6 December It Happened Today

1793  Madame Du Barry, mistress to King Louis XV of France is sent to the guillotine.

1896  Birth of Ira Gershwin, American songwriter.

1926  Death of French painter Claude Monet.

1988  Death of American singer and songwriter Roy Orbison.

1990  Saddam Hussein announces that all foreign hostages held in Iraq since the invasion of Kuwait are free to leave the country.