Wednesday, 6th May 2026 in Stockholm

Welcome to your daily snapshot of Stockholm! Explore 61 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day in Stockholm. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Today's weather in Stockholm brings cloudy with temperatures between 2°C and 13°C. Tonight's moon is in its waxing crescent phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Taurus. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this Wednesday, 6th May in Stockholm, SE.

Stockholm
Steven Lek – CC BY-SA 4.0Wikimedia Commons

Stockholm, the Swedish capital, is positioned on 6 May 2026. The date falls within Taurus season for the zodiac. Weather conditions are cloudy, and the moon is in its waxing crescent phase, indicating it is early in its lunar cycle.

On this day

On 6 May 1954, English runner Roger Bannister achieved a milestone that had eluded athletes for generations when he became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes at Oxford's Iffley Road Track. The feat marked a watershed moment in distance running and demonstrated that the human body could achieve what many had considered impossible. Bannister's record would stand for only 46 days before being broken, yet his name remains synonymous with athletic excellence and the breaking of barriers.

The date also carries weight in more recent history. In 2023, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, marking the formal investiture of the new British monarch following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The coronation ceremony, steeped in centuries of tradition, represented a significant moment for the British monarchy and drew international attention to the historic abbey where numerous royal ceremonies have taken place.

DayAtlas provides weather information for any date and location, alongside historical events, notable births and deaths. Users can explore what occurred on specific dates across time, combining meteorological data with historical context.

Find out what's happening today in Stockholm.

What the Weather Had in Store for Stockholm on 6th May 2026

Cloudy

Sunrise 04:35
Sunset 20:53
Sunshine duration 15:29 hours
Daylight duration 16:17 hours

Maximum temperature 13.2°C
Minimum temperature 2°C

Wind speed 17km/h from S
Precipitation 0mm

Ground holds what air cannot – substance beneath.

Fortune of the Day

6th May in the Stars – Star Sign Taurus

Today, the zodiac sign Taurus celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality People born on May 6th blend Taurus stability with the spiritual depth of Master Number 11. They appear grounded and calm, yet possess intuitive sensitivity transcending surface perception. This combination makes them thoughtful, introspective individuals with quiet inner strength.

Strengths & Weaknesses Their strengths lie in patience, reliability, and refined aesthetic sense. However, stubbornness and emotional guardedness can become burdensome. The Master Number's intensity may trigger overthinking and inner tension without proper grounding and integration.

Love These people seek deep, meaningful connections rather than superficial romance. Venus's influence grants sensuality and tenderness, while 11-energy demands emotional authenticity. They are loyal and build stable partnerships infused with subtle passion and understanding.

Caree & Finance May 6th natives thrive in fields blending creativity with practical craft: design, artisanship, financial planning. Their intuitive pragmatism secures material stability. Spiritual or counseling careers optimally utilize their 11-energy gifts and natural wisdom.

Health Physical harmony requires regular movement and sensory care like massage and bodywork. Nervous tension from overthinking demands mindfulness and grounding practices. They benefit from nature connection and ritualized relaxation moments.


That night, the moon was in its waxing crescent phase.


Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).

Fun Facts About 6th May

Name Days in Your Language: Morna, Mya, Myah, Myrna, Orson, Prudence


Someone born on this day would be just 26 days old today — roughly 642 hours, 38,554 minutes, or 2,313,299 seconds spent on Earth so far.


It's the 126. day of the year. In 2026, 6th May falls on a Wednesday.


There are 239 days still to come.


We’re currently in Week 19 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 6th May

On this day, 146 notable people were born on 6th May — spanning from 973 to 2019. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

06/05/2019

Prince Archie of Sussex

Prince Archie of Sussex is a member of the British royal family. He is the son of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. A grandson of King Charles III, he is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.


06/05/2006

Sadie Sandler, American actress

Sadie Madison Sandler is an American actress. She is the eldest daughter of actor and comedian Adam Sandler. She began appearing in films as a child, primarily in Happy Madison productions, and later gained recognition for her performances in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023), Happy Gilmore 2 (2025) and Roommates (2026)


06/05/2002

Cole Palmer, English footballer

Cole Jermaine Palmer is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team. Known for his dribbling and passing ability, he is widely regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.


Angel Reese, American basketball player

Angel Reese is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and for Rose of the Unrivaled basketball league. Nicknamed "Bayou Barbie" and "Chi Barbie", she played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins and LSU Tigers.


06/05/1999

Pato O'Ward, Mexican racing driver

Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco is a Mexican auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. O'Ward is signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme and is currently the reserve driver for their Formula One team. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion.


06/05/1998

Luigi Mangione, suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Nicholas Mangione is an American man accused of killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.


06/05/1997

Maymay Entrata, Filipino model, entertainer and singer-songwriter

Marydale "Maymay" Entrata is a Filipino actress and singer. Having achieved mainstream success across television, music and fashion, she came to prominence after winning the reality show Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7. She is the first Filipina to walk at the Arab Fashion Week. Her accolades include a FAMAS Award, an Awit Award, two PMPC Star Awards for Music and a Box Office Entertainment Awards, in addition to a nomination for an MTV Europe Music Award.


Ranz Kyle, Filipino social media personality and entertainer

Ranz Kyle Viniel Evidente Ongsee, better known as Ranz Kyle, is a Filipino actor, dancer, singer, and social media personality. He is known for his dance covers with his half-sister Niana Guerrero.


Duncan Scott, Scottish swimmer

Duncan William MacNaughton Scott is a Scottish swimmer representing Great Britain at the FINA World Aquatics Championships, LEN European Aquatics Championships, European Games and the Olympic Games, and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Scott made history after winning four medals - more than any other British athlete at a single Olympic Games - in Tokyo 2020, simultaneously becoming Great Britain's most decorated swimmer in Olympic history. With an additional gold and silver medal in Paris 2024 bringing his total to eight, Scott became Scotland's most-decorated Olympian, and is currently tied with Bradley Wiggins as the second most-decorated Olympian in British history. Scott is the only athlete in the top three to still be actively competing, and the only member of the top four who is not a track cyclist.


06/05/1994

Mateo Kovačić, Croatian international footballer

Mateo Kovačić is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the Croatia national team.


06/05/1993

Gustavo Gómez, Paraguayan footballer

Gustavo Raúl Gómez Portillo is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras and the Paraguay national team.


Naomi Scott, English actress and singer

Naomi Grace Scott is an English actress and singer. She received recognition for starring in the musical television film Lemonade Mouth (2011) and performing on its eponymous soundtrack. She also starred in the science fiction series Terra Nova (2011) and the superhero film Power Rangers (2017).


06/05/1992

Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player

Brendan Gallagher is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a right winger and alternate captain for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fifth round, 147th overall, by the Canadiens in the 2010 NHL entry draft.


Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor

Byun Baek-hyun, known mononymously as Baekhyun, is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo, its subgroup Exo-K and its subunit Exo-CBX. In 2019, Baekhyun became a leader of the supergroup SuperM.


Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian basketball player

Jonas Valančiūnas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He has also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards, and the Sacramento Kings.


06/05/1990

Jose Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player

Jose Carlos Altuve is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Having played for the Astros since 2011, he is the longest-tenured current member of the team, and the only one to have been with the Astros since they were in the National League. Altuve is widely regarded as one of the greatest Astros in franchise history, and one of the best second basemen of all time. On the international stage, he has represented the Venezuelan national team in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics (WBC).


Péter Gulácsi, Hungarian footballer

Péter Gulácsi is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig.


06/05/1989

Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player

Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player to win the tournament on her debut. She won eight WTA Tour singles titles and two on the ITF Circuit.


Cameron Heyward, American football player

Cameron Phillip Heyward is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft. He is the son of former NFL player Craig Heyward and the older brother of NFL player Connor Heyward.


06/05/1988

Ryan Anderson, American basketball player

Ryan James Anderson is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears.


Dakota Kai, New Zealand professional wrestler

Cheree Georgina "Charlie" Crowley is a New Zealand professional wrestler. She is performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Charlie. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Dakota Kai.


06/05/1987

Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer

Dries Mertens is a Belgian former professional footballer who played either as a attacking-midfielder or winger. He is nicknamed "Ciro".


Meek Mill, American rapper

Robert Rihmeek Williams, known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed the short-lived rap group the Bloodhoundz. He signed with T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records as a solo act in 2008, but parted ways with the label in 2011 without any releases. He then signed with Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group (MMG) later that year, and rose to further recognition following his appearances on the label's Self Made Vol. 1 (2011) compilation album; his song "Tupac Back" served as the album's lead single, while its follow-up, "Ima Boss", became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.


Gerardo Parra, Venezuelan baseball player and coach

Gerardo Enrique Parra is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals, as in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants. Parra is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and won the 2019 World Series as a member of the Nationals.


Adrienne Warren, American actress

Adrienne Warren is an American actress, singer and dancer. She made her Broadway debut in the 2012 musical Bring It On, and in 2016 received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical nomination for her performance in Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. She was also praised for her role as Tina Turner in the West End production of Tina in 2018, and for the same role in the Broadway production, for which she received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2020.


06/05/1986

Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player

Goran Dragić is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Dragon", he played professional basketball in Slovenia and Spain before entering the NBA in 2008. Dragić also played for the Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks. He was an All-NBA Third Team selection and the NBA Most Improved Player with the Suns in 2014. He was named an NBA All-Star for the first time in 2018 with Miami.


06/05/1985

Chris Paul, American basketball player

Christopher Emmanuel Paul Sr., nicknamed "CP3" and "the Point God", is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time, he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, an NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, two Olympic gold medals, and led the NBA in assists five times and steals a record six times. Paul has been selected to 12 NBA All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams, and nine NBA All-Defensive teams. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Paul served as the president of the National Basketball Players Association from 2013 to 2021. Among the highest-paid athletes in the world, he holds endorsement deals with companies such as Jordan Brand and State Farm.


06/05/1983

Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer

Daniel Alves da Silva is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Widely regarded as one of the best full-backs of all time, he is also one of the most decorated players with 43 trophies.


Gabourey Sidibe, American actress

Gabourey Sidibe is an American actress. She is known for starring in the drama film Precious (2009), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the eighth black actress to be nominated in that category. She was also nominated for the BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.


Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama

Trinley Thaye Dorje is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa.


06/05/1982

Jason Witten, American football player

Christopher Jason Witten is an American football coach and former player who is currently the tight ends coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. He played as a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily for the Dallas Cowboys. Witten played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers and was selected by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft. He ranks second in all-time career receptions and receiving yards by an NFL tight end, trailing only Tony Gonzalez. Known for his toughness and reliability, Witten is widely regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time.


06/05/1980

Brooke Bennett, American swimmer

Brooke Marie Bennett is an American former competition swimmer and three-time Olympic champion.


Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player

Dimitrios 'Dimitris' Diamantidis is a retired Greek professional basketball player, who spent most of his EuroLeague career with Panathinaikos. Widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of European basketball, he marked his era by being the most versatile player in the EuroLeague, serving as an inspiration to the following generation of young European superstars. Diamantidis is the only Greek player who is a member of both the EuroLeague 2000–2010 All-Decade Team and the EuroLeague 2010–2020 All-Decade Team. In 2016, Diamantidis was honored with the highest European award, being named as a EuroLeague Legend for his career accomplishments. In 2025, he was voted by the fans as the Greatest Basketball Player in EuroLeague’s 25th Anniversary.


Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer

Ricardo José Dognella Lima de Oliveira is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker.


06/05/1979

Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower

Gerd Kanter is an Estonian retired discus thrower. He was the 2007 World Champion in the event and won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and bronze in London 2012. His personal best throw of 73.38 m is the Estonian record and the fourth best mark of all time.


Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host

Jonathan Riley "Jon" Montgomery is a Canadian skeleton racer and television host. He won the gold medal in the men's skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Despite hosting The Amazing Race Canada since 2013, he is best known in Canada for his spontaneous celebration after winning the gold medal in 2010, when he was caught on camera being handed a pitcher of beer by a fan while a crowd surrounding him cheered and sang O Canada. Writing for CBC in 2020, Montgomery stated "If the beer is all I’m ever remembered for, I consider myself the luckiest fella on Earth."


06/05/1978

John Abraham, American football player

John Antonio Nettles-Abraham is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end and linebacker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and was selected by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft. Abraham also played for the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals. A three-time first-team All-Pro and five-time selection for the Pro Bowl, Abraham is often regarded as one of the greatest defensive ends of the 2000s, and universally cited as one of the greatest defensive linemen in the history of the New York Jets.


Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist

Tony Estanguet is a French slalom canoeist and a three-time Olympic champion in C1. He competed at the international level from 1994 to 2012.


Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician

Fredrick Erik Federley is a Swedish former politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Sweden. He was a member of the Centre Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He was a member of the Parliament of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and MEP since 1 July 2014. On 24 September 2015 he was elected Second Vice Chairman of the Centre Party.


06/05/1977

Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach

Mark Andrew Eaton is an American professional ice hockey coach and former defenseman who was previously the interim head coach for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Islanders. He is the only NHL player to ever come from Delaware. He attended John Dickinson High School in the Wilmington suburbs but played his minor hockey across the state line in Pennsylvania.


Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver

Chantelle Lee Newbery is an Australian former diver.


06/05/1976

Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer

Iván de la Peña López is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.


06/05/1972

Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player

Martin Pierre Brodeur is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played 22 seasons as a goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom he won three Stanley Cup championships and five Eastern Conference championships in 17 postseason campaigns. He also won two Olympic gold medals with Canada, his first as the starting goaltender for the team in 2002, and his second as the backup goaltender in 2010, as well as several other medals with Canada in other international competitions. Brodeur is widely regarded as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time. In 2017, he was named by the league as one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players", and the following year, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.


06/05/1971

Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Christopher Aubrey Shiflett is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, which he joined in 1999 following the release of the band's third album There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). Shiflett was also previously a member of the punk rock bands No Use for a Name (1995–1999) and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (1995–2019).


06/05/1969

Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and coach

James Magilton is a Northern Irish former professional football player and current manager of NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville.


06/05/1968

Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player

Lætitia Sadier, also known as Seaya Sadier, is a French musician best known as a founding member of the London-based avant-pop band Stereolab. She was born in the east of Paris and spent time in the US as a child. In 1996, while Stereolab was still active, she formed the side project Monade. In 2009 – the same year Stereolab became inactive – she ended the Monade project and began to perform solo work under her own name; her current band is known as the Lætitia Sadier Source Ensemble. She has frequently performed guest vocals and collaborations with other artists.


06/05/1965

Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter

Leslie Hope is a Canadian actress and director, best known for her role as Teri Bauer on the Fox television series 24 and prosecutor Anita Gibbs on Suits. Other credits include Shadow Builder (1998), Murdoch Mysteries, The Strain (2015), Lost in Space (2019–2021), Snowpiercer (2021–22), Devil in Ohio (2022).


06/05/1963

Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina

Alessandra Ferri OMRI is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before temporarily retiring on 10 August 2007, aged 44, then returning in 2013. She has been referred to by some publications as a prima ballerina assoluta.


06/05/1961

George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

George Timothy Clooney is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. His honors include the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2015, the Honorary César in 2017, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2018, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2022.


Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist

Sir Thomas Blane Hunter is a Scottish businessman and philanthropist.


Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission

Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria Timmermans is a Dutch politician who was the leader of GroenLinks–PvdA in the House of Representatives from 2023 to 2025.


06/05/1960

Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic

Keith Martin Dowding is a British political scientist. He is Professor of Political Science and Political Philosophy at the Australian National University (ANU). In 2006 he held a position in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics.


Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer

Roma Downey is an Irish actress, producer, and author. She gained recognition for her role as Monica the angel, in the CBS television series Touched by an Angel, which ran for nine seasons. Downey portrayed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries A Woman Named Jackie. Downey stars in and produces the television series The Baxters. She has a stage career, performing with the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, and appearing on and off Broadway.


John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

John Conant Flansburgh is an American musician and a co-founder of alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, which was formed in 1982. He is a lead writer and singer and plays rhythm guitar for the band.


Anne Parillaud, French actress

Anne Parillaud is a French actress who has been active since 1977, who is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film La Femme Nikita.


06/05/1959

Charles Hendry, English politician

Charles Hendry, is a British Conservative Party politician. Formerly the Member of Parliament (MP) for High Peak between the 1992 and 1997 general elections, he was elected as the MP for Wealden in 2001. In May 2010 he was appointed Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and served until 2012. He stood down at the 2015 general election.


06/05/1955

Tom Bergeron, American television host

Thomas Raymond Bergeron is an American television personality, comedian, and game show host. He hosted Breakfast Time from 1994 to 1997, Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004, America's Funniest Home Videos from 2001 to 2015, and Dancing with the Stars from 2005 to 2019 and was an anchor on Good Morning America from 1997 to 1998 and a co-host on the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008.


John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence

John Matthew Patrick Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, is a British politician and Labour member of the House of Lords. He served in several offices in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom; he was Work and Pensions Secretary from 2005 to 2007, Business Secretary from 2007 to 2008, and Defence Secretary from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Labour Party, Hutton was Member of Parliament (MP) for Barrow and Furness from 1992 to 2010. He was made a life peer in 2010.


06/05/1954

Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs

Theodora "Dora" Bakoyanni is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever to have been held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece at the time; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009. Previously she was the Mayor of Athens from 2003 to 2006, the first female mayor in the city's history, and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games. She also served as Minister for Culture of Greece from 1992 to 1993.


06/05/1953

Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (died 1986)

Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov was a Soviet engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986.


Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, held shadow cabinet posts from 1987 to 1994, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007. He is the second-longest-serving prime minister in post-war British history after Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Labour politician to have held the office and the only person to lead Labour to three consecutive general election victories. Blair founded the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in 2016 and serves as its Executive Chairman.


Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager

Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit.


06/05/1952

Chiaki Mukai, Japanese physician and astronaut

Chiaki Mukai is a Japanese physician and JAXA astronaut. She was the first Japanese woman in space, the first Japanese citizen to have two spaceflights, and the first Asian woman in space. Both were Space Shuttle missions; her first was STS-65 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1994, which was a Spacelab mission. Her second spaceflight was STS-95 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. In total she has spent 23 days in space.


Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Gerrit Zalm is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman.


06/05/1951

Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (died 1990)

Samuel Kanyon Doe was a Liberian politician and military officer who served as the 21st President of Liberia from 1986 until his execution in 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1986 and then as the first native president from 1986 to 1990.


06/05/1950

Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author

Jeffery Deaver is an American mystery and crime writer. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. degree from Fordham University. He began his career as a journalist and later practiced law before embarking on a career as a novelist. He has been awarded the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association and the Nero Award from The Wolfe Pack. He is also a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year and a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including The New York Times, The Times, Italy's Corriere della Sera, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Los Angeles Times.


06/05/1947

Alan Dale, New Zealand actor

Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. Dale subsequently moved to Australia, where he played Dr. John Forrest in The Young Doctors from 1979 to 1982. He later appeared as Jim Robinson in Neighbours, a part he played from 1985 until 1993. He left the series when he fell out with the producers over the pay he and the rest of the cast received.


Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author

Martha C. Nussbaum is an American philosopher and the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philosophy department.


06/05/1945

Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer

Jimmie Dale Gilmore is an American country singer-songwriter and actor currently living in Austin, Texas.


Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robert Clark Seger is an American retired singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, breaking through with his first album, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1969. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the 'System' from his recordings and continued to strive for broader success with various other bands. In 1973, he put together The Silver Bullet Band, with a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976), recorded live in 1975 at Cobo Hall. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger's best-selling singles and albums.


06/05/1944

Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player

Masanori Murakami, nicknamed "Mashi", is a Japanese former baseball pitcher. He is notable for being the first Japanese player to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Sent over to the United States by the Nankai Hawks, Murakami saw success as a reliever for the San Francisco Giants, debuting at the age of 20 in 1964. In 1965, he struck out over one batter per inning pitched, posted an ERA under 4 and earned eight saves. Following this season, however, Murakami headed back to the Nankai Hawks due to contractual obligations, where his success continued for another 17 years.


06/05/1943

Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (died 1977)

Berndt Andreas Baader was a West German communist and leader of the far-left terrorist organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group.


Milton William Cooper, American conspiracy theorist and author (died 2001)

Milton William "Bill" Cooper was an American conspiracy theorist, radio broadcaster, and author known for his 1991 book Behold a Pale Horse, in which he warned of multiple global conspiracies, some involving extraterrestrial life. Cooper also described HIV/AIDS as a man-made disease used to target blacks, Hispanics, and homosexuals, and that a cure was made before it was implemented. He has been described as a "militia theoretician". Cooper was killed in 2001 by sheriff's deputies after he shot at them during an attempted arrest.


James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator

James Turrell is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the "master of light" often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial color through openings in ceilings thereby transforming internal spaces by ever shifting and changing color.


06/05/1942

Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic

Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean-American novelist, playwright, essayist, academic and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, since 1985.


06/05/1937

Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (died 2014)

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a black American middleweight boxer who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for murder, until released following a petition of habeas corpus after spending 18 years and 4 months in prison.


06/05/1934

Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician

Richard Craig "Dick" Shelby is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Alabama from 1987 to 2023. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat, Shelby switched to the Republican Party in 1994. Shelby is the longest-serving U.S. senator from Alabama, holding office for exactly 36 years.


06/05/1932

Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (died 2020)

Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, styled Viscount Weymouth between 1946 and 1992, was an English peer and landowner, owner of the Longleat estate, who sat in the House of Lords from 1992 until 1999, and an artist and author.


06/05/1931

Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach (died 2024)

Willie Howard Mays Jr., nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Mays was a five-tool player who began his career in the Negro leagues, playing for the Birmingham Black Barons, and spent the rest of his career in the National League (NL), playing for the New York / San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.


06/05/1930

David Carpenter, American serial killer

David Joseph Carpenter, also called the Trailside Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender who raped and murdered various victims in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1979 and 1981. He was sentenced to death for seven murders and is believed to be responsible for several more.


06/05/1929

Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic (died 2023)

Dame Rosemary Jean Cramp was a British archaeologist and academic specialising in the Anglo-Saxons. She was the first female professor appointed at Durham University and was Professor of Archaeology from 1971 to 1990. She served as president of the Society of Antiquaries of London from 2001 to 2004.


Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007)

Paul Christian Lauterbur was an American chemist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2003 with Peter Mansfield for his work which made the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) possible.


06/05/1924

Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (died 2014)

Nestor Basterretxea Arzadun was a Basque artist, born in Bermeo, Biscay, Basque Country. In the 1950s and 1960s, he spearheaded along with other artists such as Jorge Oteiza, Remigio Mendiburu, or Eduardo Chillida, an avant-garde artistic movement concerned with the crisis of Basque identity, and formally a special focus on large volumes and the concept of emptiness.


Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (died 2006)

Patricia Helen Lawford was an American socialite. She was a sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Ted Kennedy, as well as a sister-in-law of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Patricia wanted to be a film producer, a profession not readily open to young women in her time. She married English actor Peter Lawford in 1954, but they divorced in 1966.


06/05/1923

Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2002)

Harold Percival "Whipper" Watson was a Canadian professional ice hockey left wing who played for the Brooklyn Americans, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Chicago Black Hawks, winning five Stanley Cups over a 14-year career in the National Hockey League.


06/05/1920

Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (died 2004)

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, was a Fijian politician who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, as the first Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992. He subsequently served as president from 1993 to 2000.


06/05/1918

Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (died 2004)

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was an Emirati politician, philanthropist, and the founding father of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates from its independence on 2 December 1971 until his death in 2004. He is referred in the United Arab Emirates as the Father of the Nation for being the principal driving force behind the unification of the United Arab Emirates.


06/05/1916

Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (died 1997)

Robert Henry Dicke was an American astronomer and physicist who made important contributions to the fields of astrophysics, atomic physics, cosmology and gravity. He was the Albert Einstein Professor in Science at Princeton University (1975–1984).


06/05/1915

Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1985)

George Orson Welles was an American actor and filmmaker. Remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre, he is considered among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.


Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (died 1986)

Theodore Harold White was an American political journalist and historian, first known for his 1946 best-seller Thunder Out of China, reporting from China during World War II and then the Making of the President series.


06/05/1913

Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (died 1989)

Carmen Cavallaro Calderone was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation.


Stewart Granger, English-American actor (died 1993)

Stewart Granger was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.


06/05/1911

Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (died 1993)

Guy Augustin Marie Jean de la Pérusse des Cars was a best-selling French author of popular novels.


06/05/1907

Peter Barnes, Executed Irish Republican (died 1940)

Peter Barnes was an Irish republican. He was born in Banagher, King's County (Offaly). As a young man Barnes joined Fianna Éireann and in 1924 became a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).


Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (died 1998)

Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in January 1969. He is the only coach to win a championship in both the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL).


06/05/1906

André Weil, French mathematician and academic (died 1998)

André Weil was a French mathematician, known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry. He was one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century. His influence is due both to his original contributions to a remarkably broad spectrum of mathematical theories, and to the mark he left on mathematical practice and style, through some of his own works as well as through the Bourbaki group, of which he was one of the principal founders.


06/05/1904

Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (died 1984)

Moshé Pinchas Feldenkrais was an Israeli engineer and physicist, known as the founder of the Feldenkrais method.


Catherine Lacey, English actress (died 1979)

Catherine Lacey was an English actress of stage and screen.


Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (died 1978)

Harry Martinson was a Swedish writer, poet and former sailor. In 1949 he was elected into the Swedish Academy. He was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow Swede Eyvind Johnson "for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos". The choice was controversial, as both Martinson and Johnson were members of the academy.


06/05/1903

Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor's Restaurant (died 1977)

Bernard "Toots" Shor was an American bar owner, and was the proprietor of the saloon and restaurant Toots Shor's Restaurant, in Manhattan. He ran three establishments under that name, but his first was located at 51 West 51st Street. He was a saloonkeeper, friend, and confidant to some of New York's biggest celebrities during that era.


06/05/1902

Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (died 1957)

Maximillian Oppenheimer, known as Max Ophüls, was a German and French film director, screenwriter and art director. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of tracking shots, and his melancholic, romantic themes. The Harvard Film Archive has called Ophüls "a supreme stylist of the cinema and a master storyteller".


06/05/1898

Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (died 1945)

Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia, before World War II. After Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia, he became the Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Reichsgau Sudetenland.


06/05/1897

Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (died 1979)

Paul Alverdes was a German novelist and poet.


06/05/1896

Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (died 1966)

Rolf Maximilian Sievert was a Swedish medical physicist whose major contribution was in the study of the biological effects of ionizing radiation.


06/05/1895

Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (died 1974)

Júlio César de Mello e Souza, was a Brazilian writer and mathematics teacher. He was well known in Brazil and abroad for his books on recreational mathematics, most of them published under the pen name of Malba Tahan, a fictitious Persian scholar.


Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (died 1946)

Count Fidél Pálffy ab Erdőd was a Hungarian nobleman who emerged as a leading supporter of Nazism in Hungary.


Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (died 1926)

Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaele Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla, known professionally as Rudolph Valentino or mononymously as Valentino, was an Italian-born actor and dancer. Dubbed the Latin Lover, he became one of the most iconic stars of American silent cinema and an enduring symbol of old Hollywood glamour. Rising to international fame in the early 1920s, Valentino was celebrated for his exotic screen persona, romantic intensity, and expressive performances, which helped redefine male stardom during the silent era.


06/05/1883

Alberto Collo, Italian actor (died 1955)

Alberto Collo was an Italian actor who appeared in more than a hundred and thirty films during his career, mostly during the silent era. During the 1910s he starred in several films directed by Baldassarre Negroni.


06/05/1880

Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (died 1959)

Winifred Mabel Brunton née Newberry was a South African painter, illustrator and Egyptologist.


Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (died 1938)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker. He was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century art. Kirchner volunteered for army service in the First World War, but soon suffered a breakdown and was discharged. His work was branded as "degenerate" by the Nazis in 1933, and in 1937 more than 600 of his works were sold or destroyed.


06/05/1879

Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (died 1952)

Bedřich Hrozný, also known as Friedrich Hrozny, was a Czech orientalist and linguist. He contributed to the decipherment of the ancient Hittite language, identified it as an Indo-European language, and laid the groundwork for the development of Hittitology.


Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (died 1929)

Hendrik van Heuckelum, nicknamed Henk, was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward for HBS-Craeyenhout and Royal Léopold Club, and who represented Belgium at the 1900 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal in the football tournament.


06/05/1872

Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (died 1934)

Willem de Sitter was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He is known for the de Sitter universe, which is a cosmological model that was named after him.


Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (died 1922)

Ahmed Djemal Pasha was an Ottoman general and statesman. Along with Talaat and Enver, he was one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I.


06/05/1871

Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1935)

Francois Auguste Victor Grignard was a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the eponymously named Grignard reagent and Grignard reaction, both of which are important in the formation of carbon–carbon bonds. He also wrote some of his experiments in his laboratory notebooks.


Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (died 1914)

Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern was a German writer and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin, but spent much of his life traveling through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, primarily in a vain attempt to recover his health. His travels, though they failed to restore him to health, allowed him to meet many of the foremost literary and philosophical figures of his time in central Europe.


06/05/1870

Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (died 1936)

Walter Mathers Rutherford was a Scottish golfer who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics.


06/05/1869

Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (died 1932)

Junnosuke Inoue was a Japanese financier and statesman of the Taisho and Showa eras. He was the 9th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and Minister of Finance in 1923-1924 and 1929-1931. He was assassinated during the League of Blood Incident in 1932.


06/05/1868

Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (died 1927)

Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.


06/05/1861

Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (died 1931)

Motilal Nehru was an Indian lawyer, activist, and politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress. He served as the Congress President twice, from 1919 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1929. He was a patriarch of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the father of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister.


06/05/1856

Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (died 1939)

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies arising from conflicts in the psyche through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it.


Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (died 1920)

Robert Edwin Peary was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being the discoverer of the geographic North Pole in April 1909, having led the first expedition to have claimed this achievement, although it is now considered unlikely that he actually reached the Pole.


06/05/1851

Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (died 1925)

Aristide Bruant was a French cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner. He is best known as the man in the red scarf and black cape featured on certain famous posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He has also been credited as the creator of the chanson réaliste musical genre.


06/05/1848

Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (died 1937)

Henry Edward Armstrong FRS FRSE (Hon) was a British chemist. Although Armstrong was active in many areas of scientific research, such as the chemistry of naphthalene derivatives, he is remembered today largely for his ideas and work on the teaching of science. Armstrong acid is named for him.


06/05/1843

Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (died 1918)

Grove Karl Gilbert, known by the abbreviated name G. K. Gilbert in academic literature, was an American geologist.


06/05/1836

Max Eyth, German engineer and author (died 1906)

Max Eyth was a German engineer and writer.


06/05/1827

Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (died 1891)

Hermann Raster was an American editor, abolitionist, writer, and anti-temperance political boss who served as chief editor and part-owner of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung, a widely circulated newspaper in the German language in the United States, between 1867 and 1891. Together with publisher A.C. Hesing, Raster exerted considerable control over the German vote in the Midwest and forced the Republican Party to formally adopt an anti-prohibition platform in 1872, known as the Raster Resolution. He was appointed as Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District of Illinois by President Ulysses S. Grant but resigned from this post shortly thereafter. Raster returned to Europe in 1890 when his health began to fail him and died filling a minor diplomatic role in Berlin. Today he is best remembered for his extensive correspondence with Western intellectual and political figures of the time, such as Joseph Pulitzer, Elihu Washburne, and Francis Wayland Parker, much of which is preserved at the Newberry Library in Chicago.


06/05/1800

Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (died 1881)

Prince Roman Adam Stanisław Sanguszko (1800–1881) was a Polish aristocrat, patriot, political and social activist.


06/05/1797

Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (died 1882)

Joseph Brackett Jr. was an American songwriter, author, and elder of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers. The most famous song attributed to Brackett, "Simple Gifts", is still widely performed and adapted.


06/05/1781

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (died 1832)

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause was a German philosopher whose doctrines became known as Krausism. Krausism, when considered in its totality as a complete, stand-alone philosophical system, had only a small following in Germany, France, and Belgium, in contradistinction to certain other philosophical systems that had a much larger following in Europe at that time. However, Krausism became very popular and influential in Restoration Spain not as a complete, comprehensive philosophical system per se, but as a broad cultural movement. In Spain, Krausism was known as "Krausismo", and Krausists were known as "Krausistas". Outside of Spain, the Spanish Krausist cultural movement was referred to as Spanish Krausism.


06/05/1769

Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (died 1824)

Ferdinand III was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also the Prince-elector and Grand Duke of Salzburg (1803–1805) and Duke and Elector of Würzburg (1805–1814).


Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (died 1834)

Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician, was born at Mézières, where his father was a bookseller.


06/05/1758

André Masséna, French general (died 1817)

André Masséna, prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli, was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon I, who nicknamed him "the dear child of victory". He is considered to be one of the greatest generals of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.


Maximilien Robespierre, French politician (died 1794)

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fervently campaigned for the voting rights of all men and their unimpeded admission to the National Guard. Additionally, he advocated the right to petition, the right to bear arms in self-defence, and the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.


06/05/1742

Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (died 1809)

Jean Senebier was a Genevan Calvinist pastor and naturalist. He was chief librarian of the Republic of Geneva. A pioneer in the field of photosynthesis research, he provided extensive evidence that plants consume carbon dioxide and produced oxygen. He also showed a link between the amount of carbon dioxide available and the amount of oxygen produced and determined that photosynthesis took place at the parenchyma, the green fleshy part of the leaf.


06/05/1714

Anton Raaff, German tenor (died 1797)

Anton Raaff was a German tenor from Gelsdorf near Bonn.


06/05/1713

Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (died 1780)

Charles Batteux was a French philosopher and writer on aesthetics.


06/05/1680

Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (died 1755)

Jean-Baptiste Stuck was an Italian-French composer and cellist of the Baroque era.


06/05/1668

Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (died 1747)

Alain-René Lesage was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel The Devil upon Two Sticks, his comedy Turcaret (1709), and his picaresque novel Gil Blas (1715–1735).


06/05/1635

Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (died 1682)

Johann Joachim Becher was a German physician, alchemist, precursor of chemistry, scholar, polymath and adventurer, best known for his terra pinguis theory which became the phlogiston theory of combustion, and his advancement of Austrian cameralism.


06/05/1580

Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (died 1637)

Charles I Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1627 until his death. He was also Charles III as Duke of Nevers and Rethel, as well as Prince of Arche and Charleville.


06/05/1574

Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1655)

Pope Innocent X, born Giovanni Battista Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655.


06/05/1501

Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1555)

Pope Marcellus II, born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 10 April 1555 to his death, 22 days later.


06/05/1493

Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (died 1563)

Girolamo Seripando was an Augustinian friar, Italian theologian and cardinal.


06/05/1464

Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (died 1512)

Sophia Jagiellon was a princess of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, great-granddaughter of Emperor Sigismund and by marriage Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach.


06/05/0973

Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1024)

Henry II, also known as Saint Henry, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024 and was the last ruler of the Ottonian line. As Duke of Bavaria, appointed in 995, Henry became King of the Romans following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III in 1002, was made King of Italy in 1004, and crowned emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.


Lives Remembered on 6th May

On 6th May, 98 remarkable people passed away — from 698 to 2026. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

06/05/2026

Ted Turner, American media mogul (born 1938)

Robert Edward Turner III was an American businessman, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel, and WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television. Turner also founded the television networks TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies.


06/05/2024

Bernard Pivot, French journalist, interviewer and host (born 1935)

Bernard Pivot was a French journalist, interviewer and host of cultural television programmes. He was chairman of the Académie Goncourt from 2014 to 2020.


Brian Wenzel, Australian actor (born 1929)

Brian Thomas Wenzel was an Australian actor, comedian, director and singer. He was in the entertainment business for 60 years, including circus, stage, television and film.


06/05/2022

George Pérez, American comic book artist and writer (born 1954)

George Pérez was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling Fantastic Four and The Avengers for Marvel Comics. In the 1980s, he penciled The New Teen Titans, which became one of DC Comics' top-selling series. He penciled DC's landmark limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, followed by relaunching Wonder Woman as both writer and penciller. In the meantime, he worked on other comics published by Marvel, DC, and other companies into the 2010s. He was known for his detailed and realistic rendering, and his facility with complex crowd scenes.


06/05/2021

Kentaro Miura, Japanese manga artist (born 1966)

Kentaro Miura was a Japanese manga artist. He was best known for his dark fantasy series Berserk, which began serialization in 1989. By 2023, Berserk had over 60 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 2002, Miura received the Award for Excellence at the sixth Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.


06/05/2016

Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (born 1990)

Patrick Claude Ekeng Ekeng was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He had two international caps for his country's national team, whom he represented at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.


Reg Grundy, Australian businessman (born 1923)

Reginald Roy Grundy was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul, best known for his numerous television productions. He was the producer of various Australian game shows, such as Blankety Blanks and Wheel of Fortune before later diversifying into soap operas and serials including Prisoner, The Young Doctors, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours, the last of which was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 2005.


06/05/2015

Novera Ahmed, Bangladeshi sculptor (born 1930)

Novera Ahmed was a Bangladeshi modern sculptor. She was awarded the Ekushey Padak medal by the government of Bangladesh in 1997 and Independence Award in 2025. Artist Zainul Abedin described her work saying "What Novera is doing now will take us a long time to understand – she is that kind of an artist."


Denise McCluggage, American race car driver and journalist (born 1927)

Denise McCluggage was an American auto racing driver, journalist, author and photographer. McCluggage was a pioneer of equality for women in the U.S., both in motorsports and in journalism. She was born in El Dorado, Kansas, and spent her childhood in that state. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mills College in Oakland, California. She began her career as a journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle.


Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1922)

James Claude Wright Jr. was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas' 12th congressional district as a Democrat from 1955 to 1989.


06/05/2014

Wil Albeda, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs (born 1925)

Willem Albeda was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and later of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and economist.


William H. Dana, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (born 1930)

William Harvey Dana was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force pilot, NASA test pilot, and astronaut. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA. He was also selected for participation in the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.


Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (born 1940)

James Albert Ellis was an American professional boxer. He won the vacant WBA heavyweight title in 1968 by defeating Jerry Quarry, making one successful title defense in the same year against Floyd Patterson, before losing to Joe Frazier in 1970.


Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (born 1928)

William Harrell was an American reserve infielder in Major League Baseball who played between 1955 and 1961 for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox (1961). Listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m), 180 pounds (82 kg), Harrell batted and threw right-handed.


Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1921)

Antony Hopkins was a composer, pianist, and conductor, as well as a writer and radio broadcaster. He was widely known for his books of musical analysis and for his radio programmes Talking About Music, broadcast by the BBC from 1954 to 1992, first on the Third Programme, later Radio 3, and then on Radio 4.


Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (born 1919)

Maria Lassnig was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness". In 1980, she became a professor for Painting at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where she taught until her death. She was the first female artist to win the Grand Austrian State Prize in 1988 and was awarded the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art in 2005.


Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (born 1921)

Farley McGill Mowat was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Canadian north, such as People of the Deer (1952) and Never Cry Wolf (1963). The latter, an account of his experiences with wolves in the Arctic, was made into a film of the same name released in 1983. For his body of work as a writer he won the annual Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature in 1970.


06/05/2013

Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (born 1919)

Giulio Andreotti was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments. He was leader of the Christian Democracy party and its conservative faction; he was the sixth-longest-serving prime minister since the Italian unification and the second-longest-serving post-war prime minister. Andreotti is widely considered the most powerful and prominent politician of the First Republic.


Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (born 1923)

Severo Aparicio Quispe, O. de M., was a Peruvian friar of the Mercedarian Order who was made a bishop of the Catholic Church. He wrote a number of works on the history of the Catholic Church and of his Order in Peru.


Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1949)

Michelangelo 'Michael' Spensieri was an Italian-Canadian politician and lawyer in Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1985, as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party.


06/05/2012

James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (born 1918)

James Robert Browning was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.


James Isaac, American director and producer (born 1960)

James Isaac was an American film director and visual effects supervisor.


Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (born 1924)

Jean Laplanche was a French author, psychoanalyst and winemaker. Laplanche is best known for his work on psychosexual development and Sigmund Freud's seduction theory, and wrote more than a dozen books on psychoanalytic theory. The journal Radical Philosophy described him as "the most original and philosophically informed psychoanalytic theorist of his day."


06/05/2010

Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1926)

Robin Evan Roberts was an American Major League Baseball starting pitcher who pitched primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies (1948–1961). He spent the latter part of his career with the Baltimore Orioles (1962–1965), Houston Astros (1965–66), and Chicago Cubs (1966). Roberts was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.


06/05/2009

Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (born 1978)

Kevin Grubb was an American race car driver from Mechanicsville, Virginia. He was the younger brother of former race car driver Wayne Grubb. He was under suspension from NASCAR competition due to two violations in NASCAR's substance abuse policy at the time of his death.


06/05/2007

Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian physician and politician (born 1938)

Enéas Ferreira Carneiro was a Brazilian polymath, cardiologist, physicist, mathematician, professor, writer, military serviceman and politician. He represented the state of São Paulo in the National Chamber of Deputies and ran for presidency three times. He was founder and leader of the nationalist and conservative Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (PRONA), which was usually seen as being far-right. Although Enéas rejected the left-right dichotomy, as they were "sides of the same coin", defining himself only as a nationalist.


Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1926)

Gene Curtis Harrington was an American film and television director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor. He emerged in the experimental film scene of the 1940s and ‘50s, notably as a collaborator of Kenneth Anger, before becoming a director of mainstream horror films and television series.


06/05/2006

Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1958)

Grant William McLennan was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977 and issued four solo albums: Watershed (1991), Fireboy (1992), Horsebreaker Star (1994) and In Your Bright Ray (1997). He collaborated with other artists on side projects. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association called his "Cattle and Cane" (1983) one of its top 30 Australian songs of all time.


Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (born 1958)

Lorne Saxberg was a Canadian broadcast journalist for CBC Radio and CBC Newsworld. Saxberg was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario and first joined the CBC's radio arm. As host of Ontario Morning in the late 1980s, he was known for his keen mind, calm demeanour, and melodious voice. "He had a full, rich voice not often heard in modern radio," said Canadian freelance broadcaster James Careless, who worked with Saxberg at Ontario Morning. "He was truly a class act both on and off the air."


06/05/2004

Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (born 1925)

Eliza "Virginia" Capers was an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1974 for her performance as Lena Younger in Raisin, a musical version of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun.


Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (born 1912)

Philip Kapleau was an American Zen Buddhist teacher. He trained in the Harada–Yasutani tradition, which is rooted in Japanese Sōtō and incorporates Rinzai-school koan study. He established Rochester Zen Center, which grew to become one of the most influential Zen communities in the West. His independent lineage includes teachers active in the USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the UK and New Zealand.


Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (born 1923)

Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions. Kessel was a member of the group of session musicians informally known as the Wrecking Crew.


06/05/2003

Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (born 1927)

Arthur Joseph Houtteman was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 12 seasons in the American League with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. In 325 career games, Houtteman pitched 1,555 innings and posted a win–loss record of 87–91, with 78 complete games, 14 shutouts, and a 4.14 earned run average (ERA).


06/05/2002

Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (born 1906)

Murray Adaskin, was a Canadian violinist, teacher, and composer.


Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1932)

Otis Blackwell was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever", "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless", "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", and "Return to Sender", and "Handy Man".


Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (born 1948)

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist, and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.


Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (born 1940)

Bjørn John Johansen was a Norwegian jazz musician, known from a number of recordings and international cooperation. He has been one of the most influential Norwegian saxophonists of all time and has been the inspiration for a generations of musicians, among them Jan Garbarek.


06/05/2000

Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (born 1920)

Gordon Lee McClymont AO was an Australian agricultural scientist, ecologist, and educationist. The originator of the term "sustainable agriculture", McClymont is known for his multidisciplinary approach to farm ecology. McClymont was the foundation chair of the Faculty of Rural Science at the University of New England, the first degree program of its kind to integrate animal husbandry, veterinary science, agronomy, and other disciplines into the field of livestock and agricultural production. In 1978, in recognition of his work and contributions to his field, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia.


06/05/1995

Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (born 1956)

Noel Brotherston was an international footballer for Northern Ireland.


06/05/1993

Ann Todd, English actress and producer (born 1909)

Dorothy Ann Todd was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in The Seventh Veil (1945). From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed her in The Passionate Friends (1949), Madeleine (1950), and The Sound Barrier (1952). She was a member of The Old Vic theatre company and in 1957 starred in a Broadway play. In her later years she wrote, produced and directed travel documentaries.


06/05/1992

Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (born 1901)

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich was a German and American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades. In 1920s Berlin, she performed on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola Lola in Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international acclaim and a contract with Paramount Pictures. Dietrich starred in many Hollywood films, including six roles directed by Sternberg: Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil Is a Woman (1935). Throughout World War II, she was a high-profile entertainer in the United States. Although she delivered notable performances in several post-war films, including Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958), and Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), she spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer.


06/05/1991

Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (born 1903)

Wilfrid Hyde-White was an English actor. Described by Philip French as a "classic British film archetype", Hyde-White often portrayed droll and urbane upper-class characters. He had an extensive stage and screen career in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and portrayed over 160 film and television roles between 1935 and 1987. He was twice nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, in 1957 for The Reluctant Debutante and in 1973 for The Jockey Club Stakes.


06/05/1990

Charles Farrell, American actor (born 1900)

Charles David Farrell was an American film actor and later Mayor of Palm Springs, serving from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms My Little Margie and played himself in The Charles Farrell Show. He was also among the early developers of Palm Springs.


06/05/1989

Earl Blaik, American football player and coach (born 1897)

Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college football record of 166–48–14. His Army football teams won three consecutive national championships in 1944, 1945 and 1946. Blaik was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1964.


06/05/1987

William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (born 1913)

William Joseph Casey was an American lawyer who was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) throughout much of the Reagan administration.


06/05/1984

Mary Cain, American journalist and politician (born 1904)

Mary Dawson Cain was an American newspaper editor, political activist, and gubernatorial candidate in Mississippi. A Democrat, she advocated for conservative causes and is particularly remembered for her campaigns against the Social Security tax. She ran for Governor of Mississippi in 1951 and 1955, the first woman to do so.


Bonner Pink, English politician (born 1912)

Ralph Bonner Pink was a British Conservative politician.


06/05/1983

Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (born 1916)

Ezra Jack Keats was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He is best known for The Snowy Day, which won the 1963 Caldecott Medal and is considered one of the most important American books of the 20th century. He wrote 22 books and illustrated at least 70 more in his signature collage art style. Keats is known for introducing multiculturalism into mainstream American children's literature. Keats' works have been translated into some 20 languages, including Japanese, French, Danish, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, German, Swedish, Thai, Chinese, and Korean.


Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (born 1922)

Kai Chresten Winding was an American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of "More", the theme from the movie Mondo Cane, reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963 and remained his only entry there.


06/05/1980

María Luisa Bombal, Chilean writer (born 1910)

María Luisa Bombal Anthes was a Chilean novelist and poet. Her work incorporates erotic, surrealist, and feminist themes. She was a recipient of the Santiago Municipal Literature Award. In 1938 she published her most famous novel The Shrouded Woman.


06/05/1975

József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (born 1892)

József Mindszenty was a Hungarian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Esztergom and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 1945 to 1973. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, for five decades "he personified uncompromising opposition to fascism and communism in Hungary".


06/05/1973

Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (born 1893)

Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, was a Canadian orchestral conductor, composer, organist, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician from the 1920s through the 1950s. His contributions to the development of music in Canada were sustained and varied, as conductor, performer, composer, administrator, lecturer, adjudicator, writer, humourist, and statesman.


06/05/1970

Alexander Rodzyanko, Russian general (born 1879)

Alexander Pavlovich Rodzyanko was an officer of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and lieutenant-general and a corps commander of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. He also competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics.


06/05/1967

Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (born 1885)

Zhou Zuoren was a Chinese writer, primarily known as an essayist and a translator. He was a major figure in the genre of prose essays. Zhou was a younger brother of Lu Xun, the second of three brothers.


06/05/1963

Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (born 1881)

Theodore von Kármán was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer, and physicist who worked in aeronautics and astronautics. He was responsible for crucial advances in aerodynamics characterizing supersonic and hypersonic airflow. The defined threshold of outer space is named the "Kármán line" in recognition of his work. Kármán is regarded as an outstanding aerodynamic theoretician of the 20th century.


Ted Weems, American violinist, trombonist, and bandleader (born 1901)

Wilfred Theodore Wemyes, known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


Monty Woolley, American raconteur, actor, and director (born 1888)

Edgar Montillion "Monty" Woolley was an American film and theater actor. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his role in the 1939 stage play The Man Who Came to Dinner and its 1942 film adaptation. His distinctive white beard was his trademark and he was affectionately known as "The Beard."


06/05/1961

Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (born 1895)

Lucian Blaga was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is one of the most important philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the interwar period in Eastern Europe who, due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his career, is barely known to the outside world.


06/05/1959

Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (born 1881)

Maria Zofia Dulęba was a Polish stage and film actress. She made her stage debut in 1902 and performed in a number of films, mostly in the silent era. She later taught drama.


Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (born 1907)

Ragnar Wilhelm Nurkse was an Estonian-American economist and policy maker mainly in the fields of international finance and economic development. He is considered the pioneer of Balanced Growth Theory.


06/05/1952

Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (born 1870)

Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for her philosophy of education and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori enrolled in classes at an all-boys technical school, with hopes of becoming an engineer. She soon had a change of heart and began medical school at the Sapienza University of Rome, becoming one of the first women to attend medical school in Italy; she graduated with honors in 1896. Her educational method is in use globally in many public and private schools.


06/05/1951

Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (born 1869)

Élie Joseph Cartan was an influential French mathematician who did fundamental work in the theory of Lie groups, differential systems, and differential geometry. He also made significant contributions to general relativity and indirectly to quantum mechanics. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century.


06/05/1949

Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)

Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations". The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life. He was a leading member of the group La Jeune Belgique, and his plays form an important part of the Symbolist movement. In later life, Maeterlinck faced credible accusations of plagiarism.


06/05/1939

Konstantin Somov, Russian-French painter and illustrator (born 1869)

Konstantin Andreyevich Somov was a Russian painter and draughtsman during the Modernist period, best known as co-founding member of the Mir iskusstva society. After the Russian Revolution, he eventually emigrated to Paris, along with other prominent figures in the Russian arts. In his private life, he had a longtime, younger male companion, Methodiy Lukyanov, and an ambiguous artistic and personal relationship with a young boxer, Boris Snezhkovsky, whom he painted many times. In the 21st century, his paintings have sold in the millions of dollars. In 2007, Somov's The Rainbow sold at Christie's London for GBP 3,716,000, an auction record for a Russian work of art.


06/05/1919

L. Frank Baum, American novelist (born 1856)

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.


06/05/1911

René Vallon, French aviator (born 1880)

René Vallon was an early French aviator. Born in Paris, he travelled to Shanghai, China, in 1911 with a group of aviation enthusiasts to promote aircraft sales. He achieved the first aeroplane flight in China on 21 February 1911 at Jiangwan Racecourse, with this and subsequent flights drawing large crowds. He died in an aviation accident less than three months later, resulting in the cancellation of a planned purchase by the Chinese government. Vallon was commemorated with a road and a memorial in the Shanghai French Concession.


06/05/1910

Edward VII of the United Kingdom (born 1841)

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.


06/05/1907

Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect and civil engineer (born 1830)

Emanuele Luigi Galizia was a Maltese architect and civil engineer, who designed many public buildings and several churches. He is regarded as "the principal Maltese architect throughout the second half of the nineteenth century".


06/05/1905

Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (born 1831)

Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert,, was the first Premier of Queensland, Australia. At 28 years and 181 days of age, he was the youngest person ever to become premier of an Australian state.


06/05/1888

Abraham Joseph Ash, American rabbi (born c. 1813)

Abraham Joseph Ash was an Orthodox rabbi and Talmudist.


06/05/1882

Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (born 1829)

Thomas Henry Burke was an Irish civil servant who served as Permanent Under Secretary at the Irish Office for many years before being assassinated during the Phoenix Park Murders on Saturday 6 May 1882. The assassination was carried out by an Irish republican organisation known as the Irish National Invincibles.


Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (born 1836)

Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish was a British Liberal politician and protégé of the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. Cavendish was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 but was killed along with Thomas Henry Burke in what came to be known as the Phoenix Park Murders only hours after his arrival in Dublin, a victim of the Irish National Invincibles organisation.


06/05/1877

Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (born 1804)

Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish. He is considered a national poet of Finland. He is the author of the lyrics to Vårt land. Runeberg was also involved in the modernization of the Finnish Lutheran hymnal and produced many texts for the new edition.


06/05/1867

Socrates Nelson, American businessman and politician (born 1814)

Socrates Nelson was an American businessman, politician, and pioneer who served one term as a Minnesota State Senator from 1859 to 1861. He was a general store owner, lumberman, and real estate speculator associated with numerous companies in the insurance and rail industries. He was involved in the establishment of the community of Stillwater, Minnesota, and was an early member of the first Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge in Minnesota. He served on the University of Minnesota's first board of regents before being elected to the Minnesota Senate.


06/05/1862

Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (born 1817)

Henry David Thoreau was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience", an argument in favor of citizen disobedience against an unjust state.


06/05/1859

Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (born 1769)

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835). Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography, while his advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement pioneered modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring. Humboldt and Carl Ritter are both regarded as the founders of modern geography as they established it as an independent scientific discipline.


06/05/1840

Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (born 1792)

Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President of the Republic of New Granada between 1832 and 1837. Santander played a pivotal role in the Colombian War of Independence being one of the main leaders of the Patriot forces and helped lead the Patriot Army alongside Simón Bolívar to victory. He is often credited with creating the legal foundations for democracy in Colombia, as well as creating the country's first system of public education. For these reasons he is considered a National Hero in Colombia and has thus commonly been known as "The Man of the Laws" as well as the "Organizer of Victory".


06/05/1782

Christine Kirch, German astronomer and academic (born 1696)

Christine Kirch, was a German astronomer.


06/05/1757

Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1683)

Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton was a British peer and politician.


Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (born 1684)

Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall, one of the leading commanders under Frederick the Great.


06/05/1708

François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop (born 1623)

Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval, commonly referred to as François de Laval, was considered the founder of the Catholic faith in New France. He was a French Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of New France from 1658 to 1674. In 1674, he was given the diocese, making him the first bishop of Quebec. He held this position until he retired due to poor health in 1688. He continued to work in New France until his death in 1708.


06/05/1638

Cornelius Jansen, Dutch-French bishop and theologian (born 1585)

Cornelius Jansen was the Dutch Catholic bishop of Ypres in Flanders and the father of a theological movement known as Jansenism.


06/05/1631

Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (born 1570)

Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet of Conington Hall in the parish of Conington in Huntingdonshire, England, was a Member of Parliament and an antiquarian who founded the Cotton library.


06/05/1596

Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (born 1535)

Giaches de Wert was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, active in Italy. Intimately connected with the progressive musical center of Ferrara, he was one of the leaders in developing the style of the late Renaissance madrigal. He was one of the most influential of late sixteenth-century madrigal composers, particularly on Claudio Monteverdi, and his later music was formative on the development of music of the early Baroque era.


06/05/1540

Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (born 1492)

Juan Luis Vives y March was a Spanish (Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who spent most of his adult life in the southern Habsburg Netherlands. His beliefs on the soul, insight into early medical practice, and perspective on emotions, memory and learning earned him the title of the "father" of modern psychology. Vives was the first to shed light on some key ideas that established how psychology is perceived today.


06/05/1527

Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (born 1490)

Charles III de Bourbon, comte de Montpensier, then duc de Bourbon was a French military commander, governor, prince of the royal blood and rebel during the early Italian Wars. The son of Gilbert de Bourbon and Clara Gonzaga, he was born into a junior branch of the royal house of France. The early death of his father and elder brother meant that he became the comte de Montpensier in 1501. He then secured a very advantageous marriage in 1505 to Suzanne de Bourbon, the heiress to the senior line of the house of Bourbon. By this means he became the greatest feudal lord in the French kingdom. He participated in the expeditions of king Louis XII seeing combat at Genoa in 1507 and at the famous battle of Agnadello in 1509. In 1512, he was established as the governor of Languedoc, and in the final years of Louis XII's reign he would fight the Spanish in Navarre and the English in Picardy.


06/05/1502

James Tyrrell, English knight (born 1450)

Sir James Tyrrell was an English knight who was a trusted servant of King Richard III of England. He is known for allegedly confessing to the murders of the Princes in the Tower under Richard's orders. In his 1593 play Richard III, William Shakespeare portrays Tyrrell as the man who organises the princes' murders.


06/05/1483

Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (born 1418)

Queen Jeonghui, of the Papyeong Yun clan, was a posthumous name bestowed on the wife and queen of Yi Yu, King Sejo. She was Queen of Joseon from 1455 until her husband's death in 1468, after which she was honoured as Queen Dowager Jaseong (자성왕대비) during the reign of her son, Yi Hwang, King Yejong, She was later honoured as Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong (자성대왕대비) during the reign of her grandson, Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong.


06/05/1475

Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (born 1415)

Dieric Bouts was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 until his death in 1475. His name also appears at various museums and institutions as Dirk Bouts.


06/05/1471

Edmund Beaufort, English commander (born 1438)

Edmund Beaufort, styled 4th Duke of Somerset, 6th Earl of Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, 3rd Earl of Dorset, was an English nobleman and military commander during the Wars of the Roses. He supported the Lancastrian King Henry VI. Following the defeat of the Lancastrian faction at the Battle of Tewkesbury, he was executed on the order of the Yorkist king, Edward IV.


Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons

Sir Thomas Tresham was an English politician, soldier and administrator. He was the son of Sir William Tresham and his wife Isabel de Vaux, daughter of Sir William Vaux of Harrowden. Thomas's early advancement was due to his father's influence. In 1443 he and his father were appointed as stewards to the Duchy of Lancaster's estates in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, and by 1446 Thomas was serving as an esquire for Henry VI, being made an usher of the king's chamber in 1455. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Huntingdonshire in 1446, a position he held until 1459, and was returned to Parliament for Buckinghamshire in 1447 and Huntingdonshire in 1449. Despite the Tresham family's close links with the royal court they were also on good terms with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and when he returned from Ireland in 1450 Tresham and his father went to greet him. Shortly after leaving home on 23 September they were attacked by a group of men involved in a property dispute with his father; William Tresham was killed, and Thomas was injured.


06/05/1236

Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler

Roger of Wendover, probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.


06/05/1187

Ruben III, Prince of Armenia (born 1145)

Ruben III, also Roupen III, Rupen III, or Reuben III, was the ninth lord of Armenian Cilicia (1175–1187).


06/05/1002

Ealdwulf, Archbishop of York, Abbot of Peterborough and Bishop of Worcester

Ealdwulf was a medieval Abbot of Peterborough, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York.


06/05/0988

Dirk II, count of Frisia and Holland

Dirk II or Theoderic II was a count in West Frisia, and ancestor of the counts of Holland. He was the son and heir of Dirk I and his wife Geva.


06/05/0932

Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (born 852)

Qian Liu, courtesy name Jumei, childhood name Poliu, also known by his temple name as the King Taizu of Wuyue (吳越太祖), was the founding king of Wuyue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China. He was originally a warlord of the late Tang dynasty.


06/05/0850

Ninmyō, Japanese emperor (born 808)

Emperor Ninmyō was the 54th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Ninmyō's reign lasted from 833 to 850, during the Heian period.His personal name (imina) was Masara (正良). After his death, he was given the title Ninmyō (仁明).


06/05/0698

Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarne

Eadberht of Lindisfarne, also known as Saint Eadberht, was Bishop of Lindisfarne, England, from 688 until his death on 6 May 698.


Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 6th May

Christian feast day: Dominic Savio

Dominic Savio was a 19th-century Italian teenager who was a student of John Bosco and became a Catholic saint. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy. He was noted for his piety and devotion to the Catholic faith, and was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1954.


Christian feast day: Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)

Evodius was an early Christian identified by some Christian writings as the first bishop of Antioch. In some traditions, he is seen as succeeding Peter. He is regarded as one of the first identifiable post-apostolic Christians and is venerated as a saint.


Christian feast day: François de Laval

Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval, commonly referred to as François de Laval, was considered the founder of the Catholic faith in New France. He was a French Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of New France from 1658 to 1674. In 1674, he was given the diocese, making him the first bishop of Quebec. He held this position until he retired due to poor health in 1688. He continued to work in New France until his death in 1708.


Christian feast day: Jacinto Vera (Roman Catholic Church)

Blessed Jacinto Vera Durán was a Uruguayan Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first bishop of Montevideo. He was an active minister in Uruguay, although his efforts to renew the priesthood and other ecclesial initiatives brought him into conflict with the Uruguayan government; this was the cause of his exile from the country, establishing himself in Buenos Aires between October 1862 and August 1863, at which point a political change in Uruguay made his return possible. The popularity showcased by his reception continued throughout the rest of his life due to his intense and prolonged missionary work all over the diocese of Montevideo, of which he was made bishop upon its creation in 1878. A neighborhood of Montevideo was named after him in 1895.


Christian feast day: Lucius of Cyrene

Lucius of Laodicea, also known as Luke and Lucius of Cyrene, was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, one of the founders of the Christian Church in Antioch and according to Eastern Orthodox tradition, one of the Seventy Disciples. He is mentioned by name as a member of the church in Antioch, following the account of King Herod's death:In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen and Saul.


Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Caterina Troiani

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".


Christian feast day: Peter Nolasco

Peter Nolasco, O. de M. was a Catholic nobleman known for founding the Royal and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy of the Redemption of the Captives with approval by Pope Gregory IX on 17 January 1235.


Christian feast day: Petronax of Monte Cassino

Saint Petronax of Monte Cassino, called "The Second Founder of Monte Cassino", was an Italian monk and abbot who rebuilt and repopulated the monastery of Monte Cassino, which had been destroyed by the invading Lombards in the late sixth century.


Christian feast day: Blessed Rosa Maria Benedetta Gattorno Custo

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".


Christian feast day: St George's Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church): Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)

An Armed Forces Day, alongside its branch-specific variants often referred to as Army or Soldier's Day, Navy or Sailor's Day, and Air Force or Aviator's Day, is a holiday dedicated to honoring the armed forces, or one of their branches, of a sovereign state, including their personnel, history, achievements, and sacrifices. It's often patriotic or nationalistic in nature, carrying information value outside of the conventional boundaries of a military's subculture and into the wider civilian society. Many nations around the world observe this day. It is usually distinct from a Veterans or Memorial Day, as the former is dedicated to those who previously served and the latter is dedicated to those who perished in the fulfillment of their duties.


Christian feast day: St George's Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church): Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)

George's Day in Spring, or Saint George's Day, is a Slavic religious holiday, the feast of Saint George celebrated on 23 April by the Julian calendar. In Croatia and Slovenia, the Roman Catholic version of Saint George's Day, Jurjevo is celebrated on 23 April by the Gregorian calendar.


Christian feast day: St George's Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church): Yuri's Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church)

George's Day in Spring, or Saint George's Day, is a Slavic religious holiday, the feast of Saint George celebrated on 23 April by the Julian calendar. In Croatia and Slovenia, the Roman Catholic version of Saint George's Day, Jurjevo is celebrated on 23 April by the Gregorian calendar.


Christian feast day: St John before the Latin Gate

John the Apostle, also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother James was another of the Twelve Apostles. The Church Fathers identify him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Elder, and the Beloved Disciple, and claim that he outlived the remaining apostles and was the only one to die of natural causes, although modern scholars are divided on the veracity of these claims.


Christian feast day: May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

May 5 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 7


International No Diet Day

International No Diet Day is an annual celebration dedicated to body positivity and the rejection of diet culture. It is observed globally in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, Denmark, Sweden, and Brazil.


Martyrs' Day (Lebanon and Syria)

Martyrs' Day is a Lebanese national holiday commemorating the Syrian and Lebanese Muslim-Christian Arab nationalists executed in Damascus and Beirut on 6 May 1916 by Jamal Pasha, also known as 'Al Jazzar' or 'The Butcher', the Ottoman wāli of Greater Syria. They were executed in both the Marjeh Square in Damascus and Burj Square in Beirut. Both plazas have since been renamed Martyrs' Square.


National Azulejo Day (Portugal)

Azulejo is a form of Iberian painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. They are an ornamental art form, but also had a specific function, such as aiding temperature control in homes. There is also a tradition of their production in former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in North America, South America, the Philippines, Goa, Lusophone Africa, East Timor, and Macau. Azulejos constitute a major aspect of Portuguese and Spanish architecture to this day, and are found on buildings across Portugal, Spain and their former territories. Many azulejos chronicle major historical and cultural aspects of Portuguese and Spanish history.


The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)

Hıdırellez or Hıdrellez is a folk holiday celebrated as the day on which the prophets Al-Khidr (Hızır) and Elijah (İlyas) met on Earth. Hıdırellez starts on the night of May 5 and ends on May 6 in the Gregorian calendar, and April 23 in the Julian calendar. It is observed in Turkey, Crimea, Gagauzia, Syria, Iraq, the Caucasus, and the Balkans and celebrates the arrival of spring.


What Happened on 6th May?

61 significant events took place on Saturday, 6th May — stretching from 1104 to 2023. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

06/05/2023

The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.

The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, took place on Saturday, 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II.


Eight people are killed and seven injured in a mass shooting in Allen, Texas. The perpetrator is killed by a police officer.

On May 6, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at Allen Premium Outlets, an outlet center in Allen, Texas, United States. Nine people, including the perpetrator, were killed during the shooting, the youngest of whom was a three-year-old boy, and seven others were injured. The perpetrator was fatally shot by a police officer already in the area on an unrelated call.


06/05/2013

Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

Between 2002 and 2004, Ariel Castro abducted Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus from the roads of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and later held them captive in his home at 2207 Seymour Avenue in the city's Tremont neighborhood. All three young women were imprisoned at Castro's home until 2013, when Berry successfully escaped with her six-year-old daughter, to whom she had given birth while captive, and contacted the police. Police rescued Knight and DeJesus, and arrested Castro a few hours later.


06/05/2010

In just 36 minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges nearly 1,000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.


06/05/2004

The final episode of the television sitcom Friends is aired.

"The Last One" is the series finale of the American sitcom Friends. Originally shown in its entirety, the episode's two parts were classified as the seventeenth and eighteenth episodes of the tenth season, and the 235th and the 236th episodes overall. It was written by series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman and directed by executive producer Kevin S. Bright. The series finale first aired on NBC in the United States on May 6, 2004, when it was watched by 52.5 million viewers, making it the most watched entertainment telecast in six years and the fifth most watched overall television series finale in American history as well as the most watched episode from any television series throughout the 2000s decade on American television. In Canada, the finale aired simultaneously on May 6, 2004, on Global, and was viewed by 5.16 million viewers, becoming the second-highest viewed episode of the series.


06/05/2002

Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist, and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.


06/05/2001

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

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north and northwest, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. It is a republic under a provisional government and comprises 14 governorates. Damascus is the capital and largest city. With a population of 26 million across an area of 185,180 square kilometres (71,500 sq mi), it is the 56th-most populous and 87th-largest country.


06/05/1999

The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.

Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area, thus granting them a higher level of autonomy.


06/05/1998

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 fifth career start.

Kerry Lee Wood is an American former baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. Wood first came to prominence as a 20-year-old rookie, when he recorded 20 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout against the Houston Astros, which some have argued may be the greatest single-game pitching performance in MLB history. The game also made Wood the co-holder of the MLB record for strikeouts in a single game (20) and earned Wood the nickname "Kid K". He was later named the 1998 National League Rookie of the Year.


Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.

Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman, inventor, and investor. A pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, Jobs co-founded Apple Inc. with his early business partner Steve Wozniak as Apple Computer Company in 1976. After the company's board of directors fired him in 1985, he founded NeXT the same year and purchased Pixar in 1986, becoming its chairman and majority shareholder until 2007. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 as CEO, where he was closely involved with the creation and promotion of many of the company's most influential products until his resignation in 2011.


06/05/1997

The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history.

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one of the bankers for the government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's second oldest central bank, after Sweden's (1668). It is considered to be one of the world's most important central banks.


06/05/1996

The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and conducting covert operations. The agency is headquartered in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia, and is sometimes metonymously called "Langley". A major member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA has reported to the director of national intelligence since 2004, and is focused on providing intelligence for the president and the Cabinet, though it also provides intelligence for a variety of other entities including the United States Armed Forces and foreign allies.


06/05/1994

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.

Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years, 214 days, is the longest of any British monarch, the second-longest of any sovereign state, and the longest of any queen regnant in history.


06/05/1988

All thirty-six passengers and crew are killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashes into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.

Widerøe Flight 710, known as the Torghatten Accident, was a controlled flight into terrain into the mountain of Torghatten in Brønnøy Municipality, Norway. The Widerøe-operated de Havilland Canada Dash 7 crashed on 6 May 1988 at 20:29:30 during approach to Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy. All thirty-six people on board LN-WFN were killed; the crash remains the deadliest accident involving the Dash 7 and the deadliest in Northern Norway. The direct cause of the accident was that the aircraft had descended from 500 to 170 meters at 8 NM instead of 4 NM from the airport.


06/05/1984

One hundred and three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.

The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the 19th century in Korea. Among them are 103 Saints and 124 Blesseds officially recognized by the Catholic Church.


06/05/1983

The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.

The Hitler Diaries were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by Adolf Hitler, but forged by Konrad Kujau between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks by the West German news magazine Stern, which sold serialisation rights to several news organisations. One of the publications involved was The Sunday Times, who asked their independent director, the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, to authenticate the diaries; he did so, pronouncing them genuine. At the press conference to announce the publication, Trevor-Roper announced that on reflection he had changed his mind, and other historians also raised questions concerning their validity. Rigorous forensic analysis, which had not been performed previously, quickly confirmed that the diaries were fakes.


06/05/1976

The 6.5 Mw  Friuli earthquake affects Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.

The 1976 Friuli earthquake, also known in Italy as Terremoto del Friuli and Orcolat, occurred on 6 May 1976, at 21:00:13 with a moment magnitude of 6.5 and a maximum EMS intensity of X. The shock occurred in the Friuli region in northeast Italy near the town of Gemona del Friuli. 990 people were killed, up to about 3,000 were injured, and more than 157,000 were left homeless.


06/05/1975

During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian genocide.

On May 6, 1975, a massive gathering took place in the Lebanese capital Beirut, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Some 100,000 people participated in the march, which was organized jointly by different groups across the Armenian political spectrum.


06/05/1972

Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.

Deniz Gezmiş was a Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, student leader, and political activist in Turkey in the late 1960s. He was one of the founding members of the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO).


06/05/1966

Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.

The Moors murders were a series of child killings committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in and around Manchester, England, between July 1963 and October 1965. The five victims – Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans – were aged between 10 and 17, and at least four were sexually assaulted. The bodies of two of the victims were discovered in 1965, in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor; a third grave was discovered there in 1987, more than twenty years after Brady and Hindley's trial. Bennett's body is also thought to be buried there, but despite repeated searches it remains undiscovered.


06/05/1960

More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.

The wedding of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones took place on Friday, 6 May 1960 at Westminster Abbey in London. Princess Margaret was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, while Antony Armstrong-Jones was a noted society photographer.


06/05/1954

Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile.


06/05/1949

EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.

The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. Inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, the machine was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England to provide a service to the university. EDSAC was the second electronic digital stored-program computer, after the Manchester Mark 1, to go into regular service.


06/05/1945

World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.

Mildred Elizabeth Gillars was an American broadcaster employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate Axis propaganda during World War II. Following her capture in post-war Berlin, Gillars became the first woman to be convicted of treason against the United States. In March 1949, she was sentenced to ten to thirty years' imprisonment. Gillars was paroled in 1961. Along with Rita Zucca she was nicknamed "Axis Sally".


World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.

The Prague offensive was the last major military operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945. Fought concurrently with the Prague uprising, the offensive significantly helped the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945. The offensive was one of the last engagements of World War II in Europe and continued after Nazi Germany's unconditional capitulation on 8/9 May.


06/05/1942

World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.


06/05/1941

At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.

California is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, and Nevada and Arizona to the east; it also shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With over 39 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the largest U.S. state by population and third-largest by area.


The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. One of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters, it found success in the European and Pacific theaters as an escort fighter well-suited to high-altitude air-to-air combat. It also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber in the ground-attack role.


06/05/1940

John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer and novelist. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters".


06/05/1937

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.

The Hindenburg disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. The LZ 129 Hindenburg was a German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume. Filled with hydrogen, it caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst. The accident caused 35 fatalities among the 97 people on board, and an additional fatality on the ground.


06/05/1935

New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.

The New Deal was a 1933–1938 series of economic, social, and political reforms in response to the Great Depression in the United States under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He introduced the phrase when accepting the Democratic Party presidential nomination in the 1932 United States presidential election, winning in a landslide over incumbent Herbert Hoover, whose administration was widely viewed as ineffective. Roosevelt attributed the Depression to inherent market instability and inadequate aggregate demand, and argued that stabilizing and rationalizing the economy required massive government intervention.


06/05/1933

The Deutsche Studentenschaft attack Magnus Hirschfeld's Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.

The German Student Union from 1919 until 1945, was the merger of the general student committees of all German universities, including Danzig, Austria and the former German universities in Czechoslovakia.


06/05/1916

Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs' Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.

Martyrs' Square, historically known as "Al Burj" or "Place des Cannons", is the historical central public square of Beirut, Lebanon.


Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.

Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of Mainland Southeast Asia. With an area of about 331,000 square kilometres and a population of over 102 million, it is the world's 16th-most populous country. One of two communist states in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west; it lies along the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest and the South China Sea to the east, where it has shared and disputed maritime borders with other countries. Its capital is Hanoi, while its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City.


06/05/1915

Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.

George Herman "Babe" Ruth was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", he began his MLB career as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time. In 1936, Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" members.


Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: The SY Aurora breaks loose from its anchorage during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal.

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition in 1911, this crossing remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of Antarctic journeyings". Shackleton's expedition failed to accomplish this objective but became recognised instead as an epic feat of endurance.


06/05/1910

George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.


06/05/1906

The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).

The Russian Constitution of 1906 refers to a major revision of the 1832 Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, which transformed the formerly absolutist state into one in which the emperor agreed for the first time to share his autocratic power with a parliament. It was enacted on 6 May [O.S. 23 April] 1906, on the eve of the opening of the first State Duma. This first-ever Russian Constitution was a revision of the earlier Fundamental Laws, which had been published as the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire in 1832. It was granted during the Russian Revolution of 1905, in a last-ditch effort by the imperial government to preserve its own existence and keep the empire from disintegration.


06/05/1901

The first issue of Gorkhapatra, the oldest still running state-owned Nepali newspaper, is published.

Gorkhapatra is the oldest Nepali language state-owned national daily newspaper of Nepal. It was started as a weekly newspaper in May 1901 and became a daily newspaper in 1961. It is managed by the Gorkhapatra Sansthan. The Rising Nepal is an English-language sister newspaper of Gorkhapatra.


06/05/1889

The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is a lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889.


06/05/1882

Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.

Thomas Henry Burke was an Irish civil servant who served as Permanent Under Secretary at the Irish Office for many years before being assassinated during the Phoenix Park Murders on Saturday 6 May 1882. The assassination was carried out by an Irish republican organisation known as the Irish National Invincibles.


The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.


06/05/1877

Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.

Crazy Horse was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band and one of the most renowned Native American figures of the nineteenth century. Known for his commitment to defending Lakota lands and lifeways, he emerged as a central figure in the northern Great Plains during a period of intense conflict with the United States. Crazy Horse resisted U.S. expansion into the Powder River Country, rejecting treaty settlements and reservation life, and became widely respected for both his tactical skill and his personal humility, which included a lifelong avoidance of being photographed.


06/05/1863

American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a major defeat of the Union's Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee.

The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign.


06/05/1861

American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.


06/05/1857

The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.

The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies, and later with East Asia. The company gained control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British Army at certain times.


06/05/1840

The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until 6 May. The stamp features a profile of 21-year-old Queen Victoria.


06/05/1835

James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.

James Gordon Bennett Sr. was a British-born American businessman who was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers.


06/05/1801

Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.

Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão, styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval officer, politician and mercenary. Serving during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in the Royal Navy, his naval successes led Napoleon to nickname him le Loup des Mers. He was successful in virtually all his naval actions.


06/05/1782

Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.

The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782. The king, his court, and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, resided at the Chitralada Royal Villa and his successor King Vajiralongkorn resides at the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, both in the Dusit Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year. The palace is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Thailand, with over eight million people visiting each year.


06/05/1757

Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.

The Battle of Prague, also known as Battle of Štěrboholy, was fought on 6 May 1757, during the Third Silesian War and the broader Seven Years' War, between the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria. Although Frederick the Great's army of 64,000 Prussians forced 60,000 Austrians to retreat, he lost 14,300 men and decided he was not strong enough to attack Prague.


The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).

The Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War was the war fought between the Konbaung Dynasty and the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom of Burma (Myanmar) from 1752 to 1757. The war was the last of several wars between the Burmese-speaking north and the Mon-speaking south that ended the Mon people's centuries-long dominance of the south.


English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.

Christopher Smart was an English poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines, The Midwife and The Student, and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Smart, a high church Anglican, was widely known throughout London.


06/05/1682

Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.

Louis XIV was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. He is a symbol of the Age of Absolutism in Europe for styling himself as "The Sun King", which portrayed him as supreme leader. He presided over a great expansion of the French colonial empire and a patronage of arts in his court at the Palace of Versailles that defined the Baroque style of French architecture. His reign of 72 years and 110 days remains the longest of any sovereign monarch in history.


06/05/1659

English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.

The Stuart Restoration was the return in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy to the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, ending the Interregnum and the Commonwealth of England that had been established after the execution of Charles I in January 1649. The Commonwealth had been governed by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and, briefly, his son Richard Cromwell, before political instability and the intervention of General George Monck led to the Declaration of Breda and the return of Charles II from exile. Charles landed at Dover on 25 May 1660 and entered London on 29 May, his thirtieth birthday. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661. The term "Restoration" is also used more broadly to describe the reign of Charles II (1660–1685), and sometimes that of his brother James II (1685–1688).


06/05/1594

The Dutch city of Coevorden, held by the Spanish, falls to a Dutch and English force.

Coevorden is a municipality and city in the province of Drenthe, in the northeast of the Netherlands. It shares a provincial border with Overijssel and an international one with Germany. The city itself is located between Emmen and Hardenberg on the N34 road, about 2 km from the German border.


06/05/1542

Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.

Francis Xavier, venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of the Portuguese Empire, led the first Christian mission to Japan.


06/05/1541

King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.

Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 22 April 1509, and King of Ireland from 18 June 1542, until his death in 1547.


06/05/1536

The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.

The 10-month siege of Cusco by the Incan army under the command of Sapa Inca Manco Inca Yupanqui started on 6 May 1536 and ended in March 1537. The city was held by a garrison of Spanish conquistadors and Indian auxiliaries led by Hernando Pizarro. The Incans hoped to restore their empire (1438–1533) with this action, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.


06/05/1527

Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.

The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of Rome on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, during the War of the League of Cognac. Charles V only intended to threaten military action to make Pope Clement VII come to his terms. However, the Imperial army were largely unpaid and mutinied. Despite being ordered not to storm Rome, they broke into the scarcely defended city and began looting, killing, and holding citizens for ransom without any restraint. Clement VII took refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo after the Swiss Guard were annihilated in a delaying rear guard action; he remained there until a ransom was paid to the pillagers.


06/05/1104

King Baldwin I of Jerusalem begins the siege of Acre, then held by the Fatimids.

Baldwin I was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny. He received the County of Verdun in 1096, but he soon joined the crusader army of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon and became one of the most successful commanders of the First Crusade.