TODAY IN HISTORY

On May 6, 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring Chinese immigrants from the U.S. for 10 years. (Arthur had opposed an earlier version with a 20-year ban.)

In 1910, Britain’s Edwardian era ended with the death of King Edward VII; he was succeeded by George V.

In 1915, Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run as a player for the Boston Red Sox.

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration began operating under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1937, the hydrogenfilled German airship Hindenburg combusted and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

In 1994, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand formally opened the Channel Tunnel.