What Happened On May 6 - On This Day

• May

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• Summary
• Events
• Birthdays
• Deaths
• Weddings
• Film & TV
• Music
• Sport

• 1527 Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, ending the Renaissance. Charles III, Duke of Bourbon is killed in the assault removing any restraint for the victorious soldiers.
• 1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to be the Canarsee Indians of the Lenape

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  Eiffel Tower Opens

  1889 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair) in Paris opens with the recently completed Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance arch; the lifts in the tower are not ready, so intrepid visitors have to climb 1,710 steps to reach the top

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  Hindenburg Disaster

  1937 German airship Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 on board and one on the ground
• 1941 Joseph Stalin becomes Premier of the Soviet Union, replacing Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov

More May 6 Events

• 2004 TV sitcom "Friends" airs the series finale of its 10th and final season in the US, attracting 52.5 million viewers

• 1966 The Rolling Stones release the single "Paint It Black" in the US, featuring prominent sitar music played by Brian Jones

• 1954 English athlete Roger Bannister becomes the first to run a sub-4-minute mile, recording 3:59.4 at Iffley Road Track in Oxford

During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque

May 6, 2001

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  Maximilien Robespierre

  1758 - 1794
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  Robert Peary

  1856 - 1920
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  Sigmund Freud

  1856 - 1939
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  Amadeo Giannini

  1870 - 1949
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  Andreas Baader

  1943 - 1977
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  Tony Blair

  72 Years Old

More Birthdays on May 6

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  Rudolph Valentino

  1895 - 1926
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  Orson Welles

  1915 - 1985
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  George Clooney

  64 Years Old
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  Xie Na

  44 Years Old

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  Willie Mays

  1931 - 2024
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  Masanori Murakami

  81 Years Old
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  Martin Brodeur

  53 Years Old
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  José Altuve

  35 Years Old

Samuel Pierpont Langley flies his unpiloted Number 5 aircraft using a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River, USA. The aircraft travels almost 3/4 of a mile - ten times further than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine.

May 6, 1896

• 1476 Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg and Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold arrange the marriage of their children
• 1946 British comedian Stan Laurel (55) weds for the 5th time, to Russian-American actress Ida Kitaeva (47), until his death in 1965
• 1950 American student, and aspiring actress, Vera Jayne (Palmer) Peers (later known as Jayne Mansfield) (17) weds American student Paul Mansfield (20), in Fort Worth, Texas; divorce in 1958

• 1983 British actress Joan Collins (49) divorces fourth husband, American businessman Ron Kass (48), after 11 years of marriage
• 2006 "Dallas" actress Victoria Principal (56) divorces plastic surgeon Harry Glassman (63) due to irreconcilable differences after nearly 21 years of marriage
• 2016 Actress Kaley Cuoco and professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting divorce after 2 years of marriage

More May 6 Weddings

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  Charles III, Duke of Bourbon

  1490 - 1527
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  Alexander von Humboldt

  1769 - 1859
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  Henry David Thoreau

  1817 - 1862
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  Maria Montessori

  1870 - 1952
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  Ethelda Bleibtrey

  1902 - 1978
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  Marlene Dietrich

  1901 - 1992

More May 6 Deaths

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  Latest Wonder of the World

  Often referred to as "the Chunnel", the 31-mile undersea tunnel linking England to France has been hailed as one of the "seven wonders of the modern world". May 6, 1994
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  Weekly Quiz for May 4 - 10

  Who was Mongol ruler Kublai Khan to Genghis Khan? What was the UK code-breaking center during World War II? Which country 1st legalized a birth control pill?
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  Weekly Quiz for May 6 - 12

  Test your knowledge of historical events in our multi-choice weekly history quiz for May 6 - 12. Number 8 will leave you truly stumped then amazed!

• 5 May
• Calendar
• May 7

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  The Loudest Noise in a Rolls-Royce is the Electric Clock

  May 4, 1904
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  Around The World With Nellie Bly

  May 5, 1867
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  Hero Millionaire Saves Lusitania Children

  May 7, 1915
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  Suicide Woman Floats To Safety

  May 8, 1885

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