A quantitative understanding of the thermochemistry of cyclohexadienyl radical and 1,4-cyclohexadiene is beneficial for diverse areas of chemistry. Given the interest in these two species, it is surprising that more detailed thermodynamic data concerning the homolytic C-H bond enthalpies of such entities have not been forthcoming. We thus undertook an experimental and computational evaluation of (a) the enthalpy of formation of cyclohexadienyl radical (C 6 H 7 ), (b) the homolytic C-H bond enthalpy of 1,4-cyclohexadiene (C 6 H 8 ), and (c) the enthalpy of the addition of a hydrogen atom to benzene. Using laser photolysis experiments coupled with highly accurate ab initio quantum mechanical techniques, a newly recommended enthalpy of formation for C 6 H 7 is determined to be 208.0 ( 3.9 kJ mol -1 , leading to a homolytic bond dissociation enthalpy of 321.7 ( 2.9 kJ mol -1 , almost 9 kJ mol -1 higher than previously determined enthalpies that used less certain experimental values for the C 6 H 7 enthalpy of formation.