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Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
The year 2006 was designated:
Events of 2006
January
- January 1 - Sydney, Australia, has its hottest day on record, when the city swelters in 45°C heat.
- January 1 - Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
- January 2 - The Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof in Germany collapses after heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps, killing 15.
- January 3 - Twelve dead coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, West Virginia, U.S.
- January 4 - Powers are transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Sharon suffers a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
- January 5 - A hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia collapses, killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform hajj.
- January 6 - The record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially draws to a close as Tropical Storm Zeta dissipates.
- January 7 - Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announces he will not seek to reassume his former post.
- January 7 - UK Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy resigns after revelations that he has a drinking problem.
- January 8 - A powerful, magnitude 6.9 earthquake centered off the coast of the Greek island of Kythera shakes much of Greece and is felt throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin.
- January 9 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time since June 7, 2001, closing at 11,011.90.
- January 11 - The Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986.
- January 12 - A stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 pilgrims.
- January 14 - A natural gas explosion in a coal mine kills eight in Romania.
- January 15 - NASA\'s Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.
- January 19 - Terrorist blows himself up in Tel Aviv, killing only himself but injuring 20 people, one of them seriously.
- January 22 - Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in regulation and is second only to the legendary 1960s center Wilt Chamberlain, who had 100 points.
- January 23 - Stephen Harper wins the federal election in Canada, forming a minority government.
- January 24 - Mario Lemieux announces his retirement from the National Hockey League
- January 25 - Hamas wins the majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections.
- January 25 - Deus Caritas Est, the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, is promulgated.
- January 27 - Celebrations are held in Salzburg and around the world for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
- January 28 - A trade hall roof collapses in Katowice, Poland, killing 65 people.
- January 31 - Samuel Alito is sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
February
- February 1 - UAL Corporation, United Airlines\' parent company, emerges from bankruptcy after being in that position since December 9, 2002, the longest such filing in history.
- February 4 - The Wowowee stampede occurred at the PhilSports Arena. 61 killed.
- February 5 - The Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl XL, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.
- February 7 - An aging Egyptian passenger ferry carrying more than 1,400 people sinks in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast.
- February 8 - 2006 East Timor crisis: 404 soldiers desert their barracks in East Timor.
- February 10 - The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin, Italy. The closing ceremony occurred on February 26.
- February 16 - Kobe Airport, a controversial offshore airport in Kobe, Japan, opens for airline service.
- February 17 - As many as 1,800 people die when a mudslide occurs on Leyte Island in the Philippines.
- February 19 - Pasta de Conchos mine disaster: Sixty-five miners become trapped underground after an explosion in Nueva Rosita, Mexico; all 65 die.
- February 22 - A bomb heavily damages the Al Askari Mosque, a Shiite holy site in Samarra, Iraq.
- February 22 - Over £53.1 million is stolen during the Securitas depot robbery, the largest ever cash robbery in the United Kingdom.
- February 22 - The 1 billionth song is purchased from the Apple iTunes Store.
- February 23 - A roof collapses on a Moscow market, killing 56 people.
- February 24 - A state of emergency is declared in the Philippines, after an alleged coup d\'état against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is foiled.
- February 25 - Police officers, and protesters injured when a protest prior to the Love Ulster parade turns into a major riot.
- February 25 - Uganda\'s President Yoweri Museveni wins his second re-election, sparking riots in Kampala by opposition supporters.
March
- March 4 - The final contact attempt with Pioneer 10 receives no response.
- March 4 - Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway was christened by Bishop Ole Christian Kvarme at the chapel inside The Royal Palace in Oslo.
- March 5 - The 78th Academy Awards, hosted by Jon Stewart are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, with Crash winning Best Picture.
- March 7 - Fifteen people die and many others are injured in three blasts throughout Varanasi, India.
- March 9 - NASA\'s Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn\'s moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.
- March 10 - NASA\'s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit.
- March 11 - Michelle Bachelet is sworn in as the first female President of Chile.
- March 11 - Slobodan Milošević is found dead in his cell in the UN war crimes tribunal\'s detention centre, located in the Scheveningen section of The Hague.
- March 12 - Historic cricket match between Australia in South Africa, 5th ODI of the series.
- March 15-March 26 - The 2006 Commonwealth Games take place in Melbourne, Australia.
- March 17 - The United States strikes its two remaining Iowa-class battleships from the Naval Vessel Register, ending the age of the battleship.
- March 20 - Tropical Cyclone Larry makes landfall in Queensland, Australia.
- March 21 - Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Laila Freivalds resigns after over a year of criticism.
- March 22 - ETA declares a permanent ceasefire in their campaign for Basque independence from Spain.
- March 24 - Disney Channel\'s original hit series Hannah Montana premieres, getting the most viewers for a Disney Channel premiere so far.
- March 25 - An estimated 500,000 people take to the streets in downtown Los Angeles to protest a proposed federal crackdown on illegal immigration.
- March 25 - A revolutionary scramjet jet engine, Hyshot III, designed to fly at seven times the speed of sound, is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.
- March 25 - Seven people die in the Capitol Hill Massacre in Seattle, Washington.
- March 26 - The ban on smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants comes into effect in Scotland.
- March 30 - The first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes, goes to space in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-8, at 2:29:00 CET.
- March 30 - The al-Dana capsizes off the coast of Bahrain, killing at least 48 people.
- March 30 - The first World Baseball Classic ends in San Diego, California with Japan beating Cuba in the Championship.
April
- April 1 - Apple Inc. celebrates its 30th birthday.
- April 5 - A swan with Avian Flu is discovered in Cellardyke in Fife, Scotland (the first case in the United Kingdom).
- April 6 - Allegedly the day the Devil would rise from hell.[citation needed]
- April 8 - Shedden massacre: The bodies of 8 murdered men are found in Shedden, Elgin County, Ontario.
- April 8 - Bristol, United Kingdom celebrates the 200th birthday of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (actually April 9) by relighting the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
- April 8 - Numbersixvalverde, ridden by Niall Madden, wins the Grand National at Aintree.
- April 8 - Bloc 8406 publishes their Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy for Viet Nam in Viet Nam; their name comes from this date.
- April 9 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is removed from office after four months in a coma.
- April 9 - Hungarian parliamentary election, 2006
- April 10 - Romano Prodi narrowly defeats Silvio Berlusconi in the Italian parliamentary elections.
- April 11 - The European Space Agency\'s Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus\' orbit.
- April 11 - President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium.
- April 16 - Albert II, Prince of Monaco, reaches the North Pole, becoming the first reigning monarch ever to do so.
- April 16 - Ireland commemorates the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Rising for the first time since 1971.
- April 17 - A suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad in Tel Aviv kills nine people and injures dozens.
- April 18 - Festivities and memorials across the Bay Area mark the 100th anniversary of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.
- April 19 - Han Myeong Sook becomes the first female Prime Minister of South Korea.
- April 20 - Iran announces a uranium enrichment deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; nine days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de-facto termination of the deal.
- April 22 - War on Terror: Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar, Afghanistan by a roadside bomb – the worst one-day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War.
- April 22 - Jalal Talabani re-elected for a second term as President of Iraq.
- April 24 - Three explosions in a tourist section of Dahab, Egypt kill 30 and injure over 115.
- April 25 - The Beaconsfield mine collapse occurs in Tasmania, Australia
- April 28 - Ground is broken for the $2.1 billion Encore at Wynn Las Vegas
- April 29 - Massive anti-war demonstrations and a march down Broadway in New York City mark the third year of war in Iraq.
- April 29 - The Global Night Commute takes place in over 130 cities around the world to promote the visibility of the Invisible Children in Uganda.
- April 30 - In the Australian Football League, a match between St Kilda and Fremantle ends in controversial circumstances after St Kilda\'s Steven Baker was alleged to have kicked a behind after the final siren had gone. Following an investigation, the Saints were stripped of two competition points and the full win was handed to Fremantle.
May
- May 1 - Bolivian President Evo Morales nationalizes his nation\'s gas fields.
- May 1 - The Great American Boycott takes place across the United States as marchers protest for immigration rights.
- May 4 - A new coalition government takes office in Israel; its four political parties hold 67 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.
- May 5 - NASA astronomers announce the discovery of a storm system in the Jovian atmosphere, dubbed the Red Spot Junior.
- May 5 - Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne announces that the Alfa Romeo automobile brand will return to the United States in 2008, after a 13-year hiatus.
- May 9 - Beaconsfield mine collapse: After 14 days trapped underground, miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb are rescued in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia.
- May 13 - Liverpool F.C. defeat West Ham United F.C. on penalties in the 2006 FA Cup Final following a 3-3 draw after extra time.
- May 17 - FC Barcelona beat Arsenal in the final of the UEFA Champions League played in Paris.
- May 20 - Munster defeat Biarritz 23-19 to win their first Heineken European Cup in Cardiff\'s Millennium Stadium.
- May 20 - Finland\'s Lordi wins the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest held in Athens.
- May 21 - The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs in overtime to win the Western Conference semi-finals in the NBA Playoffs.
- May 24 - East Timor\'s Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta officially requests military assistance from the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal.
- May 27 - A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes central Java in Indonesia, killing more than 6,000, injuring at least 36,000 and leaving some 1.5 million people homeless.
- May 27 - The first demonstration for gay rights in Moscow is broken up by the police.
- May 28 - President Alvaro Uribe Velez is re-elected in Colombia for a second term. He becomes the first president in over a century to serve consecutive terms.
June
July
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