Today In History
Today is Saturday, May 6, the 126th day of 2017. There are 239 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1937: The hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
ON THIS DATE
› 1889: The Paris Exposition formally opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower.
› 1910: Britain’s Edwardian era ended with the death of King Edward VII; he was succeeded by George V.
› 1941: Josef Stalin assumed the Soviet premiership, replacing Vyacheslav M. Molotov. Comedian Bob Hope did his first USO show.
› 1954: Medical student Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile during a track meet in Oxford, England, in 3:59.4.
› 1957: Eugene O’Neill’s play “Long Day’s Journey into Night” won the Pulitzer Prize for drama; John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage” won the Pulitzer for biography or autobiography.
› 1974: West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned after one of his aides was exposed as an East German spy.
› 1992: Former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev delivered a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where Winston Churchill had spoken of the “Iron Curtain”; Gorbachev said the world was still divided, between North and South, rich and poor.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays is 86. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is 83. Rock singer Bob Seger is 72. Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 72. Gospel singer-comedian Lulu Roman is 71. Actor Alan Dale is 70. Actor Ben Masters is 70. Actor Richard Cox is 69. Actor Gregg Henry is
65. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is
64. TV personality Tom Bergeron is 62. Actress Roma Downey is 57. Rock singer John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) is 57. Actor-director George Clooney is 56. Actor Clay O’Brien is 56. Rock singer-musician Tony Scalzo (Fastball) is
53. Rock musician Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) is 46. Actress Stacey Oristano is 38. Model/ TV personality Tiffany Coyne is 35. Actress-comedian Sasheer Zamata is
31. Actress-singer Naomi Scott is 24. Actor Noah Galvin (TV: “The Real O’Neals”) is 23.