diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c0befabb..6dfbb71c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,26 @@
 # Change log
 
+###############################################################################
+## Version Release 1.6.0 (2024/12/15)
+
+#### Breaking Changes
+
+* [Issue 1434](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/issues/1434) - Drop Java 1.7 support ([PR 1435](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1435))
+* [PR 1435](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1435) - Drop support for Java 1.7
+
+#### Bugs Fixed
+
+* [Issue 1437](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/issues/1437) - Question: How can the compression threshold be set for the PerMessageDeflateExtension in a Deflate Client? ([PR 1439](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1439))
+* [Issue 1400](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/issues/1400) - PerMessageDeflateExtension#setDeflater()/#setInflater() is overwritten in case of no_context_takeover ([PR 1439](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1439))
+* [PR 1439](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1439) - Clone PerMessageDeflateExtension values correctly
+
+#### New Features
+
+* [Issue 1440](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/issues/1440) - Support for inherited sockets ([PR 1442](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1442))
+* [PR 1442](https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket/pull/1442) - Socket activation
+
+In this release 4 issues and 3 pull requests were closed.
+
 ###############################################################################
 ## Version Release 1.5.7 (2024/07/08)
 
diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index 3376ebc4..313d1163 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ To use maven add this dependency to your pom.xml:
 <dependency>
   <groupId>org.java-websocket</groupId>
   <artifactId>Java-WebSocket</artifactId>
-  <version>1.5.7</version>
+  <version>1.6.0</version>
 </dependency>
 ```
 
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ mavenCentral()
 ```
 Then you can just add the latest version to your build.
 ```xml
-compile "org.java-websocket:Java-WebSocket:1.5.7"
+compile "org.java-websocket:Java-WebSocket:1.6.0"
 ```
 Or this option if you use gradle 7.0 and above.
 ```xml
-implementation 'org.java-websocket:Java-WebSocket:1.5.7'
+implementation 'org.java-websocket:Java-WebSocket:1.6.0'
 ```
 
 #### Logging
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 29dcc51b..d87e0455 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ repositories {
 }
 
 group = 'org.java-websocket'
-version = '1.6.0-SNAPSHOT'
+version = '1.6.0'
 sourceCompatibility = 1.8
 targetCompatibility = 1.8
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 73c093ae..c3c2ac77 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <groupId>org.java-websocket</groupId>
     <artifactId>Java-WebSocket</artifactId>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
-    <version>1.6.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>1.6.0</version>
     <name>Java-WebSocket</name>
     <description>A barebones WebSocket client and server implementation written 100% in Java</description>
     <url>https://github.com/TooTallNate/Java-WebSocket</url>