May 6 is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 239 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, die fighting the forces of Charles V in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape into Castel Sant'Angelo.
- 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
- 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English language Bibles be placed in every church.
- 1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
- 1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
- 1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
- 1757 – Battle of Prague – A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.
- 1757 – End of Konbaung-Hanthawaddy War, and end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757)
- 1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
- 1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
- 1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
- 1816 – The American Bible Society is founded in New York City.
- 1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
- 1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- 1844 – The Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens.
- 1857 – The British East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British and is considered to be the First Martyr in the War of Indian Independence.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by Confederate troops.
- 1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
- 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed and killed during the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin.
- 1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
- 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
- 1910 – George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII.
- 1916 – 21 Lebanese nationalists executed in the Martyrs' Square, Beirut by Jamal Pasha, the Ottoman wāli.
- 1935 – New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration.
- 1935 – The first flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk.
- 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
- 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
- 1941 – At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
- 1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
- 1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
- 1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
- 1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
- 1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
- 1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
- 1962 – St. Martín de Porres is canonized by Pope John XXIII.
- 1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders in England.
- 1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara for attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
- 1976 – An earthquake strikes the Friuli region of northeastern Italy, causing 989 deaths and the destruction of entire villages.
- 1981 – A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- 1983 – The Hitler diaries are revealed as a hoax after examination by experts.
- 1984 – 103 Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul
- 1989 – Cedar Point opens Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200 ft height barrier, therefore spawning what is considered to be the "coaster wars".
- 1994 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
- 1994 – Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones files a lawsuit against President Bill Clinton, alleging that he had sexually harassed her in 1991.
- 1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
- 1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history.
- 1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his 5th career start.
- 1999 – First elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly held.
- 2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
- 2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated by an animal rights activist.
[edit] Births
- 1405 – Skanderbeg, Albanian lord (d. 1468)
- 1501 – Pope Marcellus II (d. 1555)
- 1574 – Pope Innocent X (d. 1655)
- 1638 – Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, English first Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1696)
- 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French composer and cellist (d. 1755)
- 1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
- 1758 – André Masséna, French marshal (d. 1817)
- 1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
- 1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
- 1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (d. 1834)
- 1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
- 1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish aristocrat and general (d. 1881)
- 1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and comedian (d. 1925)
- 1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (d. 1939)
- 1856 – Robert Peary, American explorer (d. 1920)
- 1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)
- 1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
- 1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author (d. 1914)
- 1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch scientist (d. 1934)
- 1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist (d. 1952)
- 1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter (d. 1938)
- 1880 – Winifred Brunton, British-South African painter (d. 1959)
- 1880 – William J. Simmons, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1945)
- 1882 – William, German Crown Prince (d. 1951)
- 1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian Nazi nobleman (d. 1946)
- 1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian writer (d. 1974)
- 1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian-American actor (d. 1926)
- 1897 – Paul Alverdes, German writer (d. 1979)
- 1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czechoslovakian politician (d. 1945)
- 1899 – Billy Cotton, English bandleader (d. 1969)
- 1902 – Harry Golden, American journalist (d. 1981)
- 1902 – Max Ophüls, German director (d. 1957)
- 1903 – Toots Shor, American restaurateur, founded Toots Shor's Restaurant (d. 1977)
- 1904 – Raymond Bailey, American actor (d. 1980)
- 1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist, founder of the Feldenkrais method (d. 1984)
- 1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish author and poet Nobel laureate (d. 1978)
- 1906 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican writer (d. 2005)
- 1906 – André Weil, French mathematician (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football coach (d. 1998)
- 1909 – Loyd Sigmon, American radio broadcaster (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Guy des Cars, French novelist (d. 1993)
- 1911 – Frank Nelson, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
- 1913 – Stewart Granger, English actor (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Orson Welles, American director and actor (d. 1985)
- 1915 – Theodore White, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Sif Ruud, Swedish actress (d. 2011)
- 1916 – Adriana Caselotti, American actress (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Kal Mann, American lyricist (d. 2001)
- 1917 – Jilly Rizzo, American restaurateur (d. 1992)
- 1920 – Ross Hunter, American film producer (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian statesman, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Martha Beck, American convicted murderer (d. 1951)
- 1921 – Erich Fried, German author (d. 1988)
- 1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Vladimir Etush, Russian actor
- 1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
- 1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1924 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founder of the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Robert Poujade, French politician
- 1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2007)
- 1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player
- 1934 – Richard Shelby, American politician
- 1936 – Bernard Lemaire, French-Canadian businessman
- 1937 – Rubin Carter, American boxer
- 1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist and politician
- 1938 – Larry Gogan, Irish broadcaster
- 1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American guitarist and singer
- 1942 – Rin Kaiho, Japanese go player
- 1942 – David Friesen, American jazz bassist
- 1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, member of the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
- 1943 – Grange Calveley, English cartoonist
- 1944 – Anton Furst, American production designer (d. 1991)
- 1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player
- 1945 – Richard Eyer, American actor
- 1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (The Flatlanders)
- 1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher
- 1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
- 1948 – Mary MacGregor, American singer
- 1949 – Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., American voice actor and cartoonist
- 1950 – Robbie McIntosh, Scottish drummer (Average White Band and The Senate) (d. 1974)
- 1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
- 1952 – Christian Clavier, French actor
- 1952 – Gregg Henry, American actor and musician
- 1952 – Michael O'Hare, American actor
- 1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch politician and businessman
- 1953 – Tony Blair, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian politician
- 1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress
- 1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
- 1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician
- 1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
- 1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek comedian and screenwriter
- 1958 – Lolita Flores, Spanish singer and actress
- 1960 – Roma Downey, Irish actress
- 1960 – John Flansburgh, American musician and songwriter (They Might Be Giants and Mono Puff)
- 1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
- 1960 – Phyllis Treigle, American soprano
- 1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, writer, singer and comedian
- 1962 – Adam Yellin, American record producer
- 1964 – Dana Hill, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1964 – Tony Scalzo, American singer-songwriter and musician (Fastball)
- 1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress
- 1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer (Stereolab, Monade, and McCarthy)
- 1969 – Jim Magilton, Irish footballer
- 1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
- 1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
- 1970 – Tristán Ulloa, Spanish actor
- 1971 – Chris Shiflett, American guitarist (Foo Fighters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United, No Use for a Name, and Viva Death)
- 1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
- 1974 – Faruk Namdar, Turkish footballer
- 1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
- 1977 – Marc Chouinard, French-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player
- 1978 – John Abraham, American football player
- 1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish politician
- 1978 – Aleksandr Fyodorov, Russian bodybuilder
- 1979 – Mark Burrier, American cartoonist
- 1979 – Kerry Ellis, English actress and singer
- 1979 – Nikki Hayes, Irish radio host
- 1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
- 1980 – Nicole Brunner, American actress
- 1980 – Mark Ladwig, American figure skater
- 1980 – Scott Colton, American wrestler
- 1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek basketball player
- 1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
- 1980 – Taebin, Korean singer and rapper (1TYM)
- 1980 – Kelly van der Veer, Dutch actress and singer
- 1981 – Matt Drake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Evile)
- 1981 – Nicholas Setta, American-Canadian football player
- 1981 – Edyta Śliwińska, Polish dancer
- 1982 – Kyle Shewfelt, Canadian gymnast
- 1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Adrianne Palicki, American actress
- 1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
- 1983 – Lisa Lavie, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious figure, the 17th Karmapa Lama
- 1983 – Raquel Zimmermann, Brazilian model
- 1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentine footballer
- 1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
- 1985 – Tanerau Latimer, New Zealand rugby player
- 1986 – Cindy Daniel, French-Canadian singer
- 1986 – Tyler Hynes, Canadian actor
- 1986 – Roman Kreuziger, Czech-Astana cyclist
- 1987 – Moon Geun Young, South Korean actress
- 1988 – Philip Larsen, American Business Man
- 1989 – Bobby Bazini, French-Canadian singer-songwriter and musician
- 1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovakian tennis player
- 1990 – Caitlin Yankowskas, American figure skater
- 1991 – Valerio Frasca, Italian footballer
- 1996 – Dominic Scott Kay, American actor
[edit] Deaths
- 680 – Muawiyah I (b. 602)
- 1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. c. 1415)
- 1502 – James Tyrrell, English knight, alleged murderer of Edward V of England and the Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (b. c. 1450)
- 1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish composer (b. 1535)
- 1620 – Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Palestinian rabbi (b. 1543)
- 1631 – Robert Bruce Cotton, English politician (b. 1570)
- 1638 – Cornelius Jansen, French bishop and religious reformer (b. 1585)
- 1708 – François de Laval, French bishop (b. 1623)
- 1757 – Maximilian Ulysses Browne, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
- 1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician (b. 1683)
- 1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
- 1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian politician (b. 1792)
- 1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and explorer (b. 1769)
- 1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher (b. 1817)
- 1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (b. 1804)
- 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (b. 1829)
- 1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, English politician (b. 1836)
- 1902 – Bret Harte, American author (b. 1836)
- 1910 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
- 1913 – Alexandros Schinas, Greek assassin of King George I of Greece (b. 1870)
- 1919 – L. Frank Baum, American writer (b. 1856)
- 1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian writer (b. 1869)
- 1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician (b. 1869)
- 1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian educator (b. 1870)
- 1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
- 1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian physicist (b. 1881)
- 1963 – Ted Weems, American bandleader and musician (b. 1901)
- 1963 – Monty Woolley, American actor (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (b. 1885)
- 1970 – Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
- 1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Turkish activist (b. 1947)
- 1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
- 1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1892)
- 1983 – Kai Winding, American trombonist and composer (b. 1922)
- 1984 – Bonner Pink, English politician (b. 1912)
- 1984 – Mary Cain, American editor and politician (b. 1904)
- 1985 – Julie Vega, Filipino actress, singer, and model (b. 1968)
- 1987 – William Casey, American CIA director (b. 1913)
- 1989 – Earl Blaik, American football coach (b. 1897)
- 1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
- 1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
- 1992 – Gaston Reiff, Belgian athlete (b. 1921)
- 1992 – Jilly Rizzo, American restaurateur (b. 1917)
- 1993 – Ann Todd, English actress (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (b. 1956)
- 1995 – Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança, Portuguese claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and teacher (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1932)
- 2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
- 2003 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Philip Kapleau, American Zen Buddhism teacher (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Barney Kessel, American jazz guitarist (The Wrecking Crew) (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Lillian Asplund, American Titanic survivor (b. 1906)
- 2006 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Go-Betweens) (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (b. 1958)
- 2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian politician (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Curtis Harrington, American director (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Đorđe Novković, Croatian songwriter (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (b. 1978)
- 2009 – Viola Wills, American popsinger (b. 1939)
- 2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Fahd al-Quso, Yemeni terrorist (b. 1974)
- 2012 – Pat Frink, American basketball player (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Iraj Ghaderi, Iranian actor and director (b. 1935)
- 2012 – James Isaac, American director and visual effects specialist (b. 1960)
- 2012 – Félix Kouadjo, Ivorian bishop (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Jean Laplanche, French author, theorist and psychoanalyst (b. 1924)
- 2012 – George Lindsay, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Jan Trøjborg, Danish politician (b. 1955)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
