We’ve covered some of the biggest events of musical history in 2006 (besides the founding of Horus Music). But what happened outside the world of music?
8th January – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake with its epicentre just off the Greek island of Kythira hits much of the country. The effect is subsequently felt throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea.
12th January – The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end. They later recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council.
19th January – The New Horizons probe is launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto.
20th January – Witnesses report sightings of a Bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames. It is the first time the species had been seen in the River Thames since 1913.
10th February – 20th Winter Olympic Games opens at Turin, Italy.
22nd February – At least six men stage biggest robbery in British history, stealing more than £40 million from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
1st March – English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, about Jordanhill railway station.
10th March – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
25th March – Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
26th March – In Scotland the prohibition of smoking in all substantially enclosed public places comes into force.
1st April – The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the “British FBI”, is created in the United Kingdom.
27th April – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
6th May – Hannah Montana first broadcast.
17th May – 14th UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona beats Arsenal 2-1 at Saint-Denis.
7th June – British Houses of Parliament temporarily shut down due to anthrax alert.
24th June – “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”, directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightley and Orlando Bloom, premieres at Disneyland – becomes fastest film to gross over 1 billion.
9th July – Italy beat France in the final of the 18th FIFA World Cup held in Berlin, Germany. The French captain Zinedine Zidane later headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the chest.
31st July – Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This then leads to a celebration in Little Havana, Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated.
10th August – Scotland Yard disrupts a major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United State.
24th August – The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term “planet” such that Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet.
1st September – Luxembourg became the first country to complete the move to all digital television broadcasting.
9th October – North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device.
5th November – Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, is sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi’as in 1982.
4th December – An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
7th December – A tornado strikes Kensal Green, North West London, which seriously damages about 150 properties.
Turns out there was a lot of history in 2006!
