What happened on December 6 ?

846 -Hasan al-Askari, Shia Imam (d. 874)

1285 - King Ferdinand IV of Castile (d. 1312)

1421 - King Henry VI of England (d. 1471)

1478 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian diplomat and author (d. 1529)

1550 - Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (baptism) (d. 1605)

1586 - Niccolo Zucchi, Italian astronomer (d. 1670)

1608 - George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (d. 1670)

1637 - Sir Edmund Andros, English governor in North America (d. 1714)

1640 - Claude Fleury, French historian (d. 1723)

1642 - Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (d. 1703)

1721 - James Elphinston, British philologist (d. 1809)

1721 - Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (d. 1794)

1778 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (d. 1850)

1792 - King William II of the Netherlands (d. 1849)

1805 - Adolf Reubke, German organ builder (d. 1875)

1805 - Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, French magician (d. 1861)

1823 - Friedrich Max Müller, German orientalist (d. 1900)

1833 - John Singleton Mosby, American Confederate guerrilla leader (d. 1916)

1841 - Frédéric Bazille, French painter (d. 1870)

1849 - August von Mackensen, German field marshal (d. 1945)

1863 - Charles Martin Hall, American chemist (d. 1914)

1872 - William S. Hart, American actor (d. 1946)

1875 - Evelyn Underhill, British poet (d. 1941)

1886 - Joyce Kilmer, American poet (d. 1918)

1890 - Rudolf Schlichter, German artist and writer (d. 1955)

1890 - Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist (d. 1951)

1892 - Sir Osbert Sitwell, British author (d. 1969)

1896 - Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (d. 1983)

1898 - Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-born photojournalist (d. 1995)

1898 - Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, recipient of the Bank of Sweden Prize (d. 1987)

1900 - Agnes Moorehead, American actress (d. 1974)

1903 - Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player (d. 1946)

1905 - James J. Braddock, American boxer (d. 1974)

1908 - Pierre Graber, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 2003)

1913 - Eleanor Holm, American swimmer (d. 2004)

1917 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (d. 1977)

1919 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (d. 1983)

1920 - Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer

1920 - George Porter, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)

1921 - Otto Graham, American football player (d. 2003)

1928 - Bobby Van, American singer (d. 1980)

1929 - Alain Tanner, Swiss filmmaker

1929 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt, German conductor

1930 - Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia

1933 - Henryk Górecki, Polish composer

1936 - David Ossman, American comedian

1942 - Peter Handke, Austrian writer

1945 - Shekhar Kapur, Indian filmmaker

1945 - Larry Bowa, baseball player and Major League manager

1948 - JoBeth Williams, American actress

1948 - Keke Rosberg, Finnish race car driver

1950 - Joe Hisaishi, Japanese composer

1952 - Rick Charlesworth, Australian cricketer, politician, hockey player, and coach

1953 - Tom Hulce, American actor

1953 - Gary Ward, baseball player

1955 - Steven Wright, American comedian

1955 - Rick Buckler, British drummer (The Jam)

1956 - Peter Buck, American guitarist (R.E.M.)

1956 - Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (d. 1982)

1958 - Nick Park, British filmmaker and animator

1961 - David Lovering, American drummer (The Pixies)

1962 - Janine Turner, American actress

1967 - Hacken Lee, Hong Kong singer

1971 - Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player

1971 - Ryan White, American AIDS activist (d. 1990)

1976 - Colleen Haskell, American television personality

1977 - Kevin Cash, baseball player

1977 - Andrew Flintoff, England cricketer

1977 - Paul McVeigh, Irish footballer

1979 - Tim Cahill, Australia footballer

1980 - Steve Lovell, British footballer

1982 - Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer

1982 - Ryan Carnes, American actor

1983 - Bryan Habana, South African rugby player

1986 - Cintia Dicker, Brazilian model

1993 - Elian Gonzalez, Cuban subject of child custody battle