July 6th Major News Events

1953 East Germany Russian Firing Squads

1953 : Russian firing squads have executed 46 East German police for taking part in the workers revolt in East Germany against communist rule last month.

1955 U.S.A. Air Pollution Control Act

1955 : The Federal Air Pollution Control Act was implemented for research into causal analysis and control of car-emission pollution. The killer fog in London that had left over 4,000 dead created concern around the world over the effects of emissions pollution and the act made the funds available for analysis and control of car-emission pollution.

1967 Biafra War With Nigeria

1967 : After Biafra gains independence from Nigeria forces war breaks out between Nigeria and Biafra but Nigerian forces capture the provincial capital of Owerri and Biafra is forced to surrender.

1978 UK Train Fire Kills 11

1978 : A fire on the Penzance to Paddington sleeper leaves 11 dead who had been in sleeping compartments and many more injured.

1988 UK Piper Alpha Oil Rig Fire

1988 : An explosion on the Piper Alpha oil rig 120 miles off the north east coast of Scotland in the North Sea caused a fireball 350 feet high and engulfed the platform killing 167 workers.

1992 France Truck Driver Protest

1992 : Following lorry driver disruption on French roads over the last week the police and army have been ordered by the government to remove trucks blocking roads. At the worst area the on the A1 motorway south of Lille towards Paris 500 riot squad officers, supported by helicopters, took four hours to disperse the 150 vehicles jamming the road.

1998 UK Viagra on The NHS

1998 : The arguments over the NHS making Viagra available on the NHS continues to increase, Viagra the impotence pill for men costs £18 per pill and the number of patients requesting it could run into the 100's of thousands which could put more strain on the already stretched budget of the British Health Service. In January 1999 the NHS did allow a very restricted number of patients access and as the pressure increased more men were allowed access.

2005 UK 2012 Olympic Games

2005 : The International Olympic Committee announces that London has won the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games following a vote at the IOC meeting in Singapore.

2005 Judith Miller Jailed for Refusing to Reveal Sources

2005 : Following the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame by Judith Miller earlier Judith Miller has been jailed For Refusing To Reveal Sources of the story. The case is based around allegations that senior administration officials leaked details of Ms Plame's role as a CIA employee to undermine her husband former ambassador Joseph Wilson who had criticized the Bush administration, saying it had "twisted" evidence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat in the run-up to war. The disclosure of the source did come out in the end I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby former Assistant to the President of the United States, George W. Bush, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, and Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs). Libby was indicted and found guilty on June 5th, 2007 of four counts. One count of obstruction of justice; Two counts of perjury; One count of making false statements to federal investigators and was sentenced to 30 months in prison which was commuted by President George W. Bush to a $250,000 fine two years of supervised release, including 400 hours of community service.

2006 United States Coca Cola Secret Formula

2006 : Three employees from the soda company Coca-Cola were charged with stealing secrets from the company. It is claimed that one woman stole documents and product samples and with two other men tried to sell the secrets to Coca-Cola rival, PepsiCo. When PepsiCo was contacted by the alleged thieves, the company cooperated with FBI agents in an undercover operation to bring down the three people.

2006 India / China Trade Route Opened

2006 : An historic trade route between India and China was reopened after 44 years of being closed. The Nathu La pass through the Himalayas was part of the ancient trade route called the Silk Road and had been closed after disputes between India and China over the region of Sikkim occurred in the 1960s.

2007 Mexico Chiapas Mexico Earthquake

2007 : The state of Chiapas in Mexico was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 on this day. There were reports of minor injuries and buildings and businesses were evacuated in response to the quake.

2008 U.S.A. Armchair Balloon Flight

2008 : Kent Couch flew an armchair attached to balloons across the state of Oregon and landed in the neighboring state of Idaho. He realized his goal on this day in the third attempt to make a 235 mile trip across state lines. He used an air gun to pop balloons in order to control how high up in the air he flew.

2009 China Protest Demonstrations

2009 : Protests between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the province of Xinjiang erupted into violence on this day and left 156 people dead. Over 800 people were also injured at the protests. It was unclear as to whether or not state police or the protesters started the violence, as both sides blamed the other. The Chinese police arrested 1,434 people over the protests. The arrests sparked more protests by the Uighur population in Urumqi.

2011 Sudan Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks

2011 : A boat travelling to Saudi Arabia that was carrying around 200 migrants caught on fire and sank in the Red Sea, killing 197 people. Officials stated that the passengers were likely to have been Somalis who were trying to flee the drought. Only three people were rescued.

2012 Hong Kong Seizes Large Drug Haul

2012 : Custom officials in Hong Kong seized their largest haul ever. They seized nearly 1,500 pounds of cocaine worth ninety-eight million dollars that was being shipped in a container from Ecuador. Hong Kong officials stated that they were able to seize the haul based off a tip from US officials.

2013 Train Derailment and Fire in Lac-Megantic

2013 : An unattended freight train that had been carrying crude oil was derailed causing a large fire and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec in Canada. Over forty people were confirmed dead and more than thirty buildings in the town's center were destroyed.