2006: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
Art LaPella (talk | contribs) m spell check |
|||
| Line 173: | Line 173: | ||
* [[June 19]] - [[Trinity College Cambridge]] May Ball. |
* [[June 19]] - [[Trinity College Cambridge]] May Ball. |
||
* [[June 23]] - [[Nintendo DS Lite]] is set to release in Europe. |
* [[June 23]] - [[Nintendo DS Lite]] is set to release in Europe. |
||
* [[june 30]] - Harvest moon: Magical Melodie is set to release in Europe. |
|||
===July=== |
===July=== |
||
Revision as of 13:24, 30 May 2006
| Centuries: | 20th century · 21st century · 22nd century |
| Decades: | 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s |
| Years: | 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 |
| 2006 by topic |
|---|
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It is also the current year.
It has been designated:
- The year of Aquarius, the Water Bearer in Western astrology. The next year for Aquarius will be in the year 2018.
- The Year of the Dog in the Chinese calendar
Events
January
- January 1 - Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
- January 2 - Fifteen are killed when the Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof in Germany collapses after heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps.
- January 3 - Twelve deceased coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, West Virginia in the United States.
- 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 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. U.K. Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy resigns after revelations that he has a drinking problem.
- January 8 - A powerful, magnitude 6.9 earthquake epicentered off the coast of the Greek island of Kythera shakes much of Greece and is felt throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin. No injuries or significant damage are reported.
- 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 10 - At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple Computer introduces the first Macs with Intel processors: the iMac (Core Duo) and the MacBook Pro.
- January 11 - 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 Muslim pilgrims.
- January 14 - A natural gas explosion in a coal mine kills eight in Romania.
- January 15 - NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends with the return of the first comet
- January 19 - Terrorist commits suicide in Tel Aviv, killing only himself but injuring 19 people.
- January 19 - Jet Airways announces its purchase of Air Sahara, creating the largest domestic airliner in India.
- January 23 - Stephen Harper wins the election in Canada forming a minority government.
- January 27 - Worldwide celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart.
- January 28 - A trade hall roof collapses in Katowice, Poland, killing 65 people.
February
- February 5 - The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL by a score of 21-10.
- February 6 - Stephen Harper is sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada.
- February 10 - The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Torino, Italy. The closing ceremony occurs on February 26. The next 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Whistler, Vancouver, Canada.
- February 16 - Kobe Airport, a controversial offshore airport in Kobe, Japan, opens for airline service.
- February 17 - As many as eighteen hundred people die when a mudslide occurs on the island of Leyte in the Philippines.
- February 19 - Sixty-five miners become trapped underground after an explosion in Nueva Rosita, Mexico during the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster. There are no survivors.
- February 20-February 21 - Solidarity conference in Bil'in in the Palestinian West Bank.
- February 22 - A blast heavily damages the Al Askari Mosque, a Shiite holy site in Samarra, Iraq, causing a wave of protests and counterattacks across 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 one billionth song is purchased from Apple iTunes.
- 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'etat against President Gloria Arroyo is foiled.
- February 25 - Six police officers, seven protesters, and a journalist receive head wounds when a protest prior to the Love Ulster parade turns into a major riot.
- February 25 - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni wins 2nd re-election, sparking riots in Kampala by opposition supporters.
- February 26 - Khojaly Massacre remembrance day in Azerbaijan, were more then 600 Azeris were killed by Armenian forces.
- February 26 - The world population reaches 6.5 billion at 0016 UTC according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
March
- March 2 - The U.S. Federal Reserve releases the redesigned $10 bill into circulation.
- March 3 - The first World Baseball Classic opens in Tokyo, Japan.
- March 4 - The central Papeete power station is damaged by a fire, resulting in limited power for some areas of Tahiti for a couple of weeks.
- March 4 - A new species of shark is discovered in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, bringing the types of Mustelus shark found in the eastern North Pacific to five.
- March 4 - The Deep Space Network tries one final contact attempt to Pioneer 10.
- March 4 - The 28th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held in Australia.
- March 5 - Crash wins Best Picture, Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) wins Best Director, Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) wins Best Actress, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) wins Best Actor during the 78th Academy Awards.
- March 7 - Fifteen people die and many others are injured in three blasts throughout Varanasi, India.
- March 9 - Microsoft unveils the Ultra-Mobile PC, formerly code-named "Origami Project".
- March 9 - NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of water shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.
- March 10 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit.
- March 11 - Slobodan Milošević, former Yugoslav president, dies of a heart attack in his prison cell in The Hague, Netherlands.
- March 11 - Michelle Bachelet is sworn in as the first female President of Chile.
- March 12 - Springfield, Illinois is hit with its biggest storm in over fifty years as a tornado outbreak sequence causes dozens of tornadoes to occur in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois over a five-day period.
- March 15-March 26 - The 2006 Commonwealth Games take place in Melbourne, Australia.
- March 16 - The New Kitakyushu Airport opens in Japan.
- March 20 - Tropical Cyclone Larry makes landfall in Queensland, Australia as what is considered to be the worst cyclone to hit the region since 1931.
- March 22 - Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) declares a permanent ceasefire in their campaign for Basque independence from Spain.
- March 23 - The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ceases publication of the M3 monetary aggregate.
- March 25 - An estimated 500,000 people take to the streets in downtown Los Angeles in protest of 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 26 - The ban on smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants comes into effect in Scotland.
- March 28 - Andrew Card, chief of staff to President George W. Bush resigns; President Bush nominates Josh Bolten as his replacement.
- March 29 - Total solar eclipse (Brazil, Greece, Mid Atlantic ocean, Sahara, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia).
- March 30 - The first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes, goes to space in a Russian spaceship, Soyuz TMA-8, at 2:29:00 CET.
- March 30 - The al-Dana capsizes off the coast of Bahrain killing at least forty-eight people.
April
- April 3 - The University of Florida Basketball wins its first ever NCAA title, defeating UCLA 73-57.
- April 5 - A swan with Avian Flu is discovered in Cellardyke in Fife, Scotland the first case in the United Kingdom.
- April 8 - The bodies of eight murdered men are found in Shedden, Ontario (see Shedden massacre).
- April 8 - Bristol, United Kingdom celebrates the 200th birthday of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (actually April 9) by relighting the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
- April 9 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is taken out of office after four months in a coma.
- April 10 - The St. Louis Cardinals' new Busch Stadium officially opens.
- April 10 - Romano Prodi narrowly defeats Silvio Berlusconi in Italian parliamentary elections.
- April 11 - ESA's Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus's orbit.
- April 11 - President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran had successfully produced low-grade enriched uranium.
- April 12 - Jurors in the trial of terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui hear cockpit recordings of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
- April 16 - HSH Albert II, Prince of Monaco, reaches the North Pole, becoming the first reigning monarch ever to do so.
- April 17 - Suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad in Tel Aviv kills nine people, injures dozens.
- April 17 - Raloxifene is found to be as effective as Tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer, but with fewer side effects.
- April 18 - A record seven Venezuelan pitchers started games in Major League Baseball.
- April 19 - Han Myung-sook became South Korea's first female Prime Minister.
- April 20 - Russia and Iran reach a uranium enrichment deal, setting up a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil.
- April 22 - Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar, Afghanistan by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants, the worst one-day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War.
- April 24 - Three explosions in a touristy section of Dahab, Egypt kill 30 and injure over 115.
- April 24 - Co-founder Scott McNealy steps down as chairman of Sun Microsystems.
- April 29 - Massive anti-war demonstrations and a march down Broadway in New York City mark the third year of war in Iraq. Also, 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- Aging Rock Star Keith Richards falls out of a coconut tree in Fiji
May
- May 1 - Bolivian President Evo Morales nationalizes his nation's gas fields.
- May 1 - The Great American Boycott takes place across the US nation as marchers protest for immigration rights.
- May 4 - A new coalition government takes office in Israel, with four political parties, which together hold 67 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.
- May 5 - After disappointing results in the English local elections, British Prime Minister Tony Blair holds major reshuffle of his cabinet, due also to political crises of some high ranking members.
- May 5 - NASA astronomers announce the discovery of a similar storm system in the Jovian atmosphere dubbed the Red Spot Junior, which has a striking similar appearance to the famous Great Red Spot.
- May 8 - Palestinian factions clash in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of two men of Fatah and one man of Hamas.
- May 8 - Judgment is given in London in favour of Apple Computer in Apple Corps v. Apple Computer, a trademark lawsuit brought by The Beatles' company, Apple Corps.
- May 9 - After 14 days trapped underground after the Beaconsfield mine collapse, miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb are rescued in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia.
- May 10 - The gaming expo E3 was held in the Los Angeles Convention Center and lasted until may 12.
- May 12 - Justin Gatlin of the USA runs the fastest ever 100 metres race in Doha, Qatar. He sets a time of 9.76 seconds, shaving a hundredth of a second from the previous world record of 9.77 set by Asafa Powell in 2005 but according to the IAAF, there was a timing error and his time was 9.766. Which means, by rule, it should be rounded to 9.77 meaning he is sharing the lead.
- May 15 - The 2006 Pacific hurricane season officially begins in the eastern basin. The hurricane season for the central basin will officially begin on June 1.
- May 17 - Captain Nichola Goddard of the 1st RCHA becomes Canada's first female casualty since World War II, and Canada's first female combat arms casualty.
- May 20 - Finland's Lordi earns the most points ever given in the fifty-one times the Eurovision Song Contest has been held.
- May 21 - Montenegro approves independence from its union with Serbia.
- May 22 - Belfast City Airport is officially renamed the George Best Airport in memory of the football legend on what would have been his 60th birthday.
- May 24 - Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic.
- May 25 - Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Poland for an apostolic journey of the country. Ends on the 28th.
- May 27 - A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia, killing at least 5,800 people and injuring at least 10,000 more.
- May 28 - President Alvaro Uribe Velez was relected in Colombia for a second term becoming the first president in over a century to do so
Predicted and scheduled events
June
- June 1 - 2006 Atlantic hurricane season begins.
- June 1 - Nintendo DS Lite is set to release in Australia.
- June 5-June 19 - 2006 Stanley Cup Finals
- June 6 - Fox's remake of The Omen is released to commemorate 6/6/06.
- June 8-June 22 - 2006 NBA Finals.
- June 9 - Football World Cup 2006 Begins in Germany.
- June 11 - Nintendo DS Lite is set to release in North America.
- June 17 - Local government elections in Slovakia.
- June 19 - Trinity College Cambridge May Ball.
- June 23 - Nintendo DS Lite is set to release in Europe.
- june 30 - Harvest moon: Magical Melodie is set to release in Europe.
July
- July 1 - Qinghai-Tibet Railway launches trial operation, connecting China proper and Tibet for the first time.
- 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 1 - Space Shuttle Discovery or STS-121 is scheduled to be launched as a second Return to Flight mission to the ISS.
- July 2 - Presidential election in Mexico.
- July 3-July 9 - Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic journey to Spain.
- July 9 - Final of Football World Cup 2006 at Olympiastadion, Berlin
- July 10 - United States will have consisted of 50 states for the same amount of time (17,125 days) as it consisted of 48 states. (February 14, 1912 (date of Arizona's admission to the US as its 48th state)-January 3, 1959 (date of Alaska's admission to the US as its 49th state); August 21, 1959 (date of Hawaii's admission to the US as its 50th state)-July 10, 2006).
- July 11 - Microsoft will terminate support for Windows 98 SE and Windows Me.
- July 13-July 22 - World Lacrosse Championship will be held in London, Ontario, Canada
- July 23 - Microsoft was scheduled to release the Windows Vista Operating System to PC vendors, such as HP and Dell. However this release was delayed for several weeks, pushing the business editions of the operating system to November 2006, and the consumer desktop editions to January 2007.
- July 23 - Miss Universe finals is held in Los Angeles, U.S.A..
- July 28 - Alejandro Toledo concludes his term as President of Peru.
- July 29-August 5 - World Congress of Esperanto in Florence, Italy.
August
- August 4-August 6 - DEF CON 14 at Riviera hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- August 7-August 11 - Apple Computer Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, California.
- August 8 - Census in Australia.
- August 13-August 18 - The XVI International AIDS Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada.
- August 14-August 25 - The 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague, Czech Republic.
- August - NASA is supposed to choose the contractor for the Crew Exploration Vehicle.
September
- September 5 - News Corporation -- parent company of Fox will launch a new broadcast television network called My Network TV.
- September 11 - The 5th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
- Week of September 11 - Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are scheduled to be sentenced on charges relating to the financial collapse of Enron.
- September 17 - Sweden general election, 2006: Sweden holds elections for the Riksdag.
- September 18 - CBS Corporation and Time Warner will launch The CW Television Network -- following the shutdown of the WB and UPN television networks.
- September 19-September 20 - 2006 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Singapore
- September 25 - Centenary of the birth of composer Dmitri Shostakovich
- September 26 - Scheduled reopening date of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA after repairs to the Superdome from damages sustained during Hurricane Katrina.
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 15 - Chief Justice of Japan Akira Machida will be forced to retire upon reaching the age of 70.
- October 24 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft to Mercury makes the first of two Venus flybys.
- Microsoft plans to release Windows Vista to OEMs
November
- November 7 - Midterm elections are held in the United States.
- November 11 - Gerald Ford, if still living, becomes the longest lived President of the United States.
- November 11 - The Playstation 3 video game system is to be released in Japan
- November 17 - The PlayStation 3 video game system is to be released in the United States, Europe and Australia and rest of world
- November 22 - A General Election will take place for the House of Keys in the Isle of Man.
- November 23 - The Nintendo Wii is set to be released for the United States
- November 24 - Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair's deadline on Northern Ireland power sharing.
- November 28-November 29 - The NATO Summit 2006 will take place in Latvia.
- November 30 - The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season and the 2006 Pacific hurricane season officially end.
- November - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is expected to end aerobraking stage and begin a two-year long science phase mission.
December
- December 2-December 3 - The Liberal Party of Canada will hold its leadership convention
- December 19 - The USA is expected to reach a population of 300 million on this date.
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)
- January 11 - 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 Tamil Nadu.
- January 15 - Maatu Pongal, Festival of Cows in Tamil Nadu.
- January 16 - Uzhavar Tirunaal, Farmer's Day in Tamil Nadu.
- January 29 - Year of the Dog, 4704, begins. Chinese/Asian New Year.
- January 31 - Muslim New Year.
- February 9 - Day of Ashurah.
- February 13 - Tu Bishvat
- February 28 - Mardi Gras
- March 13 - Jewish holiday of Purim begins at sunset.
- March 14 - Sikh New Year.
- March 21 - Iranian New Year's Day (Norouz)
- March 30 - Hindu New Year.
- April 5 - Qingming Festival
- April 12 - Pesach or Passover begins at sunset, continues for a week.
- April 13 - Theravada Buddhist New Year.
- April 13 - Punjabi New Year
- April 14 - Good Friday in the Western Church Calendar, Sikh Holiday of Vaisakhi
- April 14 - Puththaandu Tamil New Year in the Tamil Calendar, observed by people in Tamil Nadu.
- 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.
- June 1 - Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins at sunset.
- 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 Day in the Western Church Calendar.
- December 31 - Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 2, 2007)
Births
- May 26 - Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, son of Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani
- May 27 - Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
Deaths
Main article: Deaths in 2006
January
- 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 6 - Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)
- 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 - Geoff Rabone, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1921)
- January 21 - Ibrahim Rugova, first President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
- January 24 - Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)
- January 27 - Johannes Rau, President of Germany (b. 1931)
- January 28 - Yitzchak Kadouri, Jewish Orthodox rabbi (b. around 1900)
- January 30 - Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)
February
- February 3 - Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923)
- February 4 - Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist, and writer (b.1921)
- February 12 - Ken Hart, co-composer, "Dogface Soldier", journalist, and playwright (b. 1917)
- February 13 - P. F. Strawson, English philosopher (b. 1919)
- February 15 - Sun Yun-suan, Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1913)
- February 24 - Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)
- February 24 - Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)
March
- March 2 - Jack Wild, British actor (b. 1952)
- March 3 - William Herskovic, Hungarian Holocaust hero and philanthropist (b. 1914)
- March 3 - Yuusuke Santamaria, Japanese TV producer (b. 1955)
- March 6 - Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (b. 1961)
- March 6 - Kirby Puckett, baseball player (b. 1960)
- March 11 - Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia (b. 1941)
- March 13 - Peter Tomarken, American game show host (b. 1942)
- March 14 - Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (b. 1929)
- March 25 - Rocio Durcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
- March 25 — Buck Owens, American country music performer, host of Hee Haw (b. 1929)
- March 27 — Stanisław Lem, a renowned Polish writer (b. 1921)
- March 28 — Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)
April
- April 2 - Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, German wife of freedom fighter Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (b. 1913)
- April 4 - Denis Donaldson, Irish Republican informer (shot) (b. 1950)
- April 5 - Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)
- April 8 - Gerard Reve, Dutch author (b. 1923)
- April 11 - DeShaun "Proof" Holton, American rapper (b. 1975)
- April 11 - Les Foote, Australian footballer (b. 1924)
- April 11 - June Pointer, American vocalist (b. 1953)
- April 12 - Dr. Rajkumar, Indian actor (b. 1929)
- April 12 - William Sloane Coffin, American university chaplain and activist (b. 1924)
- April 13 - Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist (b. 1918)
- April 15 - Louise Smith, American race car driver (b. 1916)
- April 17 - Calum Kennedy, Scottish singer (b. 1928)
- April 19 - Scott Crossfield, American pilot (b. 1921)
- April 21 - Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1931)
- April 23 - Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- April 24 - Bonnie Owens, American singer (b. 1929)
- April 24 - Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (b. 1927)
- April 24 - Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (b. 1914)
- April 25 - Peter Law, British politician (b. 1948)
- April 25 - Jane Jacobs, American-born writer and activist (b. 1916)
- April 27 - Julia Thorne, American author and ex-wife of Senator John Kerry (b. 1944)
- April 28 - Steve Howe, baseball player (truck accident) (b. 1958)
- April 29 - John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (b. 1908)
May
- May 2 - Louis Rukeyser, American television host (b. 1933)
- May 3 - Earl Woods, American athlete and father of Tiger Woods (b. 1932)
- May 3 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921)
- May 6 - Konstantin Beskov, Russian footballer and coach (b. 1920)
- May 6 - Grant McLennan, Australian singer and songwriter (The Go-Betweens) (b. 1958)
- May 6 - Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (b. 1926)
- May 7 - Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (b. 1943)
- May 8 - Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road Photographer (b. 1938)
- May 10 - Soraya, Colombian singer and musician (b. 1969)
- May 10 - Val Guest, British film director (b. 1911)
- May 11 - Yossi Banai, Israeli singer and actor (b. 1932)
- May 11 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
- May 13 - Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
- May 16 - Jorge Porcel, Argentine actor (b. 1936)
- May 18 - Andrew Martinez, Californian nudist (b. 1973)
- May 19 - Alexandrina van Donkelaar-Vink, oldest Dutch citizen (b. 1895)
- May 19 - Freddie Garrity, English leadsinger from the band Freddie and the Dreamers (b. 1940)
- May 21 - Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, songwriter (b. 1909)
- May 21 - Billy Walker, American country music singer (b. 1929)
- May 23 - Lloyd Bentsen, American politician (b. 1921)
- May 25 - Desmond Dekker, ska and reggae singer songwriter (b. 1941)
- May 26 - Édouard Michelin, CEO of Michelin (b. 1963)
- May 27 - Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1944)
Unknown/undecided dates
- Brazil will officially adopt the Digital TV System (Probably Japanese, or a new system, the Brazilian Digital TV System)
- Al Jazeera will launch its new satellite service, Al Jazeera International, in Europe, Asia, and North America sometime during the spring.
- 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 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.
- A bridge linking Savannakhet, Laos, over the Mekong, to Mukdahan, Thailand is expected to be completed late in the year.
- 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.
- NASA plans to launch STS-115 using Space Shuttle Atlantis. It will be the nineteenth station flight. The launch is currently scheduled for August unless STS-121 is not launched on schedule.
- The new Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand opens, replacing Don Muang as Bangkok's primary airport.
- Boston's Big Dig, or Central Artery/Tunnel Project will be substantially completed after 15 years of construction, totaling $14.6 billion.
Fictional references
- March - The events of the Doctor Who episodes Aliens of London and World War Three take place.
- September - The events of Doctor Who episode Boom Town take place.
- November 7 - The events of The West Wing episodes Election Day Pts. 1&2 take place, with Congressman Matthew Santos (D-TX) being elected President of the United States of America.
- December 24-December 25 - The events of Doctor Who episode The Christmas Invasion take place.
- The events of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow take place.
- The events of the third season of the Transformers cartoon take place.
- In 2001, an actor portraying a future version of Stan Marsh tells his younger counterpart that he'll be sent to juvenile hall sometime during the course of the year on South Park.
- The central character in the BBC series Life on Mars came from 2006 before he travelled through time to 1973.
- The N64 video game, BattleTanx: Global Assault took place during this year.
- According to Penny Galactica's robot UNI in Disney Adventures' Kid Gravity comic, this will be the first year we build cities on Mars.
- In Seven Ancient Wonders, a book by Matthew Reilly, March 20th was the day of the coming of Tartarus.
- Presumed year of birth of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell saga.
- As stated in The Bible Code, 2006 is the apparent occurrence of the apocalypse.
- In the 1978 Blues Brothers live album, Briefcase Full of Blues the opening track "I Can't Turn You Loose" features the host lamenting that the Blues will exist only in the classical records department of your local public library by 2006.
Publications
The Architecture of Happiness - Alain de Botton.