On this day in history

May 6

24 births · 13 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

12 years ago

Born this day

1856

Sigmund Freud

Died aged 83

Photo (modified): Max Halberstadt · Public domain

Oldest record

1053rd

Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor

birth anniversary

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Famous births24

AD 973 · 1053 yrs

Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry II (German: Heinrich II.; Italian: Enrico II; Latin: Henricus; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor (Latin: Romanorum Imperator) from 1014.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 51

View profile Photo (modified): Photo: Andreas Praefcke · CC BY 3.0

1405 · 621 yrs

Skanderbeg

Gjergj Kastrioti (also known as Skanderbeg; c. 1405 – 17 January 1468) was an Albanian nobleman and military leader who led the League of Lezhë in the Ottoman-Albanian Wars until his death. Skanderbeg is considered to be a major figure of medieval Albanian history and today is the national hero of Albania.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 62

View profile Photo (modified): Cristofano Dell'Altissimo · Public domain

1501 · 525 yrs

Marcellus II

Pope Marcellus II (Italian: Marcello II; 6 May 1501 – 1 May 1555), born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 10 April 1555 to his death, 22 days later. Marcellus succeeded Pope Julius III.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 53

View profile Photo (modified): Workshop of Italian art schools of the Renaissance · Public domain

1574 · 452 yrs

Innocent X

Pope Innocent X (7 May 1574 – 7 January 1655; born Giovanni Battista Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): Matthieu.lett.ube · Public domain

1758 · 268 yrs

Maximilien Robespierre

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (French:; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential figures of the French Revolution.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ActivismDied aged 36

View profile Photo (modified): Unidentified painter · CC0

1856 · 170 yrs

Robert Peary

Robert Edwin Peary (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries over 23 years.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ExplorationDied aged 63

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1856 · 170 yrs

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies arising from conflicts in the psyche through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Max Halberstadt · Public domain

1861 · 165 yrs

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali:; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali poet, author, playwright, musician, composer, philosopher, social reformer, painter, and one of the foremost figures of the Bengal Renaissance.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): Generalstabens litografiska anstalt · Public domain

1871 · 155 yrs

Victor Grignard

François Auguste Victor Grignard (6 May 1871 – 13 December 1935) was a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the eponymously named Grignard reagent and Grignard reaction, both of which are important in the formation of carbon–carbon bonds.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): Fotograv. - Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt Stockholm · Public domain

1880 · 146 yrs

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker. He was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century art.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 146

View profile Photo (modified): Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · Public domain

1895 · 131 yrs

Rudolph Valentino

Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaele Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino or just as Valentino, was an Italian-born actor and dancer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 131

View profile Photo (modified): Henry Waxman · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs

Harry Martinson

Harry Martinson (6 May 1904 – 11 February 1978) was a Swedish writer, poet and former sailor. In 1949 he was elected into the Swedish Academy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 122

View profile Photo (modified): Gunnar Herbert Lundh · Public domain

Showing 12 of 24

Famous deaths13

1540 · 486 yrs

Juan Luis Vives

Juan Luis Vives y March (Spanish:; Latin: Joannes Ludovicus Vives; Catalan: Joan Lluís Vives i March; Dutch: Jan Ludovicus Vives; 6 March 1493 – 6 May 1540) was a Spanish (Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who spent most of his adult life in the southern Habsburg Netherlands.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 48

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown artist · Public domain

1800 · 226 yrs

Alexander Suvorov

Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy (24 November 1729 or 1730 – 18 May 1800) was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 17.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Nicolas Sébastien Frosté · Public domain

1859 · 167 yrs

Alexander von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 89

View profile Photo (modified): Joseph Karl Stieler · Public domain

1862 · 164 yrs

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 44

View profile Photo (modified): B. D. Maxham · Public domain

1877 · 149 yrs

Johan Ludvig Runeberg

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (Finland Swedish:; 5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): Karl Warburg, 1852-1918 · Public domain

1910 · 116 yrs

Edward VII

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): W. & D. Downey · Public domain

1919 · 107 yrs

L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 62

View profile Photo (modified): George Steckel · Public domain

1949 · 77 yrs

Maurice Maeterlinck

Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 86

View profile Photo (modified): Gerschel · Public domain

1952 · 74 yrs

Maria Montessori

Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( MON-tiss-OR-ee; Italian:; 31 August 1870 – 6 May 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for her philosophy of education (the Montessori method) and her writing on scientific pedagogy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1972 · 54 yrs

Deniz Gezmiş

Deniz Gezmiş (Turkish pronunciation:, 27 February 1947 – 6 May 1972) was a Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, student leader, and political activist in Turkey in the late 1960s. He was one of the founding members of the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ActivismWould be 79

View profile Photo (modified): Associated Press · Public domain

1992 · 34 yrs

Marlene Dietrich

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich (German:; 27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German and American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades. In 1920s Berlin, she performed on the stage and in silent films.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 124

View profile Photo (modified): für die Datei Arths-at · Public domain

2013 · 13 yrs

Giulio Andreotti

Giulio Andreotti (US: AHN-dray-OT-ee, Italian:; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 107

View profile Photo (modified): Senato della Repubblica · Public domain

Showing 12 of 13

Events5

1989 · 37 yrs

Eurovision Song Contest 1989

The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 May 1989 at the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland, and presented by Jacques Deschenaux and Lolita Morena.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2010 · 16 yrs

2010 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2010 to elect 650 MPs to the House of Commons. This was the first election to be held after the minimum age of candidacy was reduced from 21 to 18.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2014 · 12 yrs

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 6 and 8 May and a final on 10 May 2014, held at B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark, and presented by Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppel, and Pilou Asbæk.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

2021 · 5 yrs

2021 Israel–Palestine crisis

A major outbreak of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, sometimes called the Unity Intifada, mainly commenced on 10 May 2021 and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2023 · 3 yrs

Coronation of Charles III and Camilla

The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, took place on Saturday, 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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