Today in History: October 6, 2026

• 2018: Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  The Senate approved him 50 to 48, one of the narrowest margins ever for a justice. Nominated by President Donald Trump to succeed the retiring Anthony Kennedy, he faced contentious hearings that included a sexual assault allegation from Christine Blasey Ford, which he denied. He was sworn in later the same day.
• 2010: Instagram launches to the public.
  The photo-sharing app, created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, arrived in Apple’s App Store and signed up 25,000 users on its first day. Facebook bought the company less than two years later for about $1 billion.
• 1993: Michael Jordan retires from basketball.
  He stepped away after leading the Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA championships, a few months after his father was murdered. Jordan spent a season playing minor league baseball, then returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and went on to win three more titles.
• 1981: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated.
  Members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad shot him while he reviewed a military parade in Cairo marking the anniversary of the 1973 war. Sadat had shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with Israel, a move that angered Islamist militants. Vice President Hosni Mubarak succeeded him.
• 1976: China’s Gang of Four is arrested.
  The four radical leaders, among them Mao Zedong’s widow Jiang Qing, lost their grip on power after Mao died the previous month. Hua Guofeng, Mao’s successor, ordered them detained. They were later put on trial and blamed for the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution.
• 1973: The Yom Kippur War begins.
  Egypt and Syria struck Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, with Egyptian troops crossing the Suez Canal into the Sinai and Syrian forces pushing into the Golan Heights. Israel took heavy casualties early on but turned back both attacks. The fighting stopped later that month without a clear victor and set the stage for the Egyptian-Israeli peace talks of the late 1970s.
• 1960: Spartacus premieres.
  Stanley Kubrick directed the epic about a slave revolt against Rome, with Kirk Douglas in the title role. It won several Academy Awards, including best supporting actor for Peter Ustinov. Douglas also insisted on giving screen credit to blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, which helped break the Hollywood blacklist.
• 1927: The Jazz Singer premieres in New York City.
  Starring Al Jolson, the Warner Bros. picture was the first feature-length film with synchronized spoken dialogue, and its success brought the silent era to a close. Its reputation today is complicated by Jolson’s use of blackface.
• 1892: Poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson dies at 83.
  Often regarded as the leading poetic voice of the Victorian age, he served as Britain’s poet laureate for more than 40 years. His best-known works include “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” In Memoriam, and Idylls of the King. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
• 1849: Thirteen Hungarian generals are executed at Arad.
  Austria put the officers to death for their part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and 1849, which the Habsburgs had crushed with help from Russia. Remembered as the Martyrs of Arad, they are honored in Hungary every October 6. Arad is now part of Romania.
• 891: Formosus is elected pope.
  He led the church until his death in 896. The following year a successor, Stephen VI, had his body dug up, dressed in papal robes, and put on trial in what became known as the Cadaver Synod, among the strangest episodes in the history of the papacy.
• 105 BCE: Germanic tribes crush a Roman army at the Battle of Arausio.
  The Cimbri and Teutones destroyed two Roman forces near what is now Orange in southern France, helped by Roman commanders who refused to cooperate with each other. It was one of the worst defeats Rome ever suffered and helped bring about major reforms of the army under Gaius Marius.

Born on This Day

• 2004: Bronny James, American basketball player
  Turns 22. Los Angeles Lakers guard and son of LeBron James; in 2024 they became the first father and son to play together in an NBA game.
• 2000: Addison Rae, American singer and social media personality
  Turns 26. Became famous on TikTok before moving into pop music with the hit “Diet Pepsi.”
• 1999: Trevor Lawrence, American football player
  Turns 27. Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback who was the first pick of the 2021 NFL Draft after winning a national title at Clemson.
• 1994: Jake Guentzel, American hockey player
  Turns 32. Star NHL forward who grew up in Woodbury, Minnesota, and won the Stanley Cup as a rookie with Pittsburgh in 2017.
• 1990: Marcus Johansson, Swedish hockey player
  Turns 36. Veteran NHL forward who has spent several seasons with the Minnesota Wild.
• 1985: Sylvia Fowles, American basketball player
  Turns 41. Center who led the Minnesota Lynx to WNBA championships in 2015 and 2017 and was the league’s MVP in 2017.
• 1976: Brett Gelman, American actor and comedian
  Turns 50. Plays conspiracy-minded Murray Bauman on Stranger Things and appeared in Fleabag.
• 1974: Jeremy Sisto, American actor
  Turns 52. Known for Clueless, Six Feet Under, Law & Order, and FBI.
• 1973: Ioan Gruffudd, Welsh actor
  Turns 53. Played Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four films and the title role in the Horatio Hornblower TV movies.
• 1973: Rebecca Lobo, American basketball player and broadcaster
  Turns 53. Led UConn to an undefeated national championship in 1995, won Olympic gold in 1996, and now calls games for ESPN.
• 1971: Emily Mortimer, English actress
  Turns 55. Seen in The Newsroom, Lars and the Real Girl, and Mary Poppins Returns.
• 1970: Amy Jo Johnson, American actress
  Turns 56. The original Pink Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; later a regular on Felicity.
• 1966: Tommy Stinson, American rock musician
  Turns 60. Bassist for Minneapolis band the Replacements, which he joined as a kid; later played bass for Guns N’ Roses.
• 1963: Elisabeth Shue, American actress
  Turns 63. Starred in The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, and Leaving Las Vegas, which earned her an Oscar nomination.
• 1955: Tony Dungy, American football coach
  Turns 71. Played quarterback at the University of Minnesota and ran the Vikings defense before coaching the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title, the first Black head coach to win one.
• 1951: Kevin Cronin, American rock singer
  Turns 75. Lead singer of REO Speedwagon who wrote “Keep On Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”
• 1942: Britt Ekland, Swedish actress
  Turns 84. Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun who also starred in The Wicker Man.
• 1935: Bruno Sammartino, Italian-American professional wrestler
  Held the WWWF heavyweight championship for nearly eight years, the longest reign in the company’s history.
• 1908: Carole Lombard, American actress
  Screwball comedy star of My Man Godfrey and wife of Clark Gable who died in a 1942 plane crash while returning from a war bond rally.
• 1846: George Westinghouse, American inventor and industrialist
  Invented the railroad air brake and founded Westinghouse Electric, which championed alternating current.