6th MAY ~ HiSTORY ON THiS DAY

1800s / 19th century history on the 6th of May

1835 : New York Herald 1st issue was published by James Gordon Bennett. Sr. It was published for 89 years until 1924, when it was acquired by the New-York Tribune, a smaller rival, to form the New York Herald Tribune.

1840 : The PENNY BLACK postage stamp was valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, although it was issued 5 days earlier on the 1st of May.

Is your Penny Black worth £300,000? (The Westminister Collection YouTube video)

1856 : SiGMUND FREUD the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst was born Sigismund Schlomo Freud in Freiberg in Mähren, Moravia, Austrian Empire, now known as Příbor, Czech Republic (died in 1939 aged 83).

PSYCHOTHERAPY – Sigmund Freud (The School of Life verified YouTube video)

1862 : Henry David Thoreau the philosopher died aged 44 (born in 1817). He was also a poet, essayist, naturalist, and transcendentalist. Henry David Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, which is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings.

POLITICAL THEORY – Henry David Thoreau (The School of Life verified YouTube video)

1889 : The Eiffel Tower was officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris, France.

Paris celebrates Eiffel Tower’s 130th anniversary with daily laser light show in 2019 (France 24 English verified YouTube video)
1900s / 20th century history on the 6th of May

1910 : George V became King of Great Britain, Ireland, and overseas territories, when his father Edward VII died.

1915 : Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run, while playing for the Boston Red Sox.

1937 : HiNDENBURG DiSASTER : The German zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed within a minute while it was attempting to dock at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey, USA. The flight originated from Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The accident resulted in 36 deaths (13 passengers, 22 crewmen & 1 on the ground) of the 97 people on board.

Hindenburg Disaster: Real Zeppelin Explosion Footage from 1937 (British Pathé verified YouTube video)

1940 : The Grapes of Wrath novel by John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

1941 : Bob Hope performed his first USO show at California’s March Field.

1945 : Bob Seger the American musician was born Robert Clark Seger in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Bob Seger’s official website : BobSeger.com

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Night Moves – song released in 1976 – official music video (Bob Seger verified YouTube video)

1947 : Alan Dale the New Zealand-born Australian actor was born in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

1949 : EDSAC, the 1st practical electronic digital stored-program computer, ran its first operation.

EDSAC – Reflecting on a Vision : Andrew Herbert presents reflects on the impact of the original computer, which helped researchers gain Nobel prizes. The ongoing reconstruction of an EDSAC can be seen at The National Museum of Computing on Bletchley Park. (The National Museum of Computing : TNMOC YouTube video)

1953 : Tony Blair the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1954 : Roger Bannister became the 1st person to run 1 mile in less than 4 minutes.

1960 : The 1st televised royal wedding was broadcasted, with the marriage of Princess Margaret to Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey. Over 20 million viewers watched the telecast.

Royal Wedding : This film shows scenes of the Wedding in Westminster Abbey, and the return to trip to Buckingham Palace , plus Princess Margaret and her new husband leaving Buckingham Palace for their honeymoon and boarding the Royal Yacht Britannia from the Pool of London. (British Movietone verified YouTube video)

1961 : George Clooney the American actor was born in Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

1961 : Gina Riley the Australian actress was born in Melbourne, Australia. She is best known as Kim Craig in the Kath & Kim television series from 2002 to 2007 on ABC TV and Seven Network.

Kath & Kim Wine Time – Season 2 (Kath and Kim YouTube video)

1976 : Friuli earthquake hit Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli extreme intensity, resulting in the deaths of up to 978 people, and up to 2,400 injured people.

Catastrophic earthquake in Italy audio and video : On the evening of 6 May 1976, a catastrophic 6.5 earthquake struck the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy. There are 2 audio recordings of the earthquake. 1. La Prima: a boy from Udine was recording a Pink Floyd album on a tape. 2. A primary school was recording a children’s choir trying a song to participate in a music competition.

1983 : The Hitler Diaries were revealed to be a hoax, after an examination was conducted by new experts.

1994 : The CHANNEL TUNNEL between England and France was opened, by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand. The 50 kilometre railway tunnel contains 2 single track tunnels, and 1 service tunnel. The operating speed of the trains is 160 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour) with 200 km/h (120 mph) possible by track geometry, but not yet allowed. At the lowest point it is 115 metres (380 ft) below sea level, 75 metres (250 ft) below the sea bed. It is the longest underwater section of tunnel in the world.

UK/France – Channel Tunnel Inauguration (Associated Press : AP Archive verified YouTube video)

1998 : The 1st iMac was unveiled by Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. The iMac was a huge success for Apple, until it was discontinued 15 years later in 2003. The introductory price was $1299 in USA.

Steve Jobs TV interview about iMac launch in 1998 ~ 4 minute video (TheAppleFanBoy – Apple & Computer Archives YouTube video)
The First iMac Introduction : see Steve Jobs introducing the very first iMac in 1998 (7 minute video)
2000s / 21st century history on the 6th of May

2010 : FLASH CRASH : The Dow-Jones average plunged almost 1000 points in only 36 minutes.

The Infamous Stock Market Flash Crash (CNBC verified YouTube video)
The Wild $50M Ride of the Flash Crash Trader (Bloomberg Quicktake verified YouTube video)

2016 : REG GRUNDY the Australian media mogul and television producer died aged 92 (born in 1923). He started his career as a sports commentator on radio, then a game show host on Wheel of Fortune. In 1960 he founded Reg Grundy Enterprises and produced game shows, ABBA: The Movie, Class of ’74, The Restless Years, The Young Doctors, Prisoner, Glenview High, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours. In the 1980s he started Reg Grundy Productions in USA and produced for NBC : Sale of the Century, Scrabble, Scattergories, Time Machine, and Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak for ABC.

Reg Grundy passes away (1923 – 2016) 5 News in the UK tribute to Reg Grundy on the 9th May 2016

2019 : Archie Mountbatten-Windsor the British royal was born Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in Portland Hospital, London, UK. He is the son of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Archie is the 7th in the line of succession to the British throne.

Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Welcome Their Royal Baby, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor (TODAY verified YouTube video)

see more interesting events on all the other days of MAY (History On This Day @ Azoosh)

This page was last updated on the 6th May 2021

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