On This Day — 6 May

2023

The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.

Coronation of Charles III and Camilla

2023

Eight people are killed and seven injured in a mass shooting in Allen, Texas. The perpetrator is killed by a police officer.

2023 Allen, Texas, mall shooting

2013

Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

Ariel Castro kidnappings

2010

In just 36 minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges nearly 1,000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

2004

The final episode of the television sitcom Friends is aired.

The Last One (Friends)

2002

Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.

Pim Fortuyn

2001

During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.

Syria

1999

The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.

Devolution

1998

Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.

Kerry Wood

1998

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.

Steve Jobs

1997

The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history.

Bank of England

1996

The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.

Central Intelligence Agency

1994

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.

Elizabeth II

1988

All thirty-six passengers and crew are killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashes into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.

Widerøe Flight 710

1984

One hundred and three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.

Korean Martyrs

1983

The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.

Hitler Diaries

1976

The 6.5 Mw  Friuli earthquake affects Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.

1976 Friuli earthquake

1975

During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian genocide.

60th anniversary of the Armenian genocide commemorations in Beirut

1972

Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.

Deniz Gezmiş

1966

Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.

Moors murders

1960

More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.

Wedding of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones

1954

Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

Roger Bannister

1949

EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.

EDSAC

1945

World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.

Mildred Gillars

1945

World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.

Prague offensive

1942

World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.

World War II

1941

At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.

California

1941

The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

1940

John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

John Steinbeck

1937

Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.

Hindenburg disaster

1935

New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.

New Deal

1933

The Deutsche Studentenschaft attack Magnus Hirschfeld's Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.

German Student Union

1916

Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs' Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.

Martyrs' Square, Beirut

1916

Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.

Vietnam

1915

Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.

Babe Ruth

1915

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: The SY Aurora breaks loose from its anchorage during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal.

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

1910

George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.

George V

1906

The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).

Russian Constitution of 1906

1901

The first issue of Gorkhapatra, the oldest still running state-owned Nepali newspaper, is published.

Gorkhapatra

1889

The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

Eiffel Tower

1882

Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.

Thomas Henry Burke (civil servant)

1882

The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.

United States Congress

1877

Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.

Crazy Horse

1863

American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a major defeat of the Union's Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee.

Battle of Chancellorsville

1861

American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.

American Civil War

1857

The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.

East India Company

1840

The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Penny Black

1835

James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.

James Gordon Bennett Sr.

1801

Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.

Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald

1782

Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.

Grand Palace

1757

Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.

Battle of Štěrboholy

1757

The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).

Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War

1757

English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.

Christopher Smart

1682

Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.

Louis XIV

1659

English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.

Stuart Restoration

1594

The Dutch city of Coevorden, held by the Spanish, falls to a Dutch and English force.

Coevorden

1542

Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.

Francis Xavier

1541

King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.

Henry VIII

1536

The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.

Siege of Cusco

1527

Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.

Sack of Rome (1527)

1104

King Baldwin I of Jerusalem begins the siege of Acre, then held by the Fatimids.

Baldwin I of Jerusalem