TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

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.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1889

The Paris Exposition formally opened, featuring the justcompleted 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. Comedian Bob Hope did his first USO show before an audience of servicemen as he broadcast his radio program from March Field in Riverside, California.

1942

During World War II, some 15,000 American and Filipino troops on Corregidor surrendered to Japanese forces.

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.