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Today in History, June 6th

On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed in Normandy on D-Day. Plus the Great Seattle Fire and American Pharoah's Triple Crown.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published June 6, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

June 6 is best known for D-Day in 1944, when Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy and opened the long-awaited second front against Nazi Germany. The date also saw the Great Seattle Fire in 1889 and American Pharoah’s Triple Crown in 2015.

The big story: D-Day, the Allies land in Normandy (1944)

On June 6, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower sent Operation Overlord across the English Channel. It was the largest amphibious operation ever attempted. Paratroopers went first: by daybreak, 18,000 British and American airborne troops were on the ground, and 13,000 aircraft flew cover. At 6:30 a.m., Americans hit Utah and Omaha beaches. Utah fell with little resistance. Omaha was a different story, with rough seas, mines, and German guns pinning the U.S. First Division at the waterline. British and Canadian forces pushed ashore at Gold, Juno, and Sword. The Germans were caught flat-footed. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was on leave, and Hitler, convinced it was a feint, held back his armor. By nightfall, 155,000 Allied troops were in France. By the end of June, 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles had followed, and within three months northern France was free.

More events on June 6

Year	What happened
1833	Andrew Jackson became the first sitting U.S. president to ride a train.
1844	George Williams founded the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in London.
1856	Franklin Pierce became the first sitting president denied his party’s nomination for a second term.
1889	A glue pot caught fire in a Seattle woodworking shop, and the blaze leveled about 100 acres of downtown and waterfront. No one died, and the city rebuilt in brick and stone.
1892	Chicago’s elevated train line, the “L,” began running.
1918	The Battle of Belleau Wood began in France, the first large-scale battle fought by American soldiers in World War I.
1933	The first drive-in movie theater opened in Pennsauken, New Jersey.
1966	Civil rights activist James Meredith was shot and wounded by a sniper during his “March Against Fear” in Mississippi.
1971	CBS aired “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the last time, a rerun, ending a run that began in 1948 as “Toast of the Town.”
1984	Indian troops stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar to oust armed Sikh separatists. Hundreds died, and the death toll is still disputed.
2004	Phylicia Rashad became the first African American woman to win the Tony Award for best actress in a play, for “A Raisin in the Sun.”
2015	American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Born on June 6

1756: John Trumbull, American painter of the Revolution, whose “Declaration of Independence” hangs in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
1944: Tommie Smith, American sprinter who won the 200 meters at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
1956: Björn Borg, Swedish tennis star who won five straight Wimbledon singles titles.