-
Russia
Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute -
Period: to
2006
-
Hotel Collapse
A hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia collapses, killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform Hajj.[3 -
Stampede
A stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 pilgrims.[ -
Comet
NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet -
Mozart
Celebrations are held in Salzburg and around the world, for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[8] -
'An Inconvenient Truth'Al Gore became 2006's unlikeliest Comeback Kid with this blistering global warming doc, which shows more heart and humor than anything we saw from him in the 2000 election.
-
The movie 'Cars' comes to theatres
-
Olympics
The 2006 WInter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy -
A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
-
At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
-
English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station
-
Final contact attempt with Pioneer 10 by the Deep Space Network. No response was received
-
South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signs a bill into legislation that would ban most abortions in the state.
-
The 2006 Academy Awards are held, with Crash winning Best Picture
-
Liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn.
-
Hussein Testifies for the First Time In his 40-minute speech, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein urges Iraqis to stop fighting each other and instead focus their attacks on the United States. Read more
-
A swan with Avian Flu is discovered in Cellardyke in Fife, Scotland (the first case in the United Kingdom) on this day in history
-
The movie 'Bench Warmers' is released
-
The European Space Agency's Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus' orbit
-
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
-
243 people are injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.
-
King Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the demands of protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in 2002.
-
The movie 'Mission Impossible iii' is released
-
George Preca is canonised as the first Maltese saint in history.
-
The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico to be an artificial reef
-
'The Da Vinci Code' is released
-
The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin people choose independence with a majority of 55%.
-
The May 2006 Java earthquake strikes at 5:53:58 AM local time (22:53:58 UTC May 26) devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta killing over 6,600 people.
-
'Nacho Libre' is released
-
Montenegro
Montenegro declares it's independance from Serbia -
British Houses of Parliament temporarily shut down due to anthrax alert
-
The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat is launched
-
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law.
-
The first operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the People's Republic of China
-
North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile, and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan/East Sea.
-
The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years
-
'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' is released
-
World Cup
Italy wins their fourth FIFA world cup title -
209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.
-
'Little Miss Sunshine' is released
-
'Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby' is released
-
Scotland Yard disrupts major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States. All toiletries are banned from commercial airplanes.
-
Natascha Kampusch, who was abducted at the age of 10, managed to escape from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after 8 years of captivity
-
Pluto
Pluto is Demoted to a Dwarf Planet -
Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky bound for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Of the passengers and crew, 49 of 50 are confirmed dead in the hours following the crash
-
Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream was recovered from a raid by Norwegian police. The paintings were said to be in a better-than-expected condition.
-
Luxembourg became the first country to complete the move to all digital television broadcasting
-
The Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" dies -
The Thai military stages a coup in Bangkok. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared.
-
Hezbollah claims "Divine Victory" over Israel in a massive demonstration in Beirut
-
A German maglev train crashes, killing 23.
-
'The Departed' is released
-
North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device
-
South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations
-
The United States population reaches 300 million
-
Funeral service for the peace of the executed at Bykivnia forest, outside of Kiev, Ukraine, with reburial of 817 Ukrainian civilians (out of some 100,000) executed by Bolsheviks at Bykivnia in 1930s - early 1940s.
-
'Borat' is released
-
Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982
-
'Casino Royale' is released
-
Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut
-
A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kill at least 215 people and injure 257 other people
-
The Canadian House of Commons endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion to declare Québécois a nation within a unified Canada.
-
Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji
-
The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, announced as extinct.
-
'The Pursuit of Happyness' is released
-
Gerald Ford
Gerald ford the 38th president of the United States -
– Basque nationalist group ETA detonates a van bomb at Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, ending a nine-month ceasefire.
-
Saddam Hussain
Saddam Hussain is executed by hanging
