Portal:Belgium/Anniversaries/December/December 6

Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: Sinterklaas; French: Saint Nicolas), a day when children receive gifts (mostly toys)

• 1556: death of Pieter Coucke van Aelst (pictured), painter, teacher and father-in-law of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
• 1874: death of Egide Charles Gustave Wappers, painter
• 1919: birth of Paul de Man, literary critic, professor at Yale University
• 1922: birth of Guy Thys; soccer player and coach, coach of the Belgium national football team for 101 matches between 1976 and 1989 and again between 1900 and 1991, reaching the semi-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico
• 1938: birth of Patrick Bauchau, actor in e.g. 24, The Pretender, and Panic Room
• 1985: last attack by the Communist Combatant Cells or CCC, a terrorist organization, notable for mainly targeting property and trying to avoid humans
• 2004: death of Raymond Goethals, football coach, winner of the Champions League with Olympique de Marseille