- October 6, 0068 BC – Battle of Artaxata: Lucullus averts the bad omen of this day by defeating Tigranes the Great of Armenia.
- October 6, 0105 BC – Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus.
- October 6, 0891 Formosus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
- October 6, 1582 “Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.”
- October 6, 1600 “Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, the earliest surviving opera, premieres in Florence, signifying the beginning of the Baroque Period”
- October 6, 1683 13 German families arrive in present day Philadelphia
- October 6, 1683 “William Penn brings 13 German immigrant families to the colony of Pennsylvania, marking the first German people to immigrate to America.”
- October 6, 1762 “Seven Years’ War: conclusion of the Battle of Manila between Britain and Spain, which resulted in the British occupation of Manila for the rest of the war.”
- October 6, 1781 Americans and French begin siege of Cornwallis at Yorktown; last battle of the Revolutionary War
- October 6, 1789 French Revolution: Louis XVI returns to Paris from Versailles after being confronted by the Parisian women on 5 October
- October 6, 1849 The execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad after the Hungarian war of independence.
- October 6, 1854 “The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead started shortly after midnight, leading to 53 deaths and hundreds injured.”
- October 6, 1857 American Chess Assn organized; First major US chess tournament (NYC)
- October 6, 1863 “Dr Charles H Sheppard opens the First public bath, in Brooklyn”
- October 6, 1866 First train robbery in US
- October 6, 1884 Naval War College established in Newport RI
- October 6, 1884 “The Naval War College of the United States Navy was founded in Newport, Rhode Island.”
- October 6, 1889 Thomas Edison shows his First motion picture
- October 6, 1890 Mormon Church outlaws polygamy
- October 6, 1898 “Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity founded at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.”
- October 6, 1902 “The rail link between Salisbury, Rhodesia, and Bulawayo is completed”
- October 6, 1906 The Majlis of Iran convened for the first time.
- October 6, 1908 Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina
- October 6, 1921 International PEN is founded in London.
- October 6, 1922 The great powers of the first world war withdraw from Istanbul
- October 6, 1923 USSR adopts experimental calendar
- October 6, 1927 “Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent talking movie.”
- October 6, 1928 Chiang Kai-Shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.
- October 6, 1935 Market Street Railway starts using trackless trolley coaches
- October 6, 1939 Hitler announces he has no attention of war with Britain and France
- October 6, 1939 Last Polish army is defeated in World War II.
- October 6, 1943 “400 Orthodox rabbis march on Washington from the Capitol to the White House. The President refuses to see them. However, as a result, public hearings on rescue in the House and Senate are held.”
- October 6, 1945 Baseball: Billy Sianis and his pet billy goat are ejected from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series (see Curse of the Billy Goat).
- October 6, 1949 “Iva Toguri D’Aquino (Tokyo Rose) sentenced to 10 years and $10,000 fine”
- October 6, 1949 Pres Truman signs Mutual Defense Assistance Act (for NATO)
- October 6, 1955 “A United Airlines DC-4 crashes in Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming, killing 66 people”
- October 6, 1959 “Soviet Luna 3, First successful photographic spacecraft, impacts Moon”
- October 6, 1966 LSD is declared illegal in the United States.
- October 6, 1967 Haight-Ashbury hippies throw a funeral to mark the end of hippies
- October 6, 1972 “22-car train carrying 2,000 pilgrims derails, kills 208 in Mexico”