History of Today in India – 06 May

Explore the history of today 06 May in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 06 May 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 06 May in World History

06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2023: Eight people are killed and seven injured in a mass shooting in Allen, Texas. The perpetrator is killed by a police officer. Read more
06 May 2013: Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Read more
06 May 2010: In just 36 minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges nearly 1,000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash. Read more
06 May 2004: The final episode of the television sitcom Friends is aired. Read more
06 May 2002: Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum. Read more
06 May 2002: Founding of SpaceX. Read more
06 May 2001: During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque. Read more
06 May 1999: The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1998: Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac. Read more
06 May 1997: The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history. Read more
06 May 1996: The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared. Read more
06 May 1994: Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel. Read more
06 May 1988: All thirty-six passengers and crew are killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashes into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy. Read more
06 May 1984: One hundred and three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul. Read more
06 May 1983: The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1975: During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian genocide. Read more
06 May 1972: Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order. Read more
06 May 1966: Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England. Read more
06 May 1960: More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey. Read more
06 May 1954: Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes. Read more
06 May 1949: EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation. Read more
06 May 1945: World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops. Read more
06 May 1945: World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins. Read more
06 May 1942: World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese. Read more
06 May 1941: At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show. Read more
06 May 1941: The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. Read more
06 May 1940: John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1933: The Deutsche Studentenschaft attack Magnus Hirschfeld's Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books. Read more
06 May 1916: Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs' Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha. Read more
06 May 1916: 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. Read more
06 May 1915: Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run. Read more
06 May 1915: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: The SY Aurora breaks loose from its anchorage during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal. Read more
06 May 1910: George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII. Read more
06 May 1906: The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar). Read more
06 May 1901: The first issue of Gorkhapatra, the oldest still running state-owned Nepali newspaper, is published. Read more
06 May 1889: The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris. Read more
06 May 1882: Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Read more
06 May 1882: The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act. Read more
06 May 1877: Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1861: American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1840: The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Read more
06 May 1835: James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald. Read more
06 May 1801: Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 06 May in World History

06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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) Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2002: 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. Read more
06 May 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. He 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1997: 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. Read more
06 May 1997: 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. Read more
06 May 1994: Mateo Kovačić, Croatian international footballer Mateo Kovačić is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the Croatia national team. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1993: 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). Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1992: 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. Read more
06 May 1992: 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. Read more
06 May 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). Read more
06 May 1990: Péter Gulácsi, Hungarian footballer Péter Gulácsi is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1989: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1988: 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. Read more
06 May 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". Read more
06 May 1987: 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. Read more
06 May 1987: 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. Read more
06 May 1987: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1983: 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. Read more
06 May 1983: Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama Trinley Thaye Dorje is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1980: Brooke Bennett, American swimmer Brooke Marie Bennett is an American former competition swimmer and three-time Olympic champion. Read more
06 May 1980: 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. Read more
06 May 1980: Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer Ricardo José Dognella Lima de Oliveira is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1979: 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." Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1978: 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. Read more
06 May 1978: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1977: Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver Chantelle Lee Newbery is an Australian former diver. Read more
06 May 1976: Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer Iván de la Peña López is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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). Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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). Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1961: Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist Sir Thomas Blane Hunter is a Scottish businessman and philanthropist. Read more
06 May 1961: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1960: 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. Read more
06 May 1960: John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist John Conant Flansburgh is an American musician and a co-founder of the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, which was formed in 1982. He is the lead writer and singer, playing rhythm guitar for the band. Read more
06 May 1960: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1955: 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 who 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 served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Barrow and Furness from 1992 to 2010. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1953: 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. Read more
06 May 1953: Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1952: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1947: 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. Read more
06 May 1945: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is an American country singer-songwriter currently living in Austin, Texas. Read more
06 May 1945: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1943: 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. Read more
06 May 1943: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1930: David Carpenter, American serial killer David Joseph Carpenter, also called the Trailside Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1929: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1924: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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). Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1915: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1913: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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). Read more
06 May 1907: 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). Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1904: Catherine Lacey, English actress (died 1979) Catherine Lacey was an English actress of stage and screen. Read more
06 May 1904: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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". Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1897: Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (died 1979) Paul Alverdes was a German novelist and poet. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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 names of Malba Tahan and Breno de Alencar Bianco. Read more
06 May 1895: 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. Read more
06 May 1895: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1880: Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (died 1959) Winifred Mabel Brunton née Newberry was a South African painter, illustrator and Egyptologist. Read more
06 May 1880: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1879: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1872: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1871: 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. Read more
06 May 1870: Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (died 1936) Walter Mathers Rutherford was a Scottish golfer who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1868: Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (died 1927) Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1856: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1836: Max Eyth, German engineer and author (died 1906) Max Eyth was a German engineer and writer. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1800: Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (died 1881) Prince Roman Adam Stanisław Sanguszko (1800–1881) was a Polish aristocrat, patriot, political and social activist. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 06 May in World History

06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2024: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2016: 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. Read more
06 May 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." Read more
06 May 2015: 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. Read more
06 May 2015: Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1922) James Claude Wright Jr. was a liberal 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2014: 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. Read more
06 May 2014: 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. Read more
06 May 2014: 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. Read more
06 May 2014: 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. Read more
06 May 2014: 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. Read more
06 May 2014: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2013: 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. Read more
06 May 2013: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2012: James Isaac, American director and producer (born 1960) James Isaac was an American film director and visual effects supervisor. Read more
06 May 2012: 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." Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2007: Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1926) Gene Curtis Harrington was an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. 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. He is considered one of the forerunners to New Queer Cinema. The Harvard Film Archive referred to him as “among the most wholly original directors to work in the Hollywood studio system.” Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2006: 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." Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 2004: 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. Read more
06 May 2004: 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. Read more
06 May 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). Read more
06 May 2002: Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (born 1906) Murray Adaskin, was a Canadian violinist, teacher, and composer. Read more
06 May 2002: 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". Read more
06 May 2002: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1995: Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (born 1956) Noel Brotherston was an international footballer for Northern Ireland. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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), 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1984: Bonner Pink, English politician (born 1912) Ralph Bonner Pink was a British Conservative politician. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1983: Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (born 1922) Kai Chresten Winding was a Danish-born 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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". Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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 human-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. Read more
06 May 1963: 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. Read more
06 May 1963: 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." Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1959: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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". Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1888: Abraham Joseph Ash, American rabbi (born c. 1813) Abraham Joseph Ash was an Orthodox rabbi and Talmudist. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 1882: 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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. Read more
06 May 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". Read more

Why is 06 May Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 06 May, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 06 May in World history?

On 06 May, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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Yes, History of Today is frequently asked in UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, and State PSC exams as part of static GK and current awareness sections.