Nov 6 in History
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1217 — The Charter of the Forest is sealed at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, by 10-year-old King Henry III, acting under the regency of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, re-establishing for free men rights of access to the royal forest that had been eroded by William the Conqueror and his heirs. Many of its provisions are in force for centuries afterwards. It is in many ways a companion document to Magna Carta, agreed to by Henry’s father King John on June 15 1215. 1854 — John Philip Sousa, American composer and conductor known as the American March King for his military marches (“The Stars and Stripes Forever”, “Semper Fidelis”, “The Liberty Bell”), is born in Washington, DC.
1860 — Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th and first Republican president of the US with only 39.65% of the popular vote (voter turnout 81.2%), the second-lowest share of the popular vote among all winning presidential candidates in US history, in a four-way race.
1861 — James Naismith, Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball, is born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada, to Scottish parents.
1880 — Yoshisuke Aikawa, Japanese businessman, politician and founder of Nissan Group in 1931, is born in Yamaguchi.
1903 — In Hong Kong the South China Morning Post, founded by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, publishes its first issue.
1923 — European inflation soars and one loaf of bread in Berlin is reported to be worth about 140bn Deutsche Mark. Germany’s hyperinflation eventually makes 4.2-trillion marks worth $1. 1936 — Spanish Civil War: The republican government is forced to move from Madrid to Valencia. A Junta de Defensa is left in charge of the capital’s defence.
1947 —“Meet the Press”, the longest-running US television programme, makes its debut on NBC Television.
1956 — First boycotts of the Olympic Games: The Netherlands and Spain withdraw from the Melbourne Olympics (November 22-December 8) as protest against the Soviet Union’s crushing of the Hungarian Revolution. China withdraws on the same day because of Taiwan’s inclusion (and doesn’t compete again until Los Angeles 1984). Switzerland also withdraws over Hungary. Earlier, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon announced they would not participate in response to the invasion of Egypt by France, Israel and the UK over Cairo ’ s nationalisation of the Suez Canal.
1986 — A British International Helicopters Boeing 234LR Chinook crashes into the sea and sinks 4km east of Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Island, killing 43 passengers and two crew members. It was returning workers from the Brent oilfield when a catastrophic forward transmission failure caused the tandem rotor blades to collide. One passenger and one crew member survive with injuries.
1987 — Ana Ivanovic, Serbian tennis player (world No 1 after winning the French Open in 2008), is born in Belgrade. She has been married to German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger since July 12 2016 and is now known by her married name.
1988 — Lancang-Gengma earthquakes: At least 938 are killed after two powerful earthquakes rock the China-Myanmar border area in China ’ s Yunnan Province.