1829
Science
Born on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
Phebe Ann Coffin was born on May 6, 1829, on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, into a prominent Quaker whaling family.
View detailsThis Day
06May
25 indexed achievements across recorded history.
1864
Medicine
Army nursing leadership appointment
Barton was appointed superintendent of women nurses for the Army of the James, giving her an official Civil War medical leadership role.
View details1880
1884
Science
US patent granted for mathematical dividing instrument
Hertha Ayrton was granted US Patent No. 310,450 for her line-divider.
View details1916
Science
Court-martialled and sentenced to death, later commuted
On 6 May 1916 Markievicz was sentenced to death for her role in the Easter Rising; the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment because she was a woman.
View details1918
Arts
First woman to win a journalism Pulitzer Prize
Minna Lewinson becomes the first woman to win a journalism Pulitzer Prize, sharing the 1918 Newspaper History award.
View details1918
Arts
First woman to win any journalism-related Pulitzer Prize
Lewinson becomes the first woman to win any journalism-related Pulitzer Prize with the 1918 Newspaper History award.
View details1918
Arts
Lewinson and Hough jointly receive Pulitzer Newspaper History Award
As Columbia journalism students, Lewinson and Henry Beetle Hough jointly receive the Pulitzer Newspaper History Award.
View details1918
Arts
Pulitzer 1918 announcement including Lewinson and Hough
Pulitzer Prizes for 1918 announced, including the Newspaper History award to Minna Lewinson and Henry Beetle Hough.
View details1924
Science
Improved snap-on umbrella patented
Patented an improved version of her snap-on cover umbrella (US 1,492,725), assigned to her own Henry Umbrella & Parasol Co.
View details1935
Literature
Won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Audrey Wurdemann won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 6, 1935, for her collection 'Bright Ambush.'
View details1936
Aviation
Passenger on Hindenburg's first transatlantic passenger flight to the U.S.
Lady Drummond-Hay was aboard the Hindenburg's maiden transatlantic passenger flight from Frankfurt, which arrived at Lakehurst, New Jersey on 6 May 1936.
View details1938
Literature
Contemporary reception of "Here Lies" short story collection
"Here Lies" by Parker receives coverage in New York Times in 1938.
View details1940
Arts
First credited film role in Four Shall Die
Dandridge's first credited film role, as Helen Fielding in the race film Four Shall Die, was released May 6, 1940.
View details1943
Science
Establishment of the Izieu Children's Home
Sabine Zlatin opened a refuge for Jewish children in Izieu, France, on May 6, 1943, to shelter them from Nazi persecution.
View details1952
Science
Patent granted: Radiant Energy Heat Transfer Device
U.S. Patent 2,595,905 for a “Radiant Energy Heat Transfer Device” is granted to Maria Telkes.
View details1952
Science
Death of Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori dies on May 6, 1952, in the Netherlands.
View details1978
1990
Aviation
Posthumously awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev posthumously awarded Litvyak the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the USSR's highest honor, on May 6, 1990.
View details1993
Politics
Confirmed as United States Ambassador to France
Pamela Harriman was confirmed by the US Senate as Ambassador to France in 1993, becoming one of the most prominent political women of her era in American diplomacy.
View details1997
Science
IRI Achievement Award presented
Stephanie Kwolek was honored by the Industrial Research Institute.
View details2002
Politics
Second major release from house arrest
Suu Kyi is released from house arrest and addresses supporters gathered outside her Yangon home.
View details2003
Science
Patent for molded building panel continuation
U.S. Patent 6,557,256 B2 expanded 'Molded building panel.'
View details2013
Literature
Death of Sarah Kirsch in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein
Sarah Kirsch died on 6 May 2013 at her home in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, at the age of 78.
View details2014
Science
Died in Vienna, Austria
Maria Lassnig died on May 6, 2014, in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 94, shortly before a major retrospective at MoMA PS1.
View details