On this day: May 6

Events on May 6

• 1536 Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire: Sapa Inca emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui's army began a ten-month siege of Cusco. Wikipedia
• 1682 Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles. Wikipedia
• 1757 English poet Christopher Smart was admitted to St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement in mental asylums. Wikipedia
• 1782 Construction began on the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the official residence of the king of Thailand. Wikipedia
• 1801 French Revolutionary Wars: The 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo was captured by the outmanned and outgunned HMS Speedy. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1882 Irish civil servants Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish were stabbed to death by members of the radical Irish National Invincibles in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Wikipedia
• 1882 U.S. president Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law, implementing a ban on Chinese immigration to the United States that remained for 61 years. Wikipedia
• 1910 George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII. Wikipedia
• 1915 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: SY Aurora, anchored in McMurdo Sound, broke loose during a gale, beginning a 312-day ordeal in the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean for her 18-man crew. Wikipedia
• 1930 Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson purchased the Kent property they would transform into Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Wikipedia
• 1937 The German airship Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during an attempt to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, killing 36 people. Wikipedia
• 1941 American entertainer Bob Hope performed his first show with the United Service Organizations, beginning a 50-year involvement with them. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Japanese troops overcame fierce American and Philippine resistance to win the Battle of Corregidor. Wikipedia
• 1954 At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English runner Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes. Wikipedia
• 1975 About 100,000 Armenians gathered during a lull in fighting to mark the 60th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Wikipedia
• 1976 An earthquake struck Northern Italy, killing 990 people and injuring up to 3,000. Wikipedia
• 1988 Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into the fog-covered mountain of Torghatten in Brønnøy, Norway, killing all 36 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1991 Time magazine published the article "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" by Richard Behar criticizing the Church of Scientology, leading to years of legal conflict. Wikipedia
• 1998 Steve Jobs unveiled the iMac G3' personal computer. Wikipedia
• 2001 During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque. Wikipedia
• 2002 Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum. Wikipedia
• 2004 The final episode of the television sitcom Friends was aired. Wikipedia
• 2008 British barrister Mark Saunders was shot dead by police after a five-hour siege at his home in Chelsea, London. Wikipedia
• 2013 Amanda Berry escaped from the Cleveland, Ohio, home of her captor, Ariel Castro, having been held there with two other women for ten years. Wikipedia
• 2023 King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London. Wikipedia

Born on May 6

• 973 Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1024) Wikipedia
• 1501 Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1555) Wikipedia
• 1574 Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (died 1655) Wikipedia
• 1758 Maximilien Robespierre, French politician (died 1794) Wikipedia
• 1856 Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (died 1939) Wikipedia
• 1856 Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (died 1920) Wikipedia
• 1871 Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1935) Wikipedia
• 1871 Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (died 1914) Wikipedia
• 1880 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (died 1938) Wikipedia
• 1895 Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (died 1926) Wikipedia
• 1904 Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (died 1978) Wikipedia
• 1915 Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1918 Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1929 Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1953 Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Wikipedia
• 1961 George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1983 Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1985 Chris Paul, American basketball player Wikipedia
• 1987 Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer Wikipedia
• 1993 Naomi Scott, English actress and singer Wikipedia
• 1994 Mateo Kovačić, Croatian international footballer Wikipedia
• 2002 Cole Palmer, English footballer Wikipedia

Died on May 6

• 1540 Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (born 1492) Wikipedia
• 1859 Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (born 1769) Wikipedia
• 1862 Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (born 1817) Wikipedia
• 1877 Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (born 1804) Wikipedia
• 1910 Edward VII of the United Kingdom (born 1841) Wikipedia
• 1919 L. Frank Baum, American novelist (born 1856) Wikipedia
• 1949 Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862) Wikipedia
• 1951 Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (born 1869) Wikipedia
• 1952 Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (born 1870) Wikipedia
• 1963 Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (born 1881) Wikipedia
• 1992 Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 2002 Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (born 1948) Wikipedia
• 2013 Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2026 Ted Turner, American media mogul (born 1938) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Dominic Savio Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: François de Laval Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jacinto Vera (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lucius of Cyrene Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Caterina Troiani Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Peter Nolasco Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Petronax of Monte Cassino Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Rosa Maria Benedetta Gattorno Custo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: St George's Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church): Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: St George's Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church): Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: St George's Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church): Yuri's Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: St John before the Latin Gate Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International No Diet Day Wikipedia
• Martyrs' Day (Lebanon and Syria) Wikipedia
• National Azulejo Day (Portugal) Wikipedia
• The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “May 6” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/May 6” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 6” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for May 6 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.