The significance of history is not confined to the mere events that occurred in the past but it also establishes a connection to the present day. The past plays an extremely vital role in shaping the present because the decisions of yesterday can change the destiny of today. History is a story that teaches us about the past mistakes and the wise actions that brought great accomplishments. They are the lessons we learn from others for ages to come. It is not just about who we were and where we came from but also what we want to become and where we want to go from this day onward. Let us read the historical milestones of August 6.
1825 – Bolivia gains independence from Peru
Bolivia was earlier known as Upper Peru and was an autonomous region dependent on the Vice royalty of Peru. It had been ruled by the Spanish Monarchy for centuries. The Bolivian War of Independence began in 1805 with the establishment of government juntas in Sucre and La Paz. However, they were later defeated and again fell under the Spanish Colonial rule. Numerous revolutions and battles were fought leading to countless deaths in order to gain independence. Bolivia got its name from the Simon Bolivar, the military and political leader that changed the course of Colonial South America. This day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Bolivia.
1932 – First Venice Film Festival opens, the world’s oldest film festival
This year marks the film festival’s 77th edition and is part of the Venice Biennale, which was founded by the Venetian City Council. The festival idea is credited to the president of the Venice Biennale, Conte Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata and to Luciano De Feo, who was the very first director-selector. It was the first international event of its type and received strong support from the powers in Rome. The first edition of this annual event was held on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior on the Lido. The first festival was not a competitive event. The very first film to be shown in the history of the Festival was Rouben Mamoulian’s, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
1945 – Atomic Bombing at Hiroshima, Japan
During World War II an American plane dropped the atomic bomb called ‘the little boy’ was dropped at Hiroshima. Hiroshima, a manufacturing center of some 350,000 people located about 500 miles from Tokyo, was selected as the first target. The explosion killed an estimated 80,000 people; tens of thousands more later died of radiation exposure. Hiroshima’s devastation failed to elicit immediate Japanese surrender. Three days later another bomb ‘the fat boy’ was dropped at Nagasaki forcing Japan to surrender. Around 200,000 people died due to these bombings leaving a long-term effect of the radiation on people.
1962 – Jamaica became independent
The Caribbean Island (later known as Jamaica) was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494. Later the Spanish Empire established its rule in 1509 and continued to rule for 146 years until the Anglo-Spanish War where The British gained rule over Jamaica. After World War II ended, a sweeping movement of decolonization overtook the world leading to Jamaica’s Independence. This day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Jamaica.
1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed African Americans the right to vote. The bill made it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state, and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to Black people. They were often denied their right to vote and this was a revolutionary step towards equality for the Black population in America.
1991 – Tim Berners-Lee publishes the first-ever website, Info.cern.ch
Tim Berners-Lee was an employee in CERN and while working observed how tough it was to keep track of the projects and computer systems of the organization’s thousands of researchers, who were spread around the globe. He then proposed an information management system that used hypertext to link documents on different computers that were connected to the Internet. The beginning of the Web as a publicly available service on the Internet arrived on August 6, 1991, when Berners-Lee published the first-ever website. As the site was about the World Wide Web project describing the Web and how to use it. Hosted at CERN on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer, the site’s URL was http://info.cern.ch.
1996 – Punk rock band the Ramones perform for the last time at the Palace in Hollywood
The Ramones laid the foundation of punk rock music and became the main influence of numerous rock bands throughout the years. They never made it that big in terms of sales; however, they played an important role in the development of “rock ‘n’ roll”. After doing more than 2000 shows, the band ended due to personal differences, and their last gig was staged at the Palace in Hollywood. Later they were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
