On This Day in History....

1312 Pope Clement V closes Council of Vienna
1476 Emperor Frederik III of Habsburg & duke Charles the Stout arrange marriage of their children
1527 Spanish & German Imperial troops sack Rome; ending the Renaissance
1529 Battle at Gogra: Mogol emperor Babur beats Afghans & Bengals
1536 King Henry VIII, orders bible be placed in every church
1598 Arch duke Albrecht & Isabella become monarch of Southern Netherlands
1626 Dutch colonist Paul Minuit buys Manhattan for $24 in trinkets
1642 Ville Marie (Montréal) forms
1644 Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil
1648 Battle at Zólty Wody-Bohdan Chmielricki's Cossaks beat John II Casimir
1672 Brandenburgs monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands
1733 1st international boxing match: Bob Whittaker beats Tito di Carni
1753 French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle
1757 Battle at Prague: Frederik II of Prussia beats emperor army
1787 1st Black Masonic Lodge (African #459) forms at Prince Hall, Boston
1794 Haiti, under Toussaint L'Ouverture, revolts against France
1804 Suriname sold to English (until February 1816)
1833 John Deere makes 1st steel plow
1835 1st edition of New York Herald (price 1¢)
1840 1st postage stamps (Penny Black) issued (Great Britain)
1844 Johan Thorbecke argue general right to vote
1848 Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony
1851 Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine"
1851 Linus Yale patents Yale-lock
1851 New slave regulations go into effect in Suriname
1851 San Fransisco Chamber of Commerce starts
1853 1st major US rail disaster kills 46 (Norwalk CT)
1860 San Fransisco Olympic Club, 1st US athletic club founded
1861 Arkansas & Tennessee become 9th & 10th states to secede from US
1861 Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between US & Confederacy
1864 Battle of Port Walthall Junction VA
1864 Battle of Wilderness-General Longstreet seriously injured
1864 General Sherman begins advance to Atlanta GA
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
1882 Epping Forest England dedicated by Queen Victoria
1889 Universal Exposition opens in Paris France; Eiffel Tower completed
1890 Mormon Church renounces polygamy [1006-Truth Restored (Morman pub)]
1891 Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike
1895 21st Kentucky Derby: Soup Perkins aboard Halma wins in 2:37½
1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins in 2:07.75
1902 British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die
1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (BG)
1902 Zulu assault at Holkrantz South-Africa
1903 Chicago White Sox commit 12 errors against Detroit Tigers
1904 American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting
1906 "Temporary" permit to erect overhead wires on Market St San Fransisco
1907 33rd Kentucky Derby: Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in 2:12.6
1910 England replaces King Edward VII stamp series with King George V
1910 King George V ascends to British throne
1913 King Nikita I of Montenegro vacates Skoetari, North-Albania
1914 British House of Lords rejects women suffrage
1915 Allies attack Cape Helles, Hellespont
1915 German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland
1915 Red Sox Babe Ruth pitching debut & 1st homerun, loses to Yankees 4-3 in 15
1916 Belgian troop march into Kigali, German East-Africa
1917 St Louis Brown Bob Groom no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0
1919 Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; German East Africa is assigned to Britain & France, German Southwest Africa to South Africa
1921 American Soccer League formed
1922 48th Preakness: L Morris aboard Pillory wins in 1:51.6
1925 Ty Cobb hits his 5th homerun in 2 games tying Cap Ansons record of 1884
1929 American League announces it will discontinue MVP award
1929 New York to San Fransisco footrace begins
1933 59th Kentucky Derby: Don Meade aboard Brokers Tip wins in 2:06.8
1933 Italy & USSR sign trade agreement
1934 Red Sox score 12 runs in 4th inning including record 4 consecutive triples hit by Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell, & B Walters
1935 British King George & Queen Mary celebrates silver jubilee
1935 KTM-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KEHE (now KABC)
1935 Pulitzer prize awarded to Audrey Wurdemann (Bright Ambush)
1937 Dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst NJ (36 die)
1938 Dutch writer Maurits Dekker sentenced to 50 days for "offending a friendly head of state" (Hitler)
1939 1st performance of Honegger/Claudel's "Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher"
1939 65th Kentucky Derby: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:03.4
1940 Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath)
1941 Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia
1942 Corregidor & Philippines surrender to Japanese Armies
1943 British 1st army opens assault on Tunis
1944 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2
1944 KJR-AM in Seattle WA swaps calls with KOMO
1945 General J Blaskowitz surrenders German troops in Netherlands
1946 Pulitzer prize awarded to Arthur M Schlesinger (Age of Jackson)
1948 "Sally" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 36 performances
1950 "Great to Be Alive" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 52 performances
1950 76th Kentucky Derby: William Boland on Middleground wins in 2:01.6
1950 Liz Taylor's 1st marriage (Conrad Hilton Jr)
1951 Pittsburgh Pirate Cliff Chambers no-hits Boston Brave, 3-0
1953 Brown's Bobo Holloman 1st major league start, no-hits Philadelphia A's, 6-0
1954 Roger Bannister of Britain breaks 4 minute mile (3:59:4)
1955 West Germany joins NATO
1956 Gus Bell (Reds) homers off Bob Miller in both ends of a double header
1956 WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 Italian Government of Segni resigns
1957 Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV
1957 Pulitzer prize awarded to John F Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
1959 Iceland gunboats shoot at British fishing ships
1960 England's Princess Margaret marries Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon)
1960 President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
1960 Students attack Dutch embassy in Djakarta
1960 Trotsky's murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramón Mercader), freed in México
1961 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04
1961 Omer Vanaudenhove chosen chairman of Belgium Liberal Party
1962 1st nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine (Ethan Allen)
1962 Antonio Segni elected President of Italy
1962 Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Tournament
1962 Pathet Lao breaks cease fire/conquerors Nam Tha Laos
1962 US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
1963 Pulitzer prize awarded to Barbara Tuchman (Guns of August)
1964 Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr Sloan" premieres in London
1965 Lawry & Simpson complete opening stand of 382 against W Indies
1966 Canadian Minister of Finance announces a $20 Centennial gold coin
1966 Most runs scored in 11th inning (9) Phillies score 5 to beat Pirates 8-7
1967 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College
1967 93rd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Ussery on Proud Clarion wins in 2:00.6
1967 Maureen Wilton runs female world record marathon (3:15:22)
1967 Zakir Hussain elected 1st Moslem President of India
1968 Battle between students & troops in Paris France, 1000 injured
1968 Giants reliever Lindy McDaniel sets National League record of 225th consecutive errorless game (108 chances consecutively since June 16, 1964)
1968 Spain closes border to Gibraltar except to Spaniards
1970 Yuchiro Miura of Japan skis down Mount Everest
1972 98th Kentucky Derby: Ron Turcotte aboard Riva Ridge wins in 2:01.8
1973 1st WHA championship, New England Whalers beat Winnipeg Jets, 4 games to 1
1973 Judy Rankin wins LPGA American Defender-Raleigh Golf Classic
1974 A's pitcher Paul Lindblad makes an errant throw in 1st inning of 6-3 loss to Baltimore ends his record streak of 385 consecutive errorless games
1974 Bundy victim Roberta Parks disappears from OSU, Corvallis OR
1974 Smallest attendance at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium (4,149)
1974 Stolen "Guitar Player" painting by Jan Vermeer found in London
1974 West German chancellor W Brandt resigns
1975 Bundy victim Lynette Culver disappears from Pocatello ID
1975 Early warnings provided by REACT (ham radio operators) means only 3 people die in tornado that strikes Omaha NE
1977 "Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl" released in UK
1978 104th Kentucky Derby: Steve Cauthen aboard Affirmed wins in 2:01.2
1978 South Africa military goes into Angola
1979 Fred Markham set a bicycle speed record of 81.8 kph over 200 meters
1979 Louis LaRusso II's "Knockout" premieres in NYC
1979 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Women's International Golf Tournament
1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1981 "Inacent Black" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 14 performances
1981 Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills is fired & replaced by Rene Lachemann
1981 US expels Libyan diplomats
1982 Seattle Mariner Gaylord Perry becomes 15th pitcher to win 300 games
1984 Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr hits for the cycle
1984 José Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
1985 17th Space Shuttle Mission (51--Challenger 7 lands at Edwards Air Force Base
1986 Berlin: Real Madrid wins 15th UEFA Cup
1986 Donald E Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop
1986 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1987 Gary Hart denies affair with model Donna Rice
1987 Mario Andretti sets the one-lap speed record at Indianapolis 500 at 218.204 MPH
1987 Niroslav Milhailovic begins 54 hours of telling jokes
1987 PTL's Jim Bakker & Rich Dortch dismissed from Assemblies of God
1987 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 Doughnutgate incident: New Jersey Devils' coach Jim Schoenfeld tells referee Don Koharski to 'eat another doughnut you fat pig!,' he is suspended
1988 Graeme Hick scores 405 for Worcestershire vs Somerset 35 fours 11 sixes
1989 115th Kentucky Derby: Pat Valenzuela on Sunday Silence wins in 2:05
1990 Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic
1990 Former President PW Botha quit South Africa's ruling National Party
1990 Tom Cruise is ticketed for careless operation of a vehicle in South Carolina
1991 Phillie Lenny Dykstra slams his sports car into 2 trees
1991 Seppo Raty of Finland sets javelin record to 301' 9"
1991 Space Shuttle STS 39 (Discovery 12) lands
1992 New York Met Anthony Young begins losing streak of at least 26 games
1992 Werder Bremen wins 32nd Europe Cup II
1993 STS-55 (Columbia) lands
1994 Chunnel linking England & France officially opens
1994 Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on Tonight Show
1994 House passes the assault weapons ban
1994 Lennox Lewis TKOs Phil Jackson in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
1994 Nelson Mandela & his ANC, finally confirmed winners in South Africa
1995 121st Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Thunder Gulch wins in 2:01.2
1995 ABC Bud Light Masters Bowling Tournament won by Mike Aulby
1995 Classic Sports Network begins on cable TV
1996 Alvaro Arzu aimed at ending 35 years of civil war
1996 Guatemala's leftist guerrillas sign key accord with government of President
1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Hartford CT on WCCC 106.9 FM
1997 Army Staff Sergeant Delmar Simpson gets 25-year sentence for rape
1997 Michael Jackson & Bee Gees inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1997 NHL Hartford Whalers become Carolina Hurricanes
1997 Rick Pitino becomes coach of Boston Celtics
2012 Transit of Venus
======================================================

Missing In Action...

1965 STUBBERFIELD ROBERT A. RICHMOND NC BEEP HEARD SEARCH NEG REMAINS RETURNED 06/89
1966 DODSON JAMES 06/18/66 ESCAPED DECEASED
1966 LAMAR JAMES L. EUDORA AR 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1967 WIDEMAN ROBERT EARL RAY VILLAGE OH 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1968 ALDRICH LAWRENCE L. FORT WORTH TX
1968 BAIRD WILLIAM A. WOOSTER OH 03/05/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED
1968 BRANCH MICHAEL P. NEWPORT KY 03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG COLLAB??
1969 BILLIPP NORMAN K. MILWAUKEE WI REMAINS IDENTIFIED 01 NOV 96
1969 HAGAN JOHN ROBERT SAVANNAH GA REMAINS RETURNED IDENTIFIED 01 NOV 96
1970 HERNANDEZ FRANK S. FRESNO CA
1970 KIER LARRY GENE OMAHA NE
1970 TERAN REFUGIO T. WESTLAND MI
1970 WORTHINGTON RICHARD C. BOTHELL WA
1972 WILES MARVIN B. SAN DIEGO CA POSSIBLE DEAD

Births which occurred on May 06:

0973 Henry II Roman Catholic German king/emperor (1002/14-24)
1501 Marcellus II [Marcello Cervini] Italy, humanist/Pope (1555, 22 days)
1581 Frans Francken the Younger, painter
1606 Lorenzo Lippi [Perlone Zipoli] poet/painter
1758 Maximilien Robespierre Arras Fr, French revolutionary/avocat (1781)
1759 François Andrieux French writer/politician
1769 Ferdinand III archduke of Austria/ruler of Toscane
1785 Arvir A Afzelius Swedish story teller
1786 Ludwig Börne writer
1790 Vaclav Vilem Wurfel composer
1800 Ferdinand Marcucci composer
1801 George Sears Greene Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1802 Friedrich Wilhelm Schirmer artist
1806 Chapin Aaron Harris US, founded America Society of Dental Surgeons
1809 William Walker composer
1812 Martin Robinson Delaney Charlestown VA, 1st black major in US Medical Corps
1813 Joseph Tarr Copeland Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1893
1814 Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst composer
1825 Joseph Bailey Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1829 Phoebe Ann Coffin 1st female ordained minister in New England
1830 Guido Gezelle Flemish priest/poet
1838 Alfred Humphreys Pease composer
1843 Grove Karl Gilbert geologist, investigated Lake Bonneville UT
1849 Wyatt Eaton artist
1856 Robert Edwin Peary US, arctic explorer (North Pole-April 6 1909)
1856 Sigmund Freud Freiberg Moravia, cigar smoker, father of psycho-analysis
1858 Georges Adolphe Hue composer
1859 Luis María Drago Argentina, statesman, anti-interventionist
1859 Willem J T Kloos Dutch poet (Act of Simple Justice)
1861 Radindranath Tagore Hindu poet/mystic/composer (Nobel 1913)
1868 Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont Poland, novelist (Chiopi, Nobel-1924)
1869 Jan R Slotemaker de Bruïne Dutch clergyman/politician (CHU)
1869 Joseph Cuvelier Belgian historian/archivist
1870 Amedos Peter Giannini San Jose CA, founded Bank of America
1870 John McClutcheon cartoonist (Pulitzer Prize-1931)
1871 August Reusner composer
1871 Ch Morgenstern writer
1875 William Daniel Leahy Iowa, 5 star Admiral/chief of staff (1949)
1879 Johan H T Norlind Swedish musicologist
1880 Baron W Edmund Archangel & Ironside, British fieldmarshal
1880 Ernst L Kirchner German painter (Die Brücke)
1883 José Ortega y Gasset Spanish philosopher/author [or May 9]
1888 Emmanuel Celler (Representative-D-NY, 1923-73)
1889 Arthur Morison typographer
1890 Claire Whitney New York NY, silent film actress (Blind Fools, Haunted Mine)
1894 Filip Lazar composer
1895 Rudolph Valentino Castellaneta Italy, sheik/actor (Eagle)
1897 Paul Alverdes German writer (Pfeiferstube)
1898 Daniel Gerber Freemont MI, beloved by babies at mealtime
19-- Tony King Alliance OH, actor (Sergeant John Webber-Bronk)
1902 Harry Golden Jewish humorist/writer (2¢ Plain, Only in America)
1902 Max Ophüls Saarland, director/writer (Letters From an Unknown Woman)
1902 Walter Dawson British Air Chief marshall
1904 Catherine Lacey London England, actress (Sorcerors)
1904 Harry Martinson Sweden, novelist/poet (Trade Wind-Nobel 1974)
1905 [Bernard] Toots Shor raconteur/restauranteur (Toots Shor)
1905 Norman De Tar composer
1906 André Weil [Bourbaki] French/US mathematician
1907 Weeb Ewbank NFL coach (Baltimore Colts, New York Jets)
1908 Necil Kazim Akses composer
1910 Antoon Breyne Belgian journalist
1912 Barend Roest Crollius painter/writer (Chronicle Sins of Youth)
1912 Bill Quinn New York NY, actor (Rifleman, Van Ranseleer-All in the Family)
1912 Hugh Martell British Vice Admiral
1913 Carmen Cavallaro New York NY, actor (Hollywood Canteen, Diamond Horseshoe)
1913 Gyula David composer
1913 Jack [John T] Aitken British anatomist
1913 Kenneth Horne English paper manufacturer/multi-millionaire
1913 Ronald Harris British 1st Church Estates Commissioner
1913 Stewart Granger [James Stewart], London, actor (Prisoner of Zenda)
1915 George Perle Bayonne NJ, composer (12 Tone Tonality)
1915 John Arnold British high court judge
1915 May Henriquez-Alvarez Curaçao, sculptor
1915 Orson Welles Kenosha WI, actor (Citizen Kane, War of the Worlds)
1915 Theodore H White historian/writer (Making of the President)
1915 Theodore H White historian/writer (Making of the President)
1916 Adriana Caselotti animation voice (Show White)
1918 Godfrey Ridout composer
1918 Sydney Chatton England
1919 Frank Ereaut Balliff of Jersey
1920 John Henderson Lord-Lieutenant (Berkshire England)
1921 Erich Freid writer
1921 Freddy Randall jazz trumpeteer
1921 Robert Fell CEO (British Stock Exchange)
1922 Alan Ross editor (London Magazine)
1922 Carlos J Moorhead (Representative-R-CA, 1973- )
1922 John Ernest constructionist artist
1922 Pat Harder Milwaukee WI, NFL fullback (Cardinals, Lions)
1923 Elizabeth Sellars Glasgow Scotland, actress (Chalk Garden)
1923 Guiseppe Martelli physicist
1924 Mimi Benzell Bridgeport CT, operatic soprano (Gilda-Rigoletto)
1925 Patrick Meany CEO (Rank Organization)
1926 [Martin] Ross Hunter Cleveland OH, actor (Ever Since Paris)
1926 John Hamilton-Jones CEO (Richmond Enterprises)/British Major-General
1926 Marguerite Piazza New Orleans LA, operatic soprano (Young Broadway)
1927 Ettore Manni Rome Italy, actor (Fatal Desire, Heroes in Hell)
1927 Michael Frederick cricketer (one Test West Indies vs England 1954, scored 0 & 30)
1929 John Polk Allen Carnegie OK, CEO (Biosphere 2)
1929 John Taylor bishop (St Albans)/Lord High Almoner to Queen
1929 Rosemary Camp president (Council for British Archaeology)
1931 Marvin Leath (Representative-D-TX, 1979- )
1931 Willie Mays Westfield AL, Hall of Fame baseball centerfielder, "Say Hey Kid" (New York Giants, New York Mets, 660 homeruns, National League MVP 1954)
1932 Gunther Hauk composer
1932 John Bond cricket umpire
1932 Viscount Coke English large landowner/art collector
1933 Lord Pender
1934 Richard C Shelby (Representative-D-AL (1979-86)/Senator-D-AL, 1987- )
1936 Joanna Dunham actress (Possession, House the Dripped Blood)
1936 Sylvia Robinson rocker (Mickey & Sylvia-Love is Strange)
1938 Eleanor Platt QC
1939 Anthony Blacker master-general of Ordnance
1939 Herbie Cox rocker (Cleftones)
1939 Zhanna Dmitriyevna Yerkina Russian cosmonaut
1940 Henry Habibe Arubian poet (Kerensentenchi)
1940 Murray Sidlin Baltimore MD, conductor (National Symphony 1973-77)
1941 Fred J Eckert (Representative-D-NY, 1985-87)
1941 Ghena Dimitrova actress (Nabucco)
1942 Colin Earl rocker
1945 Bob Seger Dearborn MI, rocker (Silver Bullet Band-Shake Down)
1945 Richard Eyers Los Angeles CA, actor (My Friend Irma, Stagecoach West)
1945 Victoria Bond composer
1946 Jim Ramstad (Representative-R-MN)
1946 Sydne Rome Akron OH, actress (What?, Candy)
1947 Andy Roberts cricketer (New Zealand batsman 1976)
1947 Ben Masters Corvalis OR, actor (Vic-Another World, Making Mr Right)
1947 Dennis Cowan London, rocker (Bonzo Dog Band)
1947 Richard "Dick" Fosbury Portland OR, high jumper (Olympics-gold-68)
1947 Sandra Fisher painter
1948 Lolita [Abrázame] Spanish singer (Espérame)
1948 Richard Cox New York NY, actor (Mark-Executive Suite)
1949 David Cornell Leestma Muskegon MI, USN/astronaut (STS 41-G, 28, 45)
1950 Robbie McIntosh drummer (Average White Band-Show your Hand)
1952 Chiaki Naito-Mukai Tatebayashi Japan, astronaut (STS 65, 95)
1953 Lynn Whitfield Baton Rouge, actress (Josephine Baker, Equal Justice)
1953 Tony Blair British PM (Labour, 1997- )
1954 Sergei Nikolayevich Tresvyatsky Russia, cosmonaut
1955 Donald A Thomas Cleveland OH, PhD/Astronaut (STS 65, 70, 83, 94)
1955 John Hutton MP
1959 Aidan Quinn actor (Avalon, Crusoe, Desperately Seeking Susan)
1959 Charles Hendry MP
1959 Eric D Fingerhut (Representative-D-OH)
1959 Kate Collins Boston MA, actress (Natalie Hunter-All My Children)
1959 Scott Hood Seattle WA, Canadian Tour golfer (1989 Montana Open-2nd)
1960 Bart de Boer Dutch guitarist (Ivy Green)
1960 Julianne Phillips Lake Oswego OR, actress (Frankie Reed-Sisters)
1960 Larry Steinbacheck keyboardist (Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy)
1960 Larry Steinbachek rock synthesizer (Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy)
1961 Clay O'Brien Ray AZ, actor (Weedy-The Cowboys)
1961 George Clooney Lexington KY, actor (Dr Douglas Ross-ER, Batman)
1961 Roma Downey Derry Ire, actress (1 Life to Live, Touched by an Angel)
1962 Neil Foster cricketer (England right-fast medium)
1963 Alessandra Ferri British ballerina (American Ballet Theater)
1964 Dana Hill [Goetz] Van Nuys CA, actress (2 of Us, Shoot the Moon)
1964 Dana Hill Van Nuys CA, actress (2 of Us, Shoot the Moon)
1964 Kim Oden Irvine CA, US Olympic volleyball player (NCAA Play of Decade-80s)
1964 Mike Grob Billings MT, Canadian Tour golfer (1988 Manitoba-3rd)
1964 Mike McGruder NFL cornerback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1964 Roma Downey Derry Ireland, actress (JoAnna-One Life to Live)
1965 Bob Bassen Calgary, NHL center (Dallas Stars)
1965 Ken Harvey NFL linebacker (Washington Redskins)
1965 Norman Whiteside British soccer player
1965 Paul Frase NFL defensive end (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1965 Tim Simpson Atlanta GA, Nike golfer (1985 Southern Open)
1965 Zahid Sadiq cricketer
1967 Patrick F Manning Jr Poughkeepsie NY, rower (Olympics-92)
1968 Andy Kelly WLAF quarterback (Rhein Fire)
1968 Linnea Marie Fayard Shreveport LA, Miss Louisiana-America (1991-5th)
1969 Mark Thomas NFL defensive end (Carolina Panthers, Packers, Bears)
1969 Pascall Davis WLAF linebacker (Amsterdam Admirals)
1970 Emerson Martin NFL guard (Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, Packers)
1971 Rob Holmberg NFL linebacker (Oakland Raiders)
1972 Dean Larsson British Columbia Canada, Nike golfer (1994 Monterey Open-46th)
1972 Martin Brodeur Montréal, NHL goalie (New Jersey Devils, Team Canada)
1973 Clay Williams OL (Indianapolis Colts)
1973 Joe Spiteri Australian soccer striker (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1973 Wendy Ward San Antonio TX, LPGA golfer (1995 GHP Classic-15th)
1976 Lindsay Page Madison WI, figure skater (1997 E Great Lakes Senior-3rd)
1977 Gabriela Aguilar Miss Costa Rica Universe (1997)
1977 Shannon Shakespeare Mission British Columbia, 100 meter swimmer (Olympics-96)
1977 Trent Steed Sydney New South Wales Australia, swimmer (Olympics-96)
1980 Brooke Bennett 800 meter freestyle (Olympics-gold-96)
1980 Kasumi Takahashi Tokyo Japan, Australian rhythmic gymnast (Olympics-96)
=====================================================
Deaths which occurred on May 06:

0523 Thrasamunde king of Vandalen
0988 Dirk II West Frisian count of Holland
1085 King Alfonso VI of León conquered Toledo, dies
1124 Balak Emir of Aleppo, murdered
1475 Dieric Bouts Dutch painter, dies at about 64
1527 Karel van Bourbon military governor (Lombardije), dies at 37
1540 Jean Luis Vives Spanish theory/humanist/reformer, dies at 48
1638 Cornelius Jansen theologian (Jansenism), dies
1642 Frans Francken the Younger, Flemish painter, dies on 61st birthday
1666 Paul Siefert composer, dies at 79
1667 Johann Jacob Froberger German singer/organist/composer, dies at 50
1678 Joseph de La Barre composer, dies at 44
1727 Catharina I Latvia tsarina of Russia, dies at about 42
1739 Bernardus Smijtegelt vicar (Gekrookte Reed), dies at 63
1776 James Kent composer, dies at 76
1794 Jean-Jacques Beauvarget-Charpentier composer, dies at 59
1814 George Joseph Vogler composer, dies at 64
1836 Christian Ignatius Latrobe composer, dies at 78
1841 John Thomson composer, dies at 35
1852 Charles-Louis-Joseph Hanssens composer, dies at 75
1856 William Hamilton metaphysicist, dies
1859 Friedrich Heinrich Alexander explorer/scientist, dies
1862 Henry David Thoreau US writer/pacifist (Walden Pond), dies at 44
1864 Henry Livermore Abbott US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle
1864 Micah Jenkins Confederate Brigadier-General (friendly fire), dies at 28
1882 Lord Frederick Cavendish assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
1882 Thomas Henry Burke assassinated by Fenian Invincibles, in Dublin
1890 Hubert Leonard composer, dies at 71
1892 Ernest Guiraud composer, dies at 54
1904 Franz von Lenbach German painter, dies at 67
1908 Jean Réville French vicar (Le Prophétisme Hébreu), dies at 53
1910 Edward VII King of England (1901-10), dies at 68
1916 Dirk Bos Dutch MP (Liberal), dies at 53
1916 Earl Ross Drake composer, dies at 50
1919 Frank Lyman Baum author (Wizard of Oz), dies at 62
1924 Carel S Adama van Scheltema poet/writer (socialism), dies at 47
1936 Hans Jelmoli composer, dies at 59
1948 43 communist rebels executed in Athens
1949 A L Ochse cricketer (10 wickets in 3 Tests for South Africa 1927-29), dies
1949 P-M-B Maurice Maeterlinck Belgian philosopher (Nobel 1911), dies at 86
1950 Agnes Smedley writer, dies
1952 Alberto Savinio Italian composer (Capitano Ulisse), dies at 60
1952 Maria Montessori Italian physician/educationist, dies at 81
1960 Paul Abraham Hungarian composer (Blume von Hawaii), dies at 67
1961 Lucian Blaga philosopher/poet (Transcendental censor), dies at 65
1963 Monty Wooley actor (Pied Piper, Man Who Came to Dinner), dies at 74
1964 Harold Morris composer, dies at 74
1971 Helene Weigel Austrian/German actress (Metropolis), dies at 70
1973 Ernest MacMillan composer, dies at 79
1975 József Mindszenty [Joseph Prehm], Hungarian cardinal, dies at 83
1976 Karel Cruysberghs Flemish author (On the Pulpit), dies at 85
1978 Ethelda Bleibtrey US swimmer (Olympics-3 gold-1920), dies at 76
1978 Ko van Dijk Jr Dutch actor (Zaak M P), dies at 61
1982 Sam Baker dies
1987 William J Casey director of CIA (1981-87), dies at 73
1989 Guy Williams actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies at 65
1990 Charles Farrell actor (Vern-My Little Margie), dies at 89
1991 Anthony van Kampen writer (Ketelbinkie, Geschonden Eldorado), dies
1991 Chucky Mullins US soccer player, dies
1991 Thomas A Carlin dies at 62
1991 Wilfrid Hyde-White British actor (Peyton Place/140+ films), dies at 87
1992 Jilly Rizzo restauranteur/friend of Frank Sinatra, dies in car at 75
1992 Marlene Dietrich [Maria Losch], actress (Angel), dies in Paris at 90
1993 Ann Todd actress (Things to Come, Danny Boy), dies of stroke at 84
1993 Minnie Gentry actress (Def by Temptation), dies in New York at 77
1994 Fred Sadoff actor (Quiet American), dies of AIDS at 67
1994 Haskell "Cool Papa" Sadler blues singer/guitarist, dies at 59
1994 Helen Lessore artist, dies at 86
1994 Montague Modlyn broadcaster, dies at 72
1994 Moses Rosen Romania's chief rabbi, dies at 81
1995 Dona Maria Pia de Braganca pretender to Port throne, dies at 88
1995 Leanoard "Red" Truss R&B singer, dies at 47
1995 Nicholas Palmer TV writer/producer, dies at 57
1996 Frank Hercules writer, dies at 85
1996 Geoffrey Dawes physiologist, dies at 78
1996 Geoffrey Hodges bomb disposal expert, dies at 87
1996 Joseph Stone lawyer, dies at 79
1996 Leon Joseph Suenens cardinal, dies at 91
1996 Michael Gerzon mathematician, dies at 50

1775 William Franklin warns Dartmouth of repercussions from Lexington and Concord

In a candid report to William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth and the British secretary of state for the colonies, on this day in 1775, Benjamin Franklin’s illegitimate son, New Jersey Royal Governor William Franklin, writes that the violence at Lexington and Concord greatly diminishes the chances of reconciliation between Britain and her North American colonies.

Reconciliation between Britain and America was not the only relationship at stake for Franklin. He would never repair the damage done to his relationship with his father, famed Patriot Benjamin Franklin, when he decided to remain loyal to the crown.

William and Benjamin Franklin enjoyed a close relationship until the War for Independence drove a permanent wedge between them. The younger Franklin was his father’s aide during his famed kite experiments and the elder Franklin made every effort to assist his son in garnering the highest social and professional station possible for the colonial elite in the British empire. Father and son traveled to London together in 1757, where until 1762, William studied law, and Franklin studied social climbing. They had remarkable success for a candle-maker’s son and his illegitimate progeny. By the end of their sojourn, William had ascended to the Bar and received an honorary Master of Arts from Oxford University, while his father reveled in honorary doctorates from Oxford and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The elder Franklin’s plans for his son’s advancement succeeded, and his son won the choicest of appointments, a royal governorship, in 1762.

However, when Benjamin Franklin reluctantly decided to join the movement for independence, his son continued to believe that the best place for Americans was within the empire that had treated two generations of Franklins so well despite their low births.
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1864 Grant and Lee continue fighting in the Wilderness

On this day, Union and Confederate troops continue their desperate struggle in the Wilderness, which was the opening battle in the biggest campaign of the war. General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union forces, had joined George Meade's Army of the Potomac to encounter Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the tangled Wilderness forest near Chancellorsville, the site of Lee's brilliant victory the year before. The fighting was intense, and raging fires that consumed the dead and wounded magnified the horror of battle. But little was gained in the confused attacks by either side.

On May 6, the second day of battle in the Wilderness, Grant sought to break the stalemate by sending Winfield Hancock's corps against the Confederate right flank at the southern end of the battle line. The Federals were on the verge of breaking through the troops of James Longstreet when they stumbled in the dense undergrowth.

Lee entered the fray to rally the Confederate troops, but his devoted solders urged him away from the action. Later in the morning, Longstreet's men attacked Hancock's forces and seemed poised to turn the Union flank. But, like the Union troops earlier, they became disoriented as they drove Hancock's troops back. In the confusion, Longstreet was wounded by his own men, just four miles from the spot where Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men the year before.

The Confederate attack halted when Hancock's men found refuge behind hastily constructed breastworks. In the evening, Lee attacked the Union flank at the northern end of the battlefield and nearly turned the Federal line. Grant's men, however, held their ground, leaving the exhausted armies in nearly the same positions as when the battle began. In two days, the Union lost 17,000 men to the Confederates' 11,000. This was nearly one-fifth of each army.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come. Grant pulled his men out of the Wilderness on May 7, but, unlike the commanders before him in the eastern theater, he did not go back. He moved further south towards Spotsylvania Court House and closer to Richmond. At Spotsylvania, the armies staged some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

1861 Arkansas secedes from the Union

1862 Union forces occupy Williamsburg, Virginia, during the Peninsular campaign
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1915 Second Battle of Krithia, Gallipoli

After a first attempt to capture the village of Krithia, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, failed on April 28, 1915, a second is initiated on May 6 by Allied troops under the British commander Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston.

Fortified by 105 pieces of heavy artillery, the Allied force advanced on Krithia, located at the base of the flat-topped hill of Achi Baba, starting at noon on May 6. The attack was launched from a beach head on Cape Helles, where troops had landed on April 25 to begin the large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula after a naval attack on the Dardanelles failed miserably in mid-March. Since the first failed attempt on the village, Hunter-Weston’s original force had been joined by two brigades of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) to bring the total number of men to 25,000. They were still outnumbered, however, by the Turkish forces guarding Krithia, which were under the direct command of the German Major-General Erich Weber. Weber had been promoted from the rank of colonel after supervising the closure and mining of the Dardanelles six months earlier.

Facing superior enemy numbers and suffering from a shortage of ammunition, the Allies were able to advance some 600 yards, but failed to capture either Krithia or the crest of Achi Baba after three attempts in three days. Hunter-Weston’s troops suffered heavy losses, with a total of 6,000 casualties. Two British naval brigades engaged in the battle saw half their number, some 1,600 soldiers, killed or wounded.

The British regional commander in chief, Sir Ian Hamilton, after pushing for more supplies and ammunition, ordered Hunter-Weston to continue the pressure on Achi-Baba; a third attack on the ridge was launched in early June. As heavy casualties continued to be sustained across the region, with little real gains for the Allies, it became clear that the Gallipoli operation—an Allied attempt to break the stalemate on the Western Front by achieving a decisive victory elsewhere—had failed to achieve its ambitious aims.
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1942 All American forces in the Philippines surrender unconditionally

On this day in 1942, U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese.

The island of Corregidor remained the last Allied stronghold in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan (from which General Wainwright had managed to flee, to Corregidor). Constant artillery shelling and aerial bombardment attacks ate away at the American and Filipino defenders. Although still managing to sink many Japanese barges as they approached the northern shores of the island, the Allied troops could hold the invader off no longer. General Wainwright, only recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines, offered to surrender Corregidor to Japanese General Homma, but Homma wanted the complete, unconditional capitulation of all American forces throughout the Philippines. Wainwright had little choice given the odds against him and the poor physical condition of his troops (he had already lost 800 men). He surrendered at midnight. All 11,500 surviving Allied troops were evacuated to a prison stockade in Manila.

General Wainwright remained a POW until 1945. As a sort of consolation for the massive defeat he suffered, he was present on the USS Missouri for the formal Japanese surrender ceremony on September 2, 1945. He would also be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman. Wainwright died in 1953-exactly eight years to the day of the Japanese surrender ceremony.
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1970 Students launch nationwide protest

Hundreds of colleges and universities across the nation shut down as thousands of students join a nationwide campus protest. Governor Ronald Reagan closed down the entire California university and college system until May 11, which affected more than 280,000 students on 28 campuses. Elsewhere, faculty and administrators joined students in active dissent and 536 campuses were shut down completely, 51 for the rest of the academic year. A National Student Association spokesman reported students from more than 300 campuses were boycotting classes. The protests were a reaction to the shooting of four students at Kent State University by National Guardsmen during a campus demonstration about President Nixon's decision to send U.S. and South Vietnamese troops into Cambodia. Four days later, a student rally at Jackson State College in Mississippi resulted in the death of two students and 12 wounded when police opened fire on a women's dormitory.
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1972 South Vietnamese defenders hold on to An Loc

The remnants of South Vietnam's 5th Division at An Loc continue to receive daily artillery battering from the communist forces surrounding the city as reinforcements fight their way from the south up Highway 13.

The South Vietnamese had been under heavy attack since the North Vietnamese had launched their Nguyen Hue Offensive on March 30. The communists had mounted a massive invasion of South Vietnam with 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. The main North Vietnamese objectives, in addition to An Loc in the south, were Quang Tri in the north, and Kontum in the Central Highlands.

In Binh Long Province, the North Vietnamese forces had crossed into South Vietnam from Cambodia on April 5 to strike first at Loc Ninh. After taking Loc Ninh, the North Vietnamese forces then quickly encircled An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province, which was only 65 miles from Saigon. The North Vietnamese held An Loc under siege for almost three months while they made repeated attempts to take the city, bombarding it around the clock. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, including 2,300 dead or missing, but with the aid of U.S. advisers and American airpower, they managed to hold out against vastly superior odds until the siege was lifted on June 18. Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months, but eventually the South Vietnamese forces prevailed against the invaders and they retook Quang Tri in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of his Vietnamization program, which he had instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces.