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What Happened Today in History on July 6

Explore the historical events that shaped our world on July 6th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.

Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. 

Mindaugas is crowned as the first and only King of Lithuania, establishing the Kingdom of Lithuania. This day is celebrated as Statehood Day (or King Mindaugas' Coronation Day) in Lithuania. Mindaugas is now generally considered the founder of the Lithuanian state, he is also credited with stopping the advance of the Tatars towards the Baltic Sea and turning it towards Western civilization.

Jan Hus is executed by burning at the stake after the The Council of Constance finds him guilty of heresy and condemns his teachings. Hus, a Bohemian reformer, promoted ideas like the Bible's ultimate authority and criticized church corruption. His death fueled the Hussite Wars and positioned him as a significant forerunner of the Protestant Reformation.

King Richard III of England is crowned, following the death of his nephew Edward V.

Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, pharmacist, and pioneer in microbiology, successfully tests his rabies vaccine on a 9 year-old boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog fourteen times. This first vaccination was a success and the boy never developed rabies , becoming the first ever human being to be vaccinated. Louis Pasteur kept quiet about his success as the experiment had been conducted in relative secrecy. However in September 1885, Louis Pasteur administered his second treatment and was successful again, and publicly shared the story, leading to the opening  of a special rabies vaccination clinic. In 1887 the Institut Pasteur opened its doors. More

The German psychiatrist Hans Berger records the first EEG (Electroencephalogram) reading from a human by placing electrodes on the brain of a 17-year-old boy to capture its electrical activity. This marked the advent of a new era for neuroscience. More

Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, becomes a fully independent member of the Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth). July 6 is celebrated annually as Independence Day. Malawi is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa; bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi has an estimated population of over 21 Million people.

Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, proclaims its independence from France, following the 1974 Comorian independence referendum. The day is celebrated annually as Comoros National day. Cpmoros is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean; its capital and largest city is Moroni. The Comoros is the only country of the Arab League which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere.