May 6 in history — What Happened Today in History

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player

Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor

Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian basketball player

Jose Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player

Péter Gulácsi, Hungarian footballer

Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player

Cameron Heyward, American football player

Ryan Anderson, American basketball player

Dakota Kai, New Zealand professional wrestler

Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer

Meek Mill, American rapper

Gerardo Parra, Venezuelan baseball player and coach

Adrienne Warren, American actress

Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (born 1940)

Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (born 1928)

Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1921)

Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (born 1919)

Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (born 1921)

Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (born 1919)

Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (born 1923)

Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1949)

James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (born 1918)

James Isaac, American director and producer (born 1960)

Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (born 1924)

Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1926)

Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (born 1978)