TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, May 6, the 126th day of 2017. There are 239 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.
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. 1935 — The Works Progress Administration began operating under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1941 — Josef Stalin assumed the Soviet premiership, replacing Vyacheslav M. Molotov. 1942 — During World War II, some 15,000 American and Filipino troops on Corregidor surrendered to Japanese forces. 1954 — Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile in 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. 1987 — Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart held a news conference in Hanover, New Hampshire, in which he denied ever having an affair with Miami model Donna Rice, but declined to say whether he’d ever committed adultery. 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. 2002 — Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was shot and killed in Hilversum, Netherlands. (Volkert van der Graaf was later convicted of killing Fortuyn and was sentenced to 18 years in prison — he was released in May 2014.)
Five years ago
Vice President Joe Biden told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he was “absolutely comfortable” with gay couples who marry getting the same civil rights and liberties as heterosexual couples.
One year ago
For the second month in a row, the aerospace upstart SpaceX landed a rocket on an ocean platform, this time following the successful launch of a Japanese communications satellite.
Today’s Birthdays
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays is 86. Rock singer Bob Seger is 72. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 64. Actress Roma Downey is 57. Rock singer John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) is 57. Actor-director George Clooney is 56. Rock musician Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) is 46. Actress Gabourey Sidibe is 34. Actress-singer Naomi Scott is 24.