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May 6: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – May 6 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 6th May 1541: King Henry VIII ordered that the bible in English be placed in every church in England.
2. 6th May 1542: Francis Xavier today reached Old Goa, which was then the capital of Portuguese in India.
3. 6th May 1626: Peter Minuit, a Dutch colonist, today bought Manhattan Island from the local Indians for trinkets worth 60 Guilders.
4. 6th May 1672: The Monarch of Brandenburg, Fredrik William today signed a treaty with the Netherlands.
18th Century – What Happened on May 6 – The 1700s
5. 6th May 1787: In Prince Hall in Boston today the first African American Masonic Lodge (African # 450) formed.
19th Century – May 6 This Day That Year – The 1800s
6. 6th May 1804: Surinam on this day was sold(until Feb 1816) to Britain.
7. 6th May 1835: The first issue of the New York Herald, priced at 1 cent per paper, was published today by its founder James Gordon Bennett Jr. today.
8. 6th May 1837: The first steel plow was today created by John Deere, the founder of Deere & Company.
9. 6th May 1840: Britain today issues the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black.
10. 6th May 1851: Yale lock was today patented by Linus Yale.
11. 6th May 1851: A “refrigeration machine” was patented by Dr. John Gorrie today.
12. 6th May 1851: This day marks the start of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
13. 6th May 1889: In Paris World’s Fair “Exposition Universelle” opened today—the Eiffel Tower which was newly constructed served as its entrance arch.
14. 6th May 1891:The London General Omnibus Company’s conductors went on a strike today.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 6th – The 1900s
15. 6th May 1902: The British Steam Ship SS Camorta sank off the coast of Rangoon killing 739 people.
16. 6th May 1914: Women’s suffrage was today rejected by the House of Lords of Britain.
17. 6th May 1915: The Centurion was today sunk by a German U-boat, U-20 off the coast of Ireland.
18. 6th May 1919: German colonies in Africa were disposed of at the Paris Peace Conference. Britain and France were assigned German East Africa, and German South West Africa was assigned to South Africa.
19. 6th May 1921: This day marks the formation of the American Soccer League.
20. 6th May 1933: A trade agreement was signed between Italy and USSR today.
21. 6th May 1935: King George V of Britain and Queen Mary celebrated silver jubilee today.
22. 6th May 1935: This year’s Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Audrey Wurdemann for Bright Ambush.
23. 6th May 1937: The German Airship Hindenburg exploded into flames and crashed into the ground at Lakehurst, killing 36 people.
24. 6th May 1940: John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “Graphs of Wrath”.
25. 6th May 1941: Today Joseph Stalin became the Premier of the Soviet Union.
26. 6th May 1942: Corregidor and the Philippines surrendered today to the Japanese Armies.
27. 6th May 1943: The British First Army began its assault on Tunis today.
28. 6th May 1945: In Netherlands General Johannes Blaskowitz surrendered to the German troops today.
29. 6th May 1945: Axis Sally today delivered her last propaganda broadcast to the Allied forces.
30. 6th May 1946: Arthur M Schlesinger was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “Age of Jackson”.
31. 6th May 1948: In Athens 43 communist rebels were executed today.
32. 6th May 1954: Roger Bannister, a medical student was the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. He clocked 3 minutes 59.4 seconds during the track meet in Oxford.
33. 6th May 1955: On this day West Germany joins NATO.
34. 6th May 1957: Pulitzer Prize in the category Biography/Autobiography, was awarded to John F Kennedy for “Profiles in Courage”.
35. 6th May 1959: British fishing ships were shot at by Iceland gunboats.
36. 6th May 1960: In Jakarta, students today attacked the Dutch embassy.
37. 6th May 1960: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was today signed by President Eisenhower.
38. 6th May 1961: The Belgium Liberal Party chose Omer Vanaudenhove as its chairman today.
39. 6th May 1962: In Italy, Antonio Segni was elected President today.
40. 6th May 1962: The US today performed a nuclear test on the Pacific Ocean.
41. 6th May 1962: Polaris submarine fired its first nuclear warhead today.
42. 6th May 1963: Barbara Tuchman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “Guns of August”.
43. 6th May 1965: Australian openers Bill Lawry and Simpson completed an opening stand of 382 runs against West Indies.
44. 6th May 1966: The Minister of Finance of Canada today announced the release of a $20 Centennial gold coin.
45. 6th May 1967: Zakir Hussain was elected as President of India.
46. 6th May 1967: The administrative building of Cheyney State College in Pennsylvania was today seized by some 400 students.
47. 6th May 1968: In Paris, a street battle arose between students and the troops. 1000 people were injured.
48. 6th May 1968: Spain today closed the border to Gibraltar to all except Spaniards.
49. 6th May 1970: Yuchro Miura of Japan today Skied down Mount Everest.
50. 6th May 1970: Prime Minister Jack Lynch of Ireland today sacked two ministers from his government on allegations of importing arms illegally.
51. 6th May 1972: Deniz Gezmis, Yusuf Aslan, and Husyin Inan were today executed in Ankara because they attempted to overthrow the Constitutional order.
52. 6th May 1974: Willy Brandt, the West German Chancellor resigned today.
53. 6th May 1975: A tornado struck Omaha, Nebraska. Three people lost their lives in the tornado.
54. 6th May 1976: Friuli in Northern Italy was struck by an earthquake today. The quake destroyed entire villages and resulted in the death of close to 1000 people.
55. 6th May 1978: South African military went into Angola today.
56. 6th May 1979: A bicycle speed record of 818 KMPH was set by Fred Markham over a distance of 200 m.
57. 6th May 1979: USSR today performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.
58. 6th May 1981: US today expelled Libyan diplomats.
59. 6th May 1981: In a design competition held for the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Yale architecture student Maya Ying Lin was named the winner.
60. 6th May 1984: Jose Napoleon Durate emerged victorious in the Presidential election in El Salvador.
61. 6th May 1985: Today the 17th Space Shuttle Mission, Challenger 7 landed at Edwards AFB.
62. 6th May 1986: France performed the nuclear test on Muruora Island today.
63. 6th May 1986: Donald E Pelotte today became a bishop and was the first Native American to become a bishop.
64. 6th May 1987: USSR today performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.
65. 6th May 1987: Democratic Presidential candidate Gary Hart, in a news conference denied having an affair with model Donna Rice.
66. 6th May 1987: Under the orders of the Apartheid government of South Africa, a London building that housed the South African Trade Union was bombed today.
67. 6th May 1990: As a protest against the apartheid reforms program of F.W.de Klerk, former President P. W. Botha quit South Africa’s ruling National Party.
68. 6th May 1991: U.S. Steel today seized to be a component of the Doe Jones index.
69. 6th May 1993: Space Shuttle Columbia made a safe landing in California after a ten-day mission.
70. 6th May 1993: The UN peace plan was rejected for the third time by the Bosnian Serb Parliament today.
71. 6th May 1994: The Canal Tunnel connecting Britain and France was formally opened today by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and President Francois Mitterrand of France.
72. 6th May 1994: In South Africa, Nelson Mandela and his ANC emerged as winners.
73. 6th May 1995: Thousands of World War II veterans in London celebrated the 50 anniversary of V-E Day.
74. 6th May 1997: President Clinton made a state visit to Mexico. President Clinton and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo pledged closer cooperation on immigration and drug smuggling.
75. 6th May 1997: British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave the Bank of England to set interest rates.
76. 6th May 1998: It was jointly announced in London by Daimler Benz’s Jurgen Schrempp and Robert Eaton of Chrysler that the German automaker would purchase Chrysler for a $38 billion merger.
77. 6th May 1998: Border skirmish between Ethiopia and Eritrea over Badme triangle, which is a land of about 150 sq mile area.
78. 6th May 1999: The sale of handguns to Venezuelan companies was suspended by the Clinton administration over concerns that the guns ended up in the hands of narcotic gangs and guerrillas of Columbia.
79. 6th May 1999: A $13.1 billion emergency spending bill to pay for air war in Yugoslavia was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives today.
21st Century – May 6 This Day In History – The 2000s
80. 6th May 2000: Jin Wancho, a former soldier and head of a Chinese construction company involved in three major projects was reported to have disappeared with over $120 million.
81. 6th May 2000: President Omer el-Bashir of Sudan today sacked Hassan Turabi as Secretary General of the ruling National Congress Party.
82. 6th May 2001: Today $100 million was pledged to the John Hopkins University by an anonymous donor to develop a vaccine and new drugs for malaria.
83. 6th May 2001: Today, Denis Tito, an American businessman, ended a paid space vacation aboard a Russian space capsule and returned to Earth.
84. 6th May 2002: Documents showing Enron Corporation had manipulated the California power system to increase profits were released today by the federal regulator.
85. 6th May 2003: Sanctions against Angola’s UNITA rebels imposed by the Clinton administration were lifted today by the Bush administration citing the end of the quarter-century civil war.
86. 6th May 2003: In Tripura, a northeastern state of India, 19 Bengal settlers were killed by suspected separatist guerillas.
87. 6th May 2004: President Bush of the United States today told King Abdullah II that he was sorry for the mistreatment meted out to the Iraqi prisoners by the US guards.
88. 6th May 2005: The chief of the World Hindu Council’s Nepal Chapter, Narayan Pokhrel, while he was touring villages, was fatally shot by unidentified gunmen in Southwestern Nepal today.
89. 6th May 2006: Security forces in Bagdad today killed a chemical weapons expert of a major Islamist extremist group.
90. 6th May 2007: As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown was likely to take over from Tony Blair as Prime Minister, Home Secretary John Reid announced that he would resign within weeks.
91. On 6th May 2008:In a gun battle with insurgents near Kandahar in Afghanistan a Canadian soldier was killed and another was wounded.
92. 6th May 2008: The long-awaited civilian nuclear cooperation pact was today signed by Russia and the United States, which will allow firms from these two countries to expand bilateral nuclear trade.
93. 6th May 2013: A bill enabling taxing of online sales was today passed by the US Senate.
94. 6th May 2013: In Syria, clashes broke out between the rebels and government forces. Warplanes bombarded rebel positions inside the Mannagh airbase.
95. 6th May 2013: Wal-Mart became the largest company in terms of revenue on the Fortune 500 list.
96. 6th May 2013: Two Egyptian engineers working in a cement factory in the South were kidnapped by Yemeni gunmen.
97. 6th May 2013: In the northwestern Kurram tribal region of Pakistan an explosion ripped through the campaign rally of a leading Islamist party “Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam”, killing 25 and wounding 70.
98. 6th May 2014: The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, today released a 57-minute video boasting about abducting schoolgirls in Nigeria.
99. 6th May 2017: There was a bus crash in the Arusha region of Tanzania that killed 35 people.
100. 6th May 2017: In Nigeria, 84 school girls who were abducted by Boko Haram, were released today in exchange for Boko Haram suspects.
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