Today in history:
On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey; 35 of the 97 people on board and one crew member on the ground were killed.
Also on this date:
In 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for 10 years. (The act would remain in effect until 1943.)
In 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened to the public as part of the Paris World’s Fair.
In 1935, the Works Progress Administration was established under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1954, medical student Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile during a track meet in Oxford, England, finishing in 3:59.4.
In 1994, former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against President Bill Clinton, alleging he’d sexually harassed her in 1991. (Jones reached a settlement with Clinton in November 1998.)
In 1994, the Channel Tunnel, connecting England and France beneath the English Channel, was officially opened in a ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth II and French president François Mitterrand.
In 2004, President George W. Bush apologized for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison, calling it “a stain on our country’s honor and reputation,” but rejected calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation.
