On This Day

British Secret Service Bureau forms foreign section, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6

The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas...

The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (known as "C") is directly accountable to the foreign secretary.

Formed in 1909 as the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau, the section grew greatly during the First World War, officially adopting its current name around 1920. The name "MI6" originated as a convenient label during the Second World War, when SIS was known by many names. It is still commonly used today.

Historical Significance

The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners.

Events Before

  1. Henri Farman becomes the first person to fly an observed circuit of more than 1km, winning the Grand Prix d'Aviation

    Henri Farman becomes the first person to fly an observed circuit of more than 1km, winning the Grand Prix d'Aviation

  2. Katie Mulcahey is arrested for lighting a cigarette, violating the one-day-old "Sullivan Ordinance" banning women from s

    Katie Mulcahey is arrested for lighting a cigarette, violating the one-day-old "Sullivan Ordinance" banning women from smoking in public, and is fined $5. Appearing before the judge, she states, “I’ve got as much right to smoke as you have. I never heard of this new law, and I don’t want to hear abo

  3. Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes "Scouting for Boys" as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills

    Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes "Scouting for Boys" as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills and self-improvement. The book becomes the inspiration for the Scout Movement.

  4. King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do P

    King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do Paço, Lisbon

  5. Italian football club Inter Milan is founded as Football Club Internazionale

    Football Club Internazionale Milano, widely referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, and commonly known as Inter Milan outside Italy, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan,…

Events After

  1. Author James Weldon Johnson (38) weds civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson (24) at her family's home

    Author James Weldon Johnson (38) weds civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson (24) at her family's home

  2. 13th Dalai Lama (Thupten Gyatso) flees Tibet for British India to escape Chinese troops

    The Dalai Lama (UK: , US: ; Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་, Wylie: Tā la'i bla ma [táːlɛː láma]) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

  3. First seaplane takes off from water under its own power, piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon in Martig

    First seaplane takes off from water under its own power, piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon in Martigues, France

  4. First night air flight by Claude Grahame-White takes place in England

    The 1910 London to Manchester air race took place between two aviators, each of whom attempted to win a heavier-than-air powered flight challenge between London and Manchester.

  5. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn (27) weds first wife Blanche Lasky

    Film producer Samuel Goldwyn (27) weds first wife Blanche Lasky

More from the 1900s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on July 4, 1909?
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (known as "C") is directly accountable to the foreign secretary. Formed in 1909 as the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau, the section grew greatly during the First World War, officially adopting its current name around 1920.
Why is British Secret Service Bureau forms foreign section, the Secret Intelligence ... significant?
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners.

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