What are the important events that happened on May 6? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 6: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 6 is the 126^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 239 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 23, 2025 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,108,160 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectaicosahexagon’ day.

Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 287 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,519 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 6 Historical Events

• 1861 –
  American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.
• 1882 –
  The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
• 1889 –
  The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
• 1945 –
  World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
• 1954 –
  Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
• 1962 –
  St. Martín de Porres is canonized by Pope John XXIII.
• 1984 –
  103 Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul
• 1998 –
  Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his 5th career start.
• 2002 –
  Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated by an animal rights activist.
• 2004 –
  Aslan Abashidze, leader of Georgia’s autonomous republic of Adjara resigns after public protests and months of stalemate with the central authorities.

Who were born on May 6?

• 1713 –
  Charles Batteux, French philosopher (d. 1780)
• 1879 –
  Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist (d. 1952)
• 1880 –
  William J. Simmons, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1945)
• 1903 –
  Toots Shor, American restaurateur (d. 1977)
• 1916 –
  Robert H. Dicke, American physicist (d. 1997)
• 1920 –
  Martha Beck, American convicted murderer (d. 1951)
• 1943 –
  Andreas Baader, member of the German terrorist organization Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
• 1958 –
  Lolita Flores, Spanish singer and actress
• 1960 –
  Anne Parillaud, French actress
• 1985 –
  Chris Paul, American basketball player

Who died on May 6?

• 1757 –
  Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
• 1877 –
  Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (b. 1804)
• 1913 –
  Alexandros Schinas, Greek assassin of King George I (b. 1870)
• 1963 –
  Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-born physicist (b. 1881)
• 1970 –
  Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
• 1973 –
  Ernest MacMillan, Canadian orchestra conductor and composer (b. 1893)
• 1984 –
  Mary Cain, Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (b. 1904)
• 1992 –
  Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
• 1995 –
  Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
• 2004 –
  Barney Kessel, American jazz guitarist (b. 1923)