Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
Feb
17
Union leaders Bill Haywood, Charles Moyer and George Pettibone are taken into custody by Idaho authorities and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. They are put on a special train in Denver, Colorado, following a secret, direct route to Idaho because the officials had no legal right to arrest the three union executives in Colorado. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), of which Haywood was president, tried in vain to stop the unofficial arrests.
Mar
10
A devastating mine disaster kills over 1,000 workers in Courrieres, France, on March 10, 1906. An underground fire sparked a massive explosion that virtually destroyed a vast maze of mines.
Fouquieres-les-Lens, FRANCE: Former miners attend a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Courrieres mining disater 10 March 2006, in Fouquieres les Bains. 1099 miners died 10 March 1906 in France's worst ever mining disaster.AFP PHOTO FRANCOIS LO PRESTI (Photo credit should read FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Apr
18
On April 18, 1906, at 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close to 8.0 on the Richter scale strikes San Francisco, California, killing an estimated 3,000 people as it topples numerous buildings. The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a segment about 275 miles long, and shock waves could be felt from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles.
1906: Full-length view of pedestrians walking past collapsed buildings on the corner of Market and Ellis Streets, several weeks after the Earthquake of April 18th in San Francisco, California. A cyclist wears a Red Cross armband. (Photo by Historic Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Sep
22
On the afternoon of September 22, 1906, Atlanta papers report four separate assaults on white women by Black men, none of which are ever substantiated by hard evidence. Inflamed by these fabrications, and resentful of the city’s growing African American population, white Atlantans riot. Over the next few days, the race massacre will claim the lives of at least 12 Black Atlantans—the total may be more than twice as high—and devastate the city’s Black community.
Oct
16
On October 16, 1906, Wilhelm Voigt, a 57-year-old German shoemaker, impersonates an army officer and leads an entire squad of soldiers to help him steal 4,000 marks. Voigt, who had a long criminal record, humiliated the German army by exploiting their blind obedience to authority and getting them to assist in his audacious robbery.
ullstein bild via Getty Images
Nov
08
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