Today in History 5/6/20

Published 10:37 am Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Today is Wednesday, May 6, the 127th day of 2020. There are 239 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On May 6, 1915, Babe Ruth hit his first major-league home run as a player for the Boston Red Sox.

On this date:

In 1863, the Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia ended with a Confederate victory over Union forces.

In 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from the U.S. for 10 years (Arthur had opposed an earlier version with a 20-year ban).

In 1910, Britain’s Edwardian era ended with the death of King Edward VII; he was succeeded by George V.

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration began operating under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, N.J.; 35 of the 97 people on board were killed along with a crewman on the ground.

In 1941, Josef Stalin assumed the Soviet premiership, replacing Vyacheslav M. Molotov. Comedian Bob Hope did his first USO show before an audience of servicemen as he broadcast his radio program from March Field in Riverside, Calif.

In 1942, during World War II, some 15,000 American and Filipino troops on Corregidor island surrendered to Japanese forces.

In 1954, medical student Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile during a track meet in Oxford, England, in 3:59.4.

In 1960, Britain’s Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey. (They divorced in 1978.)

In 1994, former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against President Bill Clinton, alleging he had sexually harassed her in 1991. (Jones reached a settlement with Clinton in November 1998.) Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand formally opened the Channel Tunnel between their countries.

In 2004, President George W. Bush apologized for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers, calling it “a stain on our country’s honor”; he rejected calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation.

In 2013, kidnap-rape victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, who went missing separately about a decade earlier while in their teens or early 20s, were rescued from a house just south of downtown Cleveland. (Their captor, Ariel Castro, hanged himself in prison in September 2013 at the beginning of a life sentence plus 1,000 years.)

Ten years ago: A computerized sell order triggered a “flash crash” on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrials to a loss of nearly 1,000 points in less than half an hour. Conservatives captured the largest number of seats in Britain’s national election but fell short of a majority. (Conservative leader David Cameron ended up heading a coalition government.) A court in India sentenced to death the only surviving Pakistani gunman in the bloody 2008 Mumbai attacks. (Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was hanged on Nov. 21, 2012.)

Five years ago: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completed formation of a new governing coalition. The NFL released a 243-report on “Deflategate” that stopped short of calling Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a cheater, but did call some of his claims “implausible” and left little doubt that he’d had a role in having footballs deflated before New England’s AFC title game against Indianapolis and probably in previous games. Former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright, 92, died in Fort Worth, Texas.

One year ago: Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, reported to a federal prison northwest of New York City for crimes including tax evasion and campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments made to protect Trump. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin notified the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that the administration would not turn over the president’s tax returns to the House, saying the request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.” The co-owner of Maximum Security, disqualified from first place in the Kentucky Derby, said the horse would not run in the Preakness, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown; the announcement came hours before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission denied an appeal of the disqualification. In a Rose Garden ceremony, President Donald Trump awarded golfer Tiger Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. CBS News announced that Norah O’Donnell would become anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News” and that Gayle King would get two new morning show co-hosts. Britain’s Prince Harry and wife Megan Markle became parents as Markle gave birth to a boy who would be named Archie.

Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays is 89. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is 86. Rock singer Bob Seger is 75. Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 75. Gospel singer-comedian Lulu Roman is 74. Actor Alan Dale is 73. Actor Ben Masters is 73. Actor Richard Cox is 72. Actor Gregg Henry is 68. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 67. TV personality Tom Bergeron is 65. Actress Roma Downey is 60. Rock singer John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) is 60. Actress Julianne Phillips is 60. Actor-director George Clooney is 59. Actor Clay O’Brien is 59. Rock singer-musician Tony Scalzo (Fastball) is 56. Actress Leslie Hope is 55. Actress Geneva Carr (TV: “Bull”) is 54. Rock musician Mark Bryan (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 53. Rock musician Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) is 49. Actress Stacey Oristano is 41. Model/TV personality Tiffany Coyne is 38. Actress Adrianne Palicki is 37. Actress Gabourey Sidibe is 37. Actress-comedian Sasheer Zamata is 34. Rapper Meek Mill is 33. Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve is 30. Actress-singer Naomi Scott is 27. Actor Noah Galvin is 26.

Thought for Today: “To know your ruling passion, examine your castles in the air.” — Richard Whately, English clergyman (1787-1863).