15–
26 March –
Scotland at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland announced on 3 November 2005 that Scotland would be sending 166 athletes (104 men and 62 women) to compete in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, supported by 70 officials. This is a smaller team ...
.
*
26 March – Scottish public smoking ban comes into effect under the conditions of the Smoking, Health and Social Care Act (Scotland) 2005, banning people from smoking indoors in public places like restaurants, pubs and cafes; the first region of the UK to prohibit smoking inside public buildings.
*
28 March –
Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) is the British Army Order of Precedence, senior and only current Scottish regiment, Scottish line infantry Regiment#British Army, regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (form ...
created;
King's Own Scottish Borderers
The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...
and
The Royal Scots disbanded.
April
*
27 April –
Moray by-election:
Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Minister for Business and Employment since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and ...
holds the seat in the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
for the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
.
May
*
30 May –
Scottish TV
Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...
and
Grampian TV both relaunched under the new name of
STV.
July
*
4 July – ''
Sheridan v News Group Newspapers Ltd'': Scottish Socialist Party MSP
Tommy Sheridan
Thomas Sheridan (born 7 March 1964) is a Scottish politician who served as convenor of Solidarity from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as convenor of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) from 1998 to 2004 and as co-convenor of Solidarity from ...
begins an action for defamation against the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' at the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...
in Edinburgh. Sheridan's case is upheld but he is later prosecuted for perjury.
August
*
21 August – the first modern solely
Gaelic
Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to:
Languages
* Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
-medium school to offer secondary education,
Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu, is opened at Woodside in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
.
* Scotland's first offshore wind turbine is installed in the
Beatrice Wind Farm
The Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm now known as Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) project, is an offshore wind farm close to the Beatrice oil field in the Moray Firth, part of the North Sea 13 km off the north east coast of Scotland.
Hi ...
, 24 km (15 mi; 13 nmi) offshore in the
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth (; , or ) is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of the north of Scotland.
It is the largest firth in Scotland, stretching from Duncans ...
.
* The
Scottish crossbill is finally confirmed as a unique
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
.
September
*
3 September – establishment of
Solidarity – Scotland's Socialist Movement, a breakaway from the
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, socialist Scottish Scottish republicanism, republic.
The party was fou ...
.
*
18 September – the
Clyde Arc, a pedestrian/cycle bridge over the
River Clyde
The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
at
Finnieston, is officially opened.
October
*
5 October –
Rt. Hon. Elish Angiolini
Lady Elish Frances Angiolini (; born 24 June 1960"Angiolini, Elish Frances" in ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', A & C Black.) is a Scottish lawyer currently serving as Lord Clerk Register, the first woman to hold the role since its creation in th ...
,
QC, appointed as
Lord Advocate
His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...
. She is the first woman, first
procurator fiscal
A procurator fiscal (pl. ''procurators fiscal''), sometimes called PF or fiscal (), is a public prosecutor in Scotland, who has the power to impose fiscal fines. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland (similar to a corone ...
, and the first
solicitor
A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
to be appointed to the post.
*
11–
13 October – multi-party political talks on Northern Ireland are held in
St Andrews
St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
, resulting in the
St Andrews Agreement
The St Andrews Agreement (; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's political parties in relation to the de ...
.
November
*
8 November – three men of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
i origin sentenced to life imprisonment for the racist
murder of Kriss Donald in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
.
*
25–
26 November
Events Pre-1600
* 783 – The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her nephew from retaking the throne from Mauregatus.
* 1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dy ...
–
Aberdeen Cup
The Aberdeen Cup was an annual exhibition tennis tournament held between national teams representing England and Scotland. It was hosted in the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, Aberdeen Exhibition Centre in Aberdeen, Scotland. The tour ...
tennis tournament.
*
30 November
Events Pre-1600
* 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws.
1601–1900
*1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of t ...
– residents of
Benbecula
Benbecula ( ; or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by ...
take control of a large part of the island in a community buy-out.
Undated
* A fossil
pterosaur
Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...
found on the
Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...
is revealed in 2024 to be a species new to paleontology.
Deaths
*
5 January
Events Pre-1600
* 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French arm ...
–
Rachel Squire
Rachel Anne Squire (13 July 1954 – 5 January 2006) was a British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline West in Scotland from 1992 general election to 2005, and then for Dunfermline and West Fife from 20 ...
,
Labour MP (born
1954
Events
January
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
)
*
31 January –
Moira Shearer
Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy (17 January 1926 – 31 January 2006) was a Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's ''The Red Shoes (1948 film), The Red Shoes'' (1948) and ''The Tales ...
, ballet dancer and actress (born
1926
In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
)
*
9 February
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire
* 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
* 1098 – A First Crusade army led by ...
–
Ena Lamont Stewart
Ena Lamont Stewart (10 February 1912, Glasgow – 9 February 2006, Dalmellington) was a Scottish playwright.
Life and career
Stewart was the daughter of a Church of Scotland minister whose family was originally from Canada and had settled in Gl ...
, playwright (born
1912
This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15.
In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...
)
*
10 February
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – The Siege of Baghdad ends with the surrender of the last Abbasid caliph to Hulegu Khan, a prince of the Mongol Empire.
*1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce m ...
–
John Prentice, football player and manager (born 1926)
*
28 February
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed ...
–
Hugh McCartney, Labour MP (born
1920
Events January
* January 1
** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.
** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...
)
*
3 March –
Ivor Cutler
Ivor Cutler (born Isadore Cutler, 15 January 1923 – 3 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recor ...
, poet, songwriter and humourist (born
1923
In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
)
*
12 March –
Jimmy Johnstone, footballer; member of the
Scottish Sports Hall of Fame (born
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
)
*
21 March
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
–
Margaret Ewing,
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
MSP and former MP (born
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat.
Events
World War II will be ...
)
*
27 March –
Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener.
Life
Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent.
He was educa ...
, writer, artist and gardener (born
1925
Events January
* January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria.
* January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
)
*
9 April
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, su ...
–
Robin Orr
Robert Kemsley (Robin) Orr (2 June 1909 – 9 April 2006) was a Scottish organist and composer.
Life
Born in Brechin, and educated at Loretto School, he studied the organ at the Royal College of Music in London under Walter Galpin Alcock, and pi ...
, composer (born
1909)
*
13 April –
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.
Life
Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernar ...
, novelist (born
1918
The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
)
*
15 April –
Calum Kennedy
Calum Kennedy (born as Malcolm Martin Kennedy; June 2, 1928 – April 15, 2006) was a Scotland, Scottish singer who performed in both English language, English and Scottish Gaelic.
Biography
Kennedy was born in Orinsay, a small crofting village ...
, singer (born
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...
)
*
8 May –
Iain Macmillan, photographer and author (born
1938
Events
January
* January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS).
* January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
)
*
17 May
Events Pre-1600
*1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
*1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
*1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Fl ...
–
Eric Forth
Eric Forth (9 September 1944 – 17 May 2006) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Birmingham North from 1979 to 1984. He then served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Worcestersh ...
,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MP (born 1944)
*
6 July –
Tom Weir
Thomas Weir Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (29 December 1914 – 6 July 2006) was a Scottish climber, author and broadcaster. He was best known for his long-running television series ''Weir's Way''.
Early life a ...
, climber, author and broadcaster (born
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...
)
*
30 August
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Titus ends the siege of Jerusalem after destroying Herod's Temple.
* 1060 – The Mirdasids defeat the Fatimid Caliphate at the Battle of al-Funaydiq, signalling the definitive loss of Aleppo for the Fatimi ...
–
Hector Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm,
Conservative and Unionist
The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...
MP (born
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
)
*
15 September
Events Pre-1600
* 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
*1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...
–
Douglas Henderson, Scottish National Party MP (born
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
)
*
3 October –
Lucilla Andrews
Lucilla Matthew Andrews Crichton (born 20 November 1919 in Suez, Egypt – d. 3 October 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a British writer of 33 romance novels from 1954 to 1996. As Lucilla Andrews she specialised in hospital romances, and under ...
, romantic novelist (born 1919 in Egypt)
Arts
* February –
National Theatre of Scotland
The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...
established as a peripatetic company.
*
1 August –
Gregory Burke's play ''
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...
'' is first performed, by the
National Theatre of Scotland
The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...
at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
'.
* Hamish MacDonald self-publishes ''The Willies'' and ''Idea in Stone''.
*
James Robertson publishes ''
The Testament of Gideon Mack''.
See also
*
2006 in England
Events from 2006 in England
Incumbent
Events
January
* 20 January – River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.
* 24 January – Sven-Göran Eriksson announces that he will quit as manager of the England ...
*
2006 in Northern Ireland
*
2006 in Wales
References
{{Years in Scotland , state=collapsed
Years of the 21st century in Scotland
2000s in Scotland