today.nukz.net: Almanac May 6

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), the most famous broadcast in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), which many critics and scholars name as the best film of all time.

Events

1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, die fighting the forces of Charles V in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape into Castel Sant'Angelo.
1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
1536 – King Henry VIII orders English language Bibles be placed in every church.
1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
1757 – Battle of Prague – A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.
1757 – End of Konbaung-Hanthawaddy War, and end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757)
1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
1816 – The American Bible Society is founded in New York City.
1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1844 – The Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens.
1857 – The British East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British and is considered to be the First Martyr in the War of Indian Independence.
1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1861 – American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by Confederate troops.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed and killed during the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin.
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.
1910 – George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father.
1916 – 21 Lebanese nationalists executed in the Martyrs' Square, Beirut by Jamal Pasha, the Ottoman wali.
1935 – New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration.
1935 – The first flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk.

Hindenburg disaster

1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1941 – At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
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.
1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
1962 – St. Martín de Porres is canonized by Pope John XXIII.
1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors Murders in England.
1972 – Deniz Gezmis, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin Inan are executed in Ankara for attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
1976 – An earthquake strikes Friuli, causing 989 deaths and the destruction of entire villages.
1981 – A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
1983 – The Hitler diaries are revealed as a hoax after examination by experts.
1984 – 103 Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul
1989 – Cedar Point opens Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200 ft height barrier, therefore spawning what is considered to be the "coaster wars".
1994 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
1994 – Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones files a lawsuit against President Bill Clinton, alleging that he had sexually harassed her in 1991.
1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank's 300-year history.
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.
1999 – First elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly held.
2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
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.
2010 – The second largest intraday point swing in Dow Jones Industrial Average history occurs.

Births

1405 – George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, Albanian hero (d. 1468)
1501 – Pope Marcellus II (d. 1555)
1574 – Pope Innocent X (d. 1655)
1638 – Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (d. 1696)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French composer and cellist (d. 1755)
1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher (d. 1780)
1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
1758 – André Masséna, French marshal (d. 1817)
1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French Revolutionary (d. 1794)
1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (d. 1834)
1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish aristocrat and general (d. 1881)
1851 – Aristide Bruant, French cabaret singer and comedian (d. 1925)

Sigmund Freud

1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (d. 1939)
1856 – Robert Peary, American explorer (d. 1920)
1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
1868 – Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)
1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author (d. 1914)
1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch scientist (d. 1934)
1879 – Bedrich Hrozný, Czech orientalist (d. 1952)
1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter (d. 1938)
1880 – Winifred Brunton, British-born South African painter (d. 1959)
1880 – William J. Simmons, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1945)
1882 – Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany (d. 1951)
1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian Nazi (d. 1946)
1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian writer (d. 1974)
1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
1897 – Paul Alverdes, German writer (d. 1979)
1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czechoslovakian politician (d. 1945)
1899 – Billy Cotton, British entertainer (d. 1969)
1902 – Harry Golden, American journalist (d. 1981)
1902 – Max Ophüls, German-born director (d. 1957)
1903 – Toots Shor, American restaurateur (d. 1977)
1904 – Raymond Bailey, American actor (d. 1980)
1904 – Moshe Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-born founder of the Feldenkrais method (d. 1984)
1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish author and poet Nobel laureate (d. 1978)
1906 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican writer (d. 2005)
1906 – André Weil, French mathematician (d. 1998)
1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football coach (d. 1998)
1909 – Loyd Sigmon, American amateur radio broadcaster (d. 2004)
1911 – Guy des Cars, French novelist (d. 1993)
1911 – Frank Nelson, American actor (d. 1986)
1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
1913 – Stewart Granger, English film actor (d. 1993)
1915 – Orson Welles, American film director and actor (d. 1985)
1915 – Theodore White, American writer (d. 1986)
1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist (d. 1997)
1916 – Sif Ruud, Swedish actress (d. 2011)
1917 – Kal Mann, American lyricist (d. 2001)
1920 – Ross Hunter, American film producer (d. 1996)
1920 – Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Fijian statesman (d. 2004)
1920 – Martha Beck, American convicted murderer (d. 1951)
1921 – Erich Fried, German author (d. 1988)
1922 – Camille Laurin, Quebec psychiatrist and politician (d. 1999)
1922 – Vladimir Etush, Russian actor
1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
1924 – Denny Wright, British guitarist (d. 1992)
1924 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (d. 2006)
1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Quebec politician, co-founder of the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
1928 – Robert Poujade, French politician
1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2007)

Willie Mays

1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player
1934 – Richard Shelby, American politician
1936 – Bernard Lemaire, French Canadian businessman (Cascades)
1937 – Rubin Carter, American boxer
1938 – Jean Garon, Quebec economist and politician
1938 – Larry Gogan, Irish radio personality
1942 – Rin Kaiho, professional go player
1943 – Andreas Baader, member of the German terrorist organization Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
1943 – Grange Calveley, British cartoonist
1944 – Anton Furst, American production designer (d. 1991)
1944 – Masanori Murakami, first Japanese baseball player in major leagues
1945 – Richard Eyer, American actor
1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American musician
1945 – Bob Seger, American singer/songwriter
1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher
1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
1948 – Mary MacGregor, American singer
1949 – Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., American voice actor and cartoonist
1950 – Robbie McIntosh, Scottish musician (Average White Band) (d. 1974)
1951 – Samuel Doe, President of Liberia (d. 1990)
1952 – Christian Clavier, French actor
1952 – Gregg Henry, American actor and country musician
1952 – Michael O'Hare, American actor
1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch politician and CEO (ABN AMRO)
1953 – Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1997–2007
1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Quebec politician
1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish footballer/manager
1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress
1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician
1955 – Tom Bergeron, American game show host
1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek comedian and scriptwriter
1958 – Lolita Flores, Spanish singer and actress
1960 – Roma Downey, Northern Irish actress
1960 – John Flansburgh, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
1960 – Phyllis Treigle, American soprano
1961 – George Clooney, American actor
1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, writer, singer and comedian
1962 – Adam Yellin, American record producer
1964 – Dana Hill, American actress (d. 1996)
1964 – Tony Scalzo, American musician (Fastball)
1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress
1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer (Stereolab)
1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer
1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
1970 – Tristán Ulloa, Spanish actor
1971 – Chris Shiflett, American guitarist (Foo Fighters)
1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese long-distance runner
1974 – Faruk Namdar, Turkish footballer
1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
1977 – Marc Chouinard, French Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player
1978 – John Abraham, American football player
1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish politician
1978 – Aleksandr Fyodorov, Russian bodybuilder
1979 – Mark Burrier, American cartoonist
1979 – Kerry Ellis, West End actress / singer
1979 – Nikki Hayes, Irish radio personality
1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
1980 – Nicole Brunner, American actress
1980 – Mark Ladwig, American figure skater
1980 – Scott Colton, American professional wrestler
1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek basketball player
1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Taebin, Korean singer (1TYM)
1980 – Kelly van der Veer, Dutch reality TV star
1981 – Matt Drake, British vocalist/guitarist (Evile)
1981 – Nicholas Setta, American Canadian football player (Hamilton Tiger-Cats)
1981 – Edyta Sliwinska, Polish dancer
1982 – Kyle Shewfelt, Canadian gymnast
1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
1983 – Adrianne Palicki, American actress
1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
1983 – Lisa Lavie, Canadian singer-songwriter and Internet personality
1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious figure, the 17th Karmapa Lama (supported by the Chinese government)
1983 – Raquel Zimmermann, Brazilian model
1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentine footballer
1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
1985 – Tanerau Latimer, New Zealand All Black rugby player
1986 – Cindy Daniel, French Canadian singer
1986 – Tyler Hynes, Canadian actor
1986 – Roman Kreuziger, Czech Astana pro cyclist
1987 – Moon Geun Young, South Korean actress
1989 – Bobby Bazini, French Canadian singer and songwriter
1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovakian tennis player
1990 – Caitlin Yankowskas, American figure skater
1991 – Valerio Frasca, Italian footballer
1996 – Dominic Scott Kay, American actor

Deaths

680 – Muawiyah I, Caliph of Umayyad (b. 602)
1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. c. 1415)
1502 – James Tyrrell, alleged murderer of Edward V of England and the Duke of York (b. c. 1450)
1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish composer (b. 1535)
1620 – Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Palestinian-born Kabbalist (b. 1543)
1631 – Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, English politician (b. 1570)
1638 – Cornelius Jansen, French bishop and religious reformer (b. 1585)
1708 – François de Laval, French bishop (b. 1623)
1757 – Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, British politician (b. 1683)
1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian politician (b. 1792)
1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and explorer (b. 1769)
1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher (b. 1817)
1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (b. 1804)
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, civil servant (b. 1829)
1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician (b. 1836)
1902 – Bret Harte, American author (b. 1836)
1910 – King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
1913 – Alexandros Schinas, Greek assassin of King George I (b. 1870)
1919 – L. Frank Baum, American writer (b. 1856)
1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian writer (b. 1869)
1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician (b. 1869)

Maria Montessori

1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian educator (b. 1870)
1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-born physicist (b. 1881)
1963 – Ted Weems, American bandleader and musician (b. 1901)
1963 – Monty Woolley, American actor (b. 1888)
1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (b. 1885)
1970 – Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
1972 – Deniz Gezmis, Turkish political activist (b. 1947)
1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian orchestra conductor and composer (b. 1893)
1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian Catholic Cardinal (b. 1892)
1983 – Kai Winding, American trombonist and jazz composer (b. 1922)
1984 – Bonner Pink, British Conservative Party politician (b. 1912)
1984 – Mary Cain, Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (b. 1904)
1985 – Julie Vega, Filipino child actress and singer (b. 1968)
1987 – William Casey, American Central Intelligence Agency director (b. 1913)
1989 – Earl Blaik, former American football coach (b. 1897)
1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
1992 – Gaston Reiff, Belgian athlete (b. 1921)
1992 – Jilly Rizzo, restaurateur (b. 1917)
1993 – Ann Todd, English actress (b. 1909)
1995 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
1995 – Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburgo e Bragança, Portuguese claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1907)
2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor and teacher (b. 1906)
2002 – Otis Blackwell, American pianist, singer and songwriter (b. 1932)

Pim Fortuyn

2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
2003 – Art Houtteman, baseball player (b. 1927)
2004 – Philip Kapleau, American Zen teacher (b. 1912)
2004 – Barney Kessel, American jazz guitarist (b. 1923)
2006 – Lillian Asplund, last American RMS Titanic survivor (b. 1906)
2006 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese Ainu activist (b. 1926)
2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer, songwriter (The Go-Betweens) (b. 1958)
2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian television journalist (b. 1958)
2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian politician (b. 1938)
2007 – Curtis Harrington, American film director (b. 1926)
2007 – Ðorde Novkovic, Croatian songwriter (b. 1943)
2009 – Kevin Grubb, American NASCAR driver (b. 1978)
2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player (b. 1926)