This Day in History- July 6

1776- Independence announced on the front page
American Declaration of Independence was announced on the front page of “PA Evening Gazette”. The Pennsylvania Gazette was one of the United States most prominent newspapers from 1728, before the time period of the American Revolution, until 1800.

1785- Adoption of decimal coinage
The US Congress unanimously resolved the name of US currency to the “dollar” and adopted the decimal coinage on July 6, 1785. 

1885- Louis Pasteur’s anti-rabies vaccine
Louis Pasteur successfully gave an anti-rabies vaccine to 9-year-old Joseph Meister, and thus saved his life on July 6, 1885.  His research in chemistry led to remarkable breakthroughs in the understanding of the causes and preventions of diseases, which laid down the foundations of hygiene, public health, and much of modern medicine.

1919- Institute for Sexual Science opened in Berlin by a physician 
Magnus Hirschfeld established the study of sexual science in Berlin. Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician and sexologist educated primarily in Germany. He based his practice in Berlin-Charlottenburg during the Weimar period. 

1923- Treaty of Union signed
The Central Executive Committee accepted the Treaty of Union, signed in Moscow in December 1922, and the Russian Empire became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 

1945- UN charter ratified by Nicaragua 
Nicaragua became the 1st nation to ratify the Charter of the United Nations on July 6, 1945. The Charter of the United Nations is the founding document of the United Nations. It was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. 

1967- Nigerian Civil war
Nigerian Civil War erupted as Nigerian forces invaded the secessionist state of Biafra. The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between the government of Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. 

1781- Stamford Raffles
British statesman and founder of Singapore, he was born on the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica on July 6, 1781. 

1876- Harry Ford Sinclair
The founder of Sinclair Oil was born in Benwood, West Virginia.

1907- Frida Kahlo
Mexican painter who explored questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, and race in Mexican society- she was born in Coyoacán, Mexico City on July 6, 1907.

1921- Nancy Reagan
The US First Lady between 1981-89 was born in NYC, New York.

1921- Dmitri Polyakov
Soviet Major General and spy for the CIA, he was born in Ukraine on July 6, 1921. 

1927- Janet Leigh
An American actress, she was born in Merced, California.

1935- 14th Dalai Lama
Tibetan spiritual leader of Tibet’s Lamaistic Buddhists was born in Taktser, Qinghai, China on July 6, 1935.