May
6
Events
May
6
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.
Hindenburg disaster
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.
Holidays
and observances Christian
Feast Day:
Dominic Savio
Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)
Gerard of Lunel
Lucius of Cyrene
Petronax of Monte Cassino
St George's Day related observances (Eastern
Orthodox Church):
Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)
Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)
Yuri's Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox
Church)
May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Military Spouse Day
can fall, while May 12 is the latest; celebrated
on Friday before Mother's Day. (United States)
International No Diet Day
Martyrs' Day (Lebanon and Syria)
Teacher's Day (Jamaica)
The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)
The national day of the army (Bulgaria)
For details, contact Datacentre
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