May 6 in Pop Culture History |
| May 6 is… National Beverage Day Joseph Brackett Day National Crêpe Suzette Day National Nurses Day National Tourist Appreciation Day No Homework Day (also the last Friday in March) |
|
1840 (Tornado) Natchez, Mississippi 1851 – Linus Yale, Jr. was granted a patent (#8,071) for the invention of his “Self-Detaching and Attaching Key-Lock” as “a new and Improved Safety-Lock for Banks, Safes, Vaults, Stores, &c.” 1851 – President Benjamin Harrison had the first electric lights installed in the White House. 1889 – The Eiffel Tower was officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris. 1915 – Babe Ruth hit his first career home run (pitcher was Jack Warhop), for the Boston Red Sox. 1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA) 1937 – The Hindenburg exploded over Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crewmembers. 1940 – John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath. 1954 – Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile (3:59.4) at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England 1956 – Elvis Presley appeared on the Milton Berle Show. 1984 – Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, collectively called Spinal Tap, performed at CBGB’s in NYC. 2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque. 2010 – The US stock market lost and regained over $1 trillion in value within about 20 minutes. The Dow swung by over 1,000 points, and many stocks declined to one cent per share before rising again. There are many theories but no conclusive reason for the crash. 2013 – Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus were freed after being held for years in the home of Ariel Castro. |