1527 Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, ending the Renaissance. Charles III is killed in the assault removing any restraint for the victorious soldiers.
1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape
1889 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) in Paris opens with the recently completed Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance arch
1937 German airship Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 on board and 1 on the ground
1941 Joseph Stalin becomes Premier of the Soviet Union, replacing his foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov
Historical Events Today Events in 2023
Today in Film & TV
2004 TV sitcom “Friends” airs season finale in 10th and final season in US (52.5 million viewers)
Today in Music
1966 The Rolling Stones release “Paint it Black” in the US
Today in Sport
1954 English athlete Roger Bannister becomes first to run a sub-4 minute mile, recording 3:59:4 at Iffley Road Track, Oxford
2001 During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque
1896 Samuel Pierpont Langley flies his unpiloted Number 5 aircraft using a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River, USA. The aircraft travels almost 3/4 of a mile – ten times further than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine.
Famous Weddings
1476 Emperor Frederik III of Habsburg and Duke of Burgundy Charles the bold arrange the marriage of their children
1880 British novelist Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) (60) weds Scottish banker John Cross (40) at George’s, London
1946 Comedian Stan Laurel (55) marries for the 5th time actress Ida Kitaeva (47)
Famous Divorces
1974 Actress Maggie Smith (39) divorces actor Robert Stephens (42) after 6 years of marriage
2006 “Dallas” actress Victoria Principal (56) divorces plastic surgeon Harry Glassman (63) due to irreconcilable differences after nearly 21 years of marriage
2016 Actress Kaley Cuoco and professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting divorce after 2 years of marriage
Often referred to as “the Chunnel”, the 31-mile undersea tunnel linking England to France has been hailed as one of the “seven wonders of the modern world” – May 6, 1994
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