What Happened On This Day – 6 May
· 2004 The final episode of Friends is aired
The immensely popular sitcom about Rachel, Monica,
Phoebe, Joey, Chandler,
and Ross had been produced since 1994. The final episode “The Last One” was
watched by 52 million viewers.
· 1994 The Channel Tunnel linking the United Kingdom with France is opened
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
and French President François Mitterrand inaugurated the “Chunnel”. It measures
just over 50 km (31 mi) and is the tunnel with the world's longest undersea
portion.
· 1976 A massive earthquake hits northeast Italy
939 people died and 157,000 were left homeless in Italy's worst
earthquake, which measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.
· 1954 Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes
The British athlete took 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds
to cover 1609 meters. The current record by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj stands
at 3:43.13 (as at February 2014).
· 1937 The Hindenburg zeppelin filled with hydrogen goes up in flames
The footage showing a colossal fireball engulfing
the German airship during a landing attempt in Lakehurst, NJ,
has become iconic for the end of the zeppelin era. 35 lives were lost in the
crash.
Births On This Day – 6 May
· 1961 George Clooney
American actor, director, producer, screenwriter
· 1953 Tony Blair
Scottish/English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
· 1915 Orson Welles
American actor, director, producer, screenwriter
· 1856 Sigmund Freud
Austrian neurologist
· 1758 Maximilien de Robespierre
French lawyer, politician
Deaths On This Day – 6 May
· 1992 Marlene Dietrich
German/American actress, singer
· 1952 Maria Montessori
Italian physician, educator
· 1919 L. Frank Baum
American author
· 1862 Henry David Thoreau
American writer, philosopher
· 1859 Alexander von Humboldt
German geographer, explorer
