2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It corresponds to the years 5766-5767 in the Hebrew Calendar, 5107-5108 in the Hindu Calendar, 1426-1427 in the Islamic Calendar, 1384-1385 in the Iranian calendar, 4703 in the Chinese calendar, and 2759 a.U.c. It is also the current year.
| Centuries: | 20th century · 21st century · 22nd century |
| Decades: | 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s |
| Years: | 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 |
This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
It has been designated:
- The International Year of Deserts and Desertification
- The Rembrandt Year, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Netherlands' greatest 17th-century painter.
- The Mozart Year, celebrating the 250th birthday of the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
- The Tesla Year, celebrating the 150th birthday of the world known electrotechnician Nikola Tesla.
- The International Asperger's Year, marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Hans Asperger, discoverer of Asperger's Syndrome.
- The year of the dog in Chinese Astrology.
- The Year of Study Abroad (by resolution of the United States Senate).
- The year of Aquarius, the Water Bearer in traditional astrology.
Events
- January 1:
- Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
- Spain bans smoking in public places.
- January 2: Fifteen are killed when a German ice rink collapses after heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps.
- January 3: Twelve coal miners are discovered dead in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, West Virginia in the United States. A single survivor was rescued early the following morning in critical condition.
- January 4: Powers are transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, after Sharon suffers a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
- January 5: A hotel in Makkah, 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, which formed on December 30, dissipates.
- January 7
- Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announced he would not seek to reassume his former post.
- U.K. Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy resigns under intense pressure.
- January 9: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 52.59 points to close at 11,011.91, the Dow's first close above 11,000 since June 2001.
- January 11: Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupted at 4:44 a.m. and 5:13 a.m. Alaska Standard Time, marking its first major eruption since 1986.
- January 12
- A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 Muslim pilgrims.
- Mehmet Ali Ağca, the gunman who in 1981 tried to kill Pope John Paul II, is released from prison in Turkey
- January 14: Seven died instantly and five were badly injured in a coal mine 800 metres underground in the south-east region of Romania after an unknown accumulation of natural gases exploded. One of the five injured died two days later.
- January 15
- NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends with the return of the first comet samples.
- Socialist Michelle Bachelet is elected the first female President of Chile.
- January 16: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is inaugurated as the first female President of Liberia.
- January 18: The Nikkei loses 464 points and is closed early to stop the high velocity of trades that take place. The American Stock Markets later are severely effected because of the loss.
- January 19:
- NASA launched the New Horizons spacecraft on the first mission to Pluto.
- Two miners after missing after a conveyor belt in a Melville, West Virginia mine ignites into flames.
- January 20: A Northern bottle-nosed whale finds its way into the River Thames (see River Thames whale). It died after suffering from convulsions the following day.
Predicted and scheduled events
January
- January 22 - Evo Morales inaugurated as president of Bolivia.
- January 23 - 39th Canadian federal election
- January 25:
- Palestinians vote in the Parliamentary Elections.
- Pope Benedict XVI releases his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.
- January 27:
- Manuel Zelaya will become the next President of Honduras.
- Major celebrations worldwide for the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart.
- January 28 - 20th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster.
- January 29 - Chinese New Year. Year of the Dog begins.
- Second round of the Finnish presidential election.
- January 31 - Anticipated retirement date of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States.
February
- February 5 - NFL Super Bowl XL is held at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
- February 6 - New Zealand recognises the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, in the form of Waitangi Day.
- February 10 to 26 - Torino 2006 Winter Olympics
- February 12 International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome.
- February 16 - Kobe Airport, a controversial offshore airport in Kobe, Japan, is scheduled to open for airline service.
- February 19 - NASCAR, 48th running of the Daytona 500.
- February 20 to 21 - Solidarity conference in Bil'in in Palestine.
March
- Local government elections in South Africa.
- Al Jazeera will launch its new satellite service, Al Jazeera International, in Europe, Asia, and North America.
- March 2 - The U.S. Federal Reserve will release the redesigned $10 bill into circulation. [1]
- March 3 - The first match of World Baseball Classic tournament will be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan, followed by matches in the US. Final match of the tournament will be held at PETCO Park in San Diego, California on March 20.
- March 5 - 78th Academy Awards, hosted by Jon Stewart.
- March 7 - Census in New Zealand
- March 11 - Michelle Bachelet will be sworn in as the first female President of Chile.
- March 15 - 2006 Commonwealth Games officially begins in Melbourne, Australia
- March 16 - New Kitakyushu Airport in Japan will be in operation from this day on
- March 18 - South Australia to hold legislative elections.
- March 20 - Iranian Oil Bourse see petroeuro
- March 20 - Ice Age 2 will come out in theaters.
- March 26 - The ban on smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants comes into effect in Scotland.
- March 26 - Ukrainian Parliamentary elections.
- March 28 - Israeli Parliamentary elections.
- March 29 -
- Total solar eclipse (Brazil, Mid Atlantic ocean, Sahara, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia).
- Attack Submarines USS Groton to start to be deactivated. Los Angeles class submarines USS Indianapolis, USS-Birmingham, USS-New York City and USS-Atlanta also begin to be deactivated.
- March 31 - The BBC World Service is to end broadcasts in Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian and Thai by this date.
April
- April 2:
- Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season.
- WrestleMania 22 in Chicago, Illinois.
- Former Connecticut governor John Rowland is scheduled to be released from the federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
- April 7 - EU citizens are now able to register .eu domain names, which replaced the old eu.int TLD on December 7 2005.
- April 9 - Peruvians will elect the successor of Alejandro Toledo in the Peruvian national election, 2006
- April 9 - Italians will vote for new Parliament and elect the successor of Silvio Berlusconi in the Italian general elections, 2006
- April 9 - Election in Hungary; first turn
- April 13 - Punjabi New Year
- April 14 - Tamil New Year
- April 23 - Election in Hungary; second turn
- April 23 - Census in Ireland.
- April 26 - 20th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.
May
- May 3 - Unofficial launch date for Space Shuttle STS-121 Discovery (ISS-18) Pad B, (ISS-18-ULF1.1: Return-To-Flight Test, MPLM, Logistics)
- May 4 - UK local elections, 2006 - Local elections to be held across England.
- May 13 - The 125th FA Cup Final is due to be the first competitive match at the new Wembley Stadium. However, due to concerns that it may not be ready on time, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has also been booked.
- May 15 - The 2006 Pacific hurricane season (for the eastern Pacific) officially begins.
- May 20 - Eurovision Song Contest to take place in Athens, Greece.
- The Future of Rail: - A one day conference and exhibition in the UK - 25th May 2006 at the Birmingham International Convention Centre
- May 26 - The exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" opens in the Field Museum of Chicago.
June
- Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic
- June 1 - The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season and the 2006 Pacific hurricane season (for the central Pacific) officially begin.
- June 9 - Football World Cup 2006 in Germany starts with the first game (Germany v Costa Rica) held at Munich World Cup Stadium(aka Allianz Arena).
- June 9- The Pixar film Cars will come out in theaters.
- June 30 - Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 98 and Windows Me
July
- July 1 -
- Electronic equipment imported to or sold in the European Union will have to be lead free soldered, to comply with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive.
- July 2 - Presidential election of Mexico.
- July 9 - FIFA World Cup 2006 Final Game at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
- July 29 to August 5 - World Congress of Esperanto in Florence, Italy.
August
- August 8 - Census in Australia.
- August 13 to August 18 - The XVI International AIDS Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada.
- August 14 to August 25 - The 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague, Czech Republic.
- August 19 to September 3 - FIBA Basketball World Championship 2006 scheduled to be held in Japan. Qualifying matches scheduled to be held in Sapporo, Sendai, Hamamatsu, and Hiroshima, followed by the final tournament at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City.
September
- September 16 - Oktoberfest begins.
- September 17 - Sweden general election, 2006: Sweden holds elections for the Riksdag.
- September 19-20 - 2006 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Singapore
- September 22 - Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring Equinox in the Souther Hemisphere.
- September 30 - The Australian Rules Football Grand Final occurs on this day
October
- October 2 - Brazilian General Elections, 2006: Presidential election, Legislative: full renewal of the Chamber of Deputies and renewal of one third of the Federal Senate (one of each state's three seats); State sphere: Gubernatorial elections, renewal of the State Legislative body (State Assembly) in all states.
- October 3 - Oktoberfest ends.
- October 15 - Chief Justice of Japan Akira Machida will be forced to retire upon reaching the age of 60.
- October 24 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft to Mercury makes the first of two Venus flybys.
November
- November 7 - US Mid-term Election which includes:
- all 435 seats of the US House of Representatives (outlook)
- 33 of the 100 seats in the US Senate (outlook)
- Gubernatorial elections in 36 of the 50 states (outlook)
- Many other state-wide offices in those states such as attorneys general and state auditors
- November 8 - Transit of Mercury.
- November 30 - The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season and the 2006 Pacific hurricane season will officially end.
December
- December 1 - The 15th Asian Games will be held in Doha, Qatar until December 15
- December 15 - Eragon will be released in theaters.
- December 19 - On this date, the United States is calculated to reach a population of 300 million.
Major Religious Holidays
- January 6 - Feast of Epiphany or Dia de los Reyes Magos (Day of the Magi Kings).
- January 7 - Christmas in the Russian Orthodox church calendar.
- January 10
- Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 12)
- Vaikunta Ekadasi is observed by Hindus. This is the day when the Gates of Heaven open and remain open for the next ten days.
- January 14 - Mahayana Buddhist New Year.
- January 14 - Pongal Harvest Festival in Tamilnadu.
- January 15 - Maatu Pongal, Festival of Cows in Tamilnadu.
- January 16 - Uzhavar Tirunaal, Farmer's Day in Tamilnadu.
- February 9 - Day of Ashurah.
- March 14 - Sikh New Year.
- March 21 - Bahai New Year.
- March 30 - Hindu New Year.
- April 12 - Pesach or Passover begins at sunset, continues for a week.
- April 13 - Theravada Buddhist New Year.
- April 14 - Good Friday in the Western Church Calendar.
- April 14 - Puththaandu Tamil New Year in the Tamil Calendar, observed by people in Tamilnadu.
- April 16 - Easter in the Western Church Calendar.
- April 21 - Good Friday in the Eastern Church Calendar.
- April 23 - Easter in the Eastern Church Calendar.
- September 22 - Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown. Continues until nightfall of the 24th.
- September 23 - First day of Ramadan.
- October 1 - Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins at sundown. Ends at nightfall of the 2nd.
- October 24 - Islamic festival of Eid ul-Fitr.
- October 26 - Hindu festival of Diwali.
- December 25 - Christmas in the Western Church Calendar.
- December 31 - Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 2, 2007)
Unknown/undecided dates
- NATO Summit 2006 will take place in Latvia.
- White House proposed Plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico will mantain its territorial status or change to another status (to be decided then in other referenda)
- The third Chinese manned space mission Shenzhou 7 is scheduled with the first Chinese space walk ever to be performed.
- Airbus plans to release into service Airbus A380, the biggest commercial airliner in the world.
- The European Space Agency plans to launch the KEO space time capsule
- Irish referendum on the European Constitution: The Republic of Ireland is expected to hold a referendum on the European Constitution.
- Manuel Noriega becomes eligible for parole.
- The new Wembley Stadium is expected to open.
- A bridge linking Savannakhet, Laos, over the Mekong, to Mukdahan, Thailand is expected to be completed late in the year.
- Windows Vista to be released in late 2006.
- The Stardust Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada will officially close in late 2006 after 55 years of continuous operation to make way for the $4 billion dollar Echelon Place a new mega resort scheduled to officially open in 2010.
- Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution are due to be released sometime during 2006.
- Pope Benedict XVI will visit Poland in May, exact dates are to be announced.
- Sony's first hearing for the lawsuit of faulty PS2's will commence sometime in April or May.
- NASA Plans to Launch STS-115 using The Space Shuttle Atlantis which will be the Nineteenth station flight.
- The Nintendo videogame The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be probably released in April (unconfirmed sources).
- The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators will be released
Deaths in 2006
Main article: Deaths in 2006
January
- January 1 - Henry Magdoff, American political commentator (b. 1913)
- January 2 - Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player (b. 1954)
- January 3 - Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
- January 4 - Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)
- January 4 - Irving Layton, Canadian poet (b. 1912)
- January 5 - Rod Dedeaux, college baseball coach (b. 1914)
- January 6 - Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)
- January 7 - Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1912)
- January 8 - Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)
- January 14 - Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920)
- January 15 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
- January 19 - Wilson Pickett, R&B Singer (b. 1941)
- January 21 - Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
2006 in Fiction
- March 28 to March 29 - The events of the Doctor Who episodes Aliens of London and World War Three take place.
- April 3 - The wedding of Keitaro Urashima and Naru Narusegawa, the main characters of Love Hina, takes place.
- September - The events of Doctor Who episode Boom Town take place.
- December 24 to December 25 - The events of Doctor Who episode The Christmas Invasion take place.
- The events of the third season of the Transformers cartoon take place.
- The central character in the BBC series Life on Mars came from 2006 before he travelled through time to 1973.