This day in history

[May 06, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, May 6, the 126th day of 2009. There are 239 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.

On this date:

In 1859, Georgia miner John H. Gregory discovered a lode of gold in Colorado.

In 1861, Arkansas seceded from the Union.

In 1889, the Paris Exposition formally opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower.

In 1910, Britain's King Edward VII died; he was succeeded by George V.

In 1942, during World War II some 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese.

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

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

In 1981, Yale architecture student Maya Ying Lin was named winner of a competition to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

In 1994, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand formally opened the Channel Tunnel between their countries.

In 2002, right-wing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was shot and killed in Hilversum, Netherlands. (Volkert van der Graaf was later convicted of killing Fortuyn and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.)

Ten years ago: Russia and the major Western powers set aside their differences over NATO airstrikes and drafted a joint plan to end the Kosovo conflict. President Bill Clinton met with Kosovo refugees in Germany, listening to chilling stories of murder, rape and terror and promising them, "You will go home again in safety and in freedom." Reversing decades of overwhelming loyalty to Britain's governing Labor Party, Scottish and Welsh voters elected strong nationalist oppositions to their first separate assemblies of modern times.

Five years ago: 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. The FBI arrested Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield as part of the investigation into the Madrid train bombings; however, the bureau later said Mayfield's arrest had been a mistake, and apologized. An estimated 51.1 million people tuned in for the final first-run episode of "Friends" on NBC.

One year ago: Barack Obama swept to a convincing victory in the North Carolina Democratic primary while Hillary Rodham Clinton eked out a win in Indiana. A Georgia man who'd killed his live-in girlfriend was executed; William Earl Lynd was the first inmate put to death since the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of lethal injections. Kobe Bryant won his first MVP award after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference.

Today's birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays is 78. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is 75. Rock singer Bob Seger is 64. Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 64. Gospel singer-comedian Lulu Roman is 63. Actor Alan Dale is 62. Actor Ben Masters is 62. Actor Gregg Henry is 57. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 56. TV personality Tom Bergeron is 54. Actress Roma Downey is 49. Rock singer John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) is 49. Actor George Clooney is 48. Actor Clay O'Brien is 48. Rock singer-musician Tony Scalzo (Fastball) is 45. Actress Leslie Hope is 44. Rock musician Mark Bryan (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 42. Rock musician Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) is 38. Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is 27. Actress Adrianne Palicki is 26.

Thought for today: "No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks." -- Mary Wollstonecraft, British writer and philosopher (1759-1797)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.