the combined RNSP contain...
. - September 15 – Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills 2 and poisons over 100 others in 20 states of the United States.
October
- October 2 – Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-yr-old milk-truck driver, kills 5 girlsAmish school shootingThe Amish school shooting was a shooting at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 2006...
at an AmishAmishThe Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before shooting himself. - October 6 – A hazardous waste plant near Apex, North CarolinaApex, North CarolinaApex is a town in Wake County, North Carolina and a suburb of Raleigh. The population was 37,476 according to the 2010 census., wakegov.com-Geography:Apex is located at ....
explodes, releasing chlorine gas, and resulting in the evacuation of thousands and the hospitalization of over 100 residents. - October 10 – GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
buys YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
for USD $1.65 billion. - October 12 – Lake Storm "Aphid": A freak snowstorm blows into Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
leaving over 400,000 without power and killing 13. - October 16 – The last American MASHMobile Army Surgical HospitalThe Mobile Army Surgical Hospital refers to a United States Army medical unit serving as a fully functional hospital in a combat area of operations. The units were first established in August 1945, and were deployed during the Korean War and later conflicts. The U.S...
is decommissionedDemobilizationDemobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
. - October 24 – NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's MESSENGERMESSENGERThe MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging space probe is a robotic NASA spacecraft in orbit around the planet Mercury. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study the chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field of Mercury...
spacecraft makes its first flyby of VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
(it will be captured into Mercury's orbit on March 18, 2011).
November
- November 6 – Mid-term elections result in the DemocratsDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
gaining control of both houses of CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
; Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiNancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
becomes the first female Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
.
December
- December 7 – Smoking is banned in all OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
bars, restaurants, workplaces, and other public places. - December 10 – Space Shuttle Mission STS-116STS-116-Crew notes:Originally this mission was to carry the Expedition 8 crew to the ISS. The original crew was to be:-Mission highlights:* The STS-116 mission delivered and attached the International Space Station's third port truss segment, the P5 truss....
: Space Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
lifts off from the Kennedy Space CenterKennedy Space CenterThe John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
on the first night launch since the 2003 loss of ColumbiaSpace Shuttle Columbia disasterThe Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
. - December 13 – U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) suffers a brain hemorrhage during a conference call with reporters.
- December 14 – U.S. spy satelliteSpy satelliteA spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications....
USA-193, also known as NRO Launch 21 (NROL-21 or simply L-21), is launched and malfunctions soon after. - December 15 – Lockheed MartinLockheed MartinLockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
's F-35 Lightning IIF-35 Lightning IIThe Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
Joint Strike Fighter successfully flies for the first time. - December 22 – The Space Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
lands at the Kennedy Space Center, concluding a 2-week missionSTS-116-Crew notes:Originally this mission was to carry the Expedition 8 crew to the ISS. The original crew was to be:-Mission highlights:* The STS-116 mission delivered and attached the International Space Station's third port truss segment, the P5 truss....
to the International Space StationInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
Undated
- United States housing bubbleUnited States housing bubbleThe United States housing bubble is an economic bubble affecting many parts of the United States housing market in over half of American states. Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and may not yet have hit bottom as of 2011. On December 30, 2008 the...
: A total of 1,259,118 foreclosures are filed during 2006, up 42 percent from 2005.
Ongoing
- War in AfghanistanWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
(2001–present) - Iraq War (2003–2010)
Births
- September 7 – Dannielynn Marshall Birkhead
Deaths
- January 1
- Harry MagdoffHarry MagdoffHenry Samuel Magdoff , was a prominent American socialist commentator. He held several administrative positions in government during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and later became co-editor of the Marxist publication, Monthly Review.-Early years:A child of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants,...
, economist - Hubert SchoemakerHubert SchoemakerHubert J. P. Schoemaker was a Dutch-American chemist and biotechnological pioneer. Schoemaker was a co-founder and the president of the Bio-tech company Centocor. He helped develop Remicade, a drug to treat auto-immune disorders like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis...
, biotechnologyBiotechnologyBiotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
pioneer - Gideon RodanGideon RodanDr. Gideon Alfred Rodan was an American biochemist and Doctor of Medicine.Rodan was born in Bucharest, Romania. He completed an MD at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.He researched the deformation of bone cells. His most notable...
, scientist
- Harry Magdoff
- January 4 - William Haxby, scientist
- January 5 - Frank Cary, ex-chairman of IBM
- January 8 - David RosenbaumDavid RosenbaumDavid E. Rosenbaum was an American journalist.After his education, Rosenbaum worked for a number of publications including the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Quarterly. He worked for the New York Times for thirty-five years beginning in 1968...
, journalist - January 9 - David Kruidenier, publisher
- January 10
- Dr. Ira BlackIra BlackIra Barrie Black was an American physician and neuroscientist who was an advocate of stem cell research and was the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School which was created to advance research in the field.-Early life and education:Born in the...
, scientist, advocate of stem cellStem cellThis article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
research - Elliot ForbesElliot ForbesElliot Forbes , known as "El", was an American conductor and musicologist noted for his Beethoven scholarship.-Life and career:...
, Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
professor of music
- Dr. Ira Black
- January 11
- Nixzmary BrownNixzmary BrownNixzmary Brown was a seven-year-old abused child and murder victim from the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn section of New York City, New York...
, murder victim (born 19981998 in the United States-Incumbents:* President: Bill Clinton * Vice President: Al Gore * Chief Justice: William Rehnquist* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Newt Gingrich * Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott * Congress: 105th...
) - Eric NamesnikEric NamesnikEric John Namesnik was an Olympic swimmer for the United States.-Biography:He was born and raised in the town of Butler, Pennsylvania. Namesnik won silver medals in the 400-meter individual medley at both the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics...
, Olympic silver medallist in swimming
- Nixzmary Brown
- January 12
- Eldon DediniEldon DediniEldon Dedini was an American cartoonist whose work has appeared in Esquire, The New Yorker, Playboy and elsewhere....
, cartoonist - Anne MeachamAnne MeachamMary Anne Meacham was a noted American actress of stage, film and soap opera.Born and raised in Chicago, Meacham left to study drama at Yale University, graduating with a degree in 1947.-New York stage:...
, actress
- Eldon Dedini
- January 15 - Edward HallEdward HallEdward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire....
, developer of missile programs - January 16 - Stanley BiberStanley BiberStanley H. Biber was an American physician who was a pioneer in sex reassignment surgery, performing thousands of procedures during his long career.-Early life:...
, surgeon, one of the earliest to do sex change surgery - January 18 - Thomas MurphyThomas Murphy-Government, military, law, business and clergy:*Tom Murphy , former Speaker of the House of Representatives, from the state of Georgia*Thomas Francis Murphy , American lawyer, prosecutor, and federal judge...
, CEO of General MotorsGeneral MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
during 1970s1970sFile:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil... - January 19
- Wilson PickettWilson PickettWilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, soul musicSoul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer - Basil Worgul, biologist
- Wilson Pickett
- January 23
- David WeberDavid WeberDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist - Samuel Koster, armyman
- David Weber
- January 24 - William GrahamWilliam GrahamWilliam Graham may refer to:In politics and government:* Sir William de Graham, 12th century Scottish knight* William Graham, 1st Earl of Montrose , Scottish nobleman* William Graham, 2nd Earl of Montrose , Scottish nobleman...
, ex-CEO of BaxterBaxterBaxter originated from the Northern English and Scottish occupational surname meaning "baker," from the early Middle English bakstere and the Old English bæcere. The form Bakster was originally feminine, with Baker as the masculine equivalent... - January 25 - Herbert SchilderHerbert SchilderHerbert Schilder was a dental surgeon. Schilder is best known for the improvements he made to root canal therapies in the 1960s, when he taught at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine.Herbert Schilder received his D.D.S...
, dental surgeon - January 28
- Arthur Bloom, first director of 60 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
- Helmut Schulz, scientist
- Arthur Bloom, first director of 60 Minutes
- January 30 - Wendy WassersteinWendy WassersteinWendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning playwright - February 3 - Lou Jones, former world record holder in 400 metres race
- February 4 - William JonesWilliam Jones-Academics and authors:* William Jones , Welsh mathematician who proposed the use of the symbol π* Sir William Jones , English philologist who proposed a relationship among Indo-European languages...
, civil rights activist - February 8 - Barry Martin, dancer
- February 10
- Norman ShumwayNorman ShumwayNorman Edward Shumway was a pioneer of heart surgery at Stanford University.-Early life:Shumway was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan...
, cardiac surgeon, performed first successful human heart transplant - John BellusoJohn BellusoJohn Belluso was an American playwright best known for his works focusing on the lives of disabled people.He also directed a writing program for disabled people....
, playwright
- Norman Shumway
- February 12 - Peter BenchleyPeter BenchleyPeter Bradford Benchley was an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation, the latter co-written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg...
, author - March 28
- Jerry BrudosJerry BrudosJerome Henry "Jerry" Brudos was an American serial killer and necrophiliac, also known as "The Lust Killer" and "The Shoe Fetish Slayer".-Early life:...
, imprisoned U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
serial killer, natural causes (born 1939) - Charles SchepensCharles SchepensCharles L. Schepens was an influential Belgian ophthalmologist, regarded by many in the profession as "the father of modern retinal surgery", and member of the French Resistance....
, ophthalmologist known as "the father of retinal surgery" and a Nazi resistance movementResistance movementA resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
leader (born 19121912 in the United States-Incumbents:* President: William Howard Taft * Vice President: James S. Sherman , vacant * Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Champ Clark...
) - Caspar WeinbergerCaspar WeinbergerCaspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
, U.S. Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of DefenseThe Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
1981-1987 under ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 1973-1975 under NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
(born 19171917 in the United States-January–March:* January 1 – The University of Oregon defeats the University of Pennsylvania 14–0 in college football's 3rd Annual Rose Bowl.* January 11 – German saboteurs set off the Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland, New Jersey , one of the events leading to U.S...
)
- Jerry Brudos
- March 29 - Don AliasDon AliasCharles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...
, jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
percussionist (born 19391939 in the United States-January:* January 1 – The Hewlett-Packard Company is founded.* January 1 – Texas A&M University wins its only football national championship.* January 5 – Amelia Earhart is officially declared dead after her 1937 disappearance.-February:...
) - July 16 - Destiny Norton, victim of kidnapping and murder (born 20002000 in the United States-Incumbents:* President: Bill Clinton * Vice President: Al Gore * Chief Justice: William Rehnquist* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert * Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott * Congress: 106th...
) - August 6 - Marcus FieselMarcus FieselMarcus Fiesel was an American foster care child murder victim. On February 21, 2007 his foster mother Liz Carroll was convicted of murdering him...
, murder victim (born 20032003 in the United StatesEvents from the year 2003 in the United States.-Incumbents:* President: George W. Bush * Vice President: Dick Cheney * Chief Justice: William Rehnquist* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert...
) - September 13 - Ann RichardsAnn RichardsDorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
, American politician - December 13 - Rebecca RileyRebecca RileyRebecca Riley , the daughter of Michael and Carolyn Riley and resident of Hull, Massachusetts, was found dead in her home after prolonged exposure to various medications, her lungs filled with fluid...
, murder victim (born 20022002 in the United States-Incumbents:* President: George W. Bush * Vice President: Dick Cheney * Chief Justice: William Rehnquist* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert * Senate Majority Leader: Tom Daschle...
)