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On this Day May 6

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Celebrity Birthdays

1856 – Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, considered the pioneer of psychoanalysis (d. 1939)

1895 – Actor and 1920s silent film era sex symbol Rudolph Valentino (d. 1926)

1915 – Oscar-winning actor-director-writer-producer Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane,” “War of the Worlds”) (d. 1985)

1931 – Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays, affectionately known as “The Say Hey Kid”

1945 – Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bob Seger (“Night Moves,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” “Against the Wind”)

1955 – Emmy-winning TV host Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Dancing With the Stars”)

1961 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor, director and producer George Clooney (“ER,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Oceans Eleven” and its sequels, “Syriana,” “Michael Clayton,” “Gravity,” “Money Monster”)

1987 – Rapper Meek Mill, born Robert Rihmeek Williams

History Highlights

1935 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA), designed to put unemployed Americans to work during the Great Depression in return for temporary financial assistance.

1937 – The German airship Hindenburg explodes in a fireball while approaching its mooring mast at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people die in the disaster, described by radio reporter Herb Morrison in the historic broadcast featuring his exclamation, “Oh, the humanity!”

1954 – British athlete Sir Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run a mile in under four minutes (3:59.4)

1994 – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterand preside over a ceremony officially opening a rail tunnel beneath the English Channel. The Channel/Euro Tunnel or Chunnel connects Britain and the European mainland for the first time.

2004 – More than 52 million viewers tune in for “The Last One” (a.k.a. “The One Where They Say Goodbye”), the final episode of NBC’s long-running primetime comedy series “Friends.” The sitcom picked up six Emmys during a 10-season run and turned its six principal cast members into household names.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Frank and Nancy Sinatra enjoy their fourth and final week atop the singles chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.”

1973 – Paul Simon sets out on his first concert tour without partner Art Garfunkel, using The Jesse Dixon Singers for backup vocals. First stop: Boston. The shows across America and Europe are recorded and released in March 1974 on the album “Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin’.”

1978 – The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, begins its eighth and final week as a No. 1 single.

1989 – Madonna enters her third and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Like a Prayer.”

1995 – “This Is How We Do It,” by Montell Jordan, is midway through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2002 – A heart attack claims the life of songwriter and producer Otis Blackwell at the age of 71. Blackwell wrote several rock and roll classics over the years, including “All Shook Up,” “Return To Sender,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Fever.”

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