May 06, 2026: Historical Events

Santo Domingo.- The events of the 06 of May are marked by important historical events and international celebrations that left their mark on world history. Below, the main events of May 06:

• World Maternal Mental Health Day
  World Philately Day
• International No Diet Day
• International Day of Osteogenesis Imperfecta
• World Accordion Day

Saint's Day: Saints Justo, Benita, Eleodoro, Juan, Portán and Demetrio

National: May 6th Anniversaries

1497. By Royal Decree, Spain declares tax-free trade with the American Indies.

1813. Brigadier Carlos de Urrutia y Matos arrives in Santo Domingo, appointed by the King of Spain as military chief of the colony, a position vacant since the death of Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez, which occurred on February 11, 1811. 

1844. The new authorities decree, through decree number 9, that "every Dominican who has been absent since March 9th abroad, even with the Government's license, will be obliged to return within three months, under penalty of losing their civil and political rights and their confiscated property.

1910. Eight nuns from the congregation of the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity, from Málaga, Spain, arrive in the country and set foot on American soil for the first time, to bring the Mercedarian evangelizing charism.

1961. President Balaguer offers full guarantees to the main leaders of the MPD, headed by Máximo López Molina -imprisoned for six months, accused of publishing their political newspaper without due authorization and creating disturbances- so that they can disseminate their ideas, with a view to the 1962 elections.

1962. The President of the Council of State, Rafael Bonnelly, warns that Congress cannot be dissolved, as requested by many sectors of opinion in the country. 1963. In an emergency meeting, military leaders convince the President of the Republic, Professor Juan Bosch, of the infeasibility of invading Haiti, in response to the occupation of the Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince.

1965. The so-called "Act of Santo Domingo" is signed between the Constitutionalist Government, the Military Junta, and the Commission of the Tenth Consultation Meeting of the OAS, which also "approves" the collective intervention of an Inter-American Peace Force in the Dominican conflict. French President Charles De Gaulle criticizes the US military intervention in the country, urging the withdrawal of the occupation troops, while announcing the possibility of recognizing the government headed by President Francisco Caamaño.

1999. The director of the Department of Corruption Prevention (DEPRECO), Justo Pedro Castellanos, admits that there are corrupt officials in the government.  - Alleging irregularities in the PRD's internal registry, presidential pre-candidates Hatuey De Camps and Rafael Suberví Bonilla threaten to withdraw from the competition against the alliance of Hipólito Mejía and Milagros Ortiz Bosch. 2004. The Disciplinary Tribunal of the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) expels former Vice President Jacinto Peynado "for high treason and attempted division" for supporting the candidacy of former President Leonel Fernández.  2007. President Leonel Fernández wins the PLD's internal candidacy for the 2008 elections, obtaining 71.46% of the votes against the 28.54% achieved by his only opponent, former Secretary of the Presidency Danilo Medina. 2009. Peledeista leader Muguel Cocco is admitted to the Center for Diagnosis, Advanced Medicine and Telemedicine (CEDIMAT), where he remains in intensive care for 14 days after a cardiac arrest.

International: May 6th Anniversaries

1527. The imperial troops of Charles V sack Rome.

1626. Peter Minnewit, governor of New Netherland, buys Manhattan Island from the Indians.

1840. The United Kingdom issues the world's first postage stamps. 1895. José Martí is named supreme chief of the revolution in the fight for the independence of Cuba.

1910. Edward VII, British king and Emperor of India, dies. 

1914. The English House of Lords denies women the vote.

1919. Costa Rican President Federico Tinoco is deposed and US troops land in defense of United States interests in that Central American nation. 

1930. An earthquake causes the death of 6,000 people in Burma. 

1962. In the Vatican, Pope John XXIII canonizes the Peruvian Martín de Porres, becoming the first Black saint of America.

1974. In the Federal Republic of Germany, Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns due to a spying scandal. 1979. In Spain, a bomb attributed to the terrorist organization ETA causes the death of eight people in a cafeteria in Madrid. 1994. The Eurotunnel is inaugurated, which connected France and the United Kingdom under the English Channel. 2001. the terrorist group ETA assassinates the president of the Aragonese Popular Party, Manuel Giménez Abad, when he was going to a soccer game with his son.

2002. In Colombia engineer and politician Guillermo Gaviria Correa and peace advisor Gilberto Echeverri are assassinated after being held for a year by the FARC.

2007. Nicolas Sarkozy, aged 52 years old, wins the presidency of France by succeeding in the second round of elections with 53% of the votes, six percentage points above his socialist rival Ségolène Royal, who obtained 47%.

2010. Haitian deputies approve an amendment that extends President René Preval's term by three months in case general elections cannot be organized in November as planned, given the bureaucratic chaos the country is experiencing since the January earthquake.

- The Conservative Party led by David Cameron wins the legislative elections in the United Kingdom without an absolute majority. 2011. The terrorist group Al Qaeda confirms -in a message posted on jihadist Internet forums- the death of its founder and leader Osama Bin Laden, by an elite command of the United States Armed Forces. 2012. François Hollande is elected President of the French Republic in the second round of the presidential elections. 2013. Young Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight are released after being kidnapped for a decade in Cleveland (Ohio, USA) by three brothers of Puerto Rican origin. 2016. A Brazilian Senate committee votes overwhelmingly to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff, bringing the leader one step closer to being removed from office. - The Spanish National Court sentences former ETA leader Eneko Gogeaskoetxea to 92 years in prison for attempting to kill King Juan Carlos I at the inauguration of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in 1997. 2018. The Russian President Vladimir Putin begins his fourth presidential term, for which he will remain at the head of Russia until 2024, after having led the country for 18 years, either from the presidency or the head of government. - The New York Times newspaper reveals that Republican Senator John McCain, who suffers from an aggressive brain cancer, instructed his closest associates that the U.S. President, Donald Trump, should not attend his funeral, but rather Vice President Mike Pence.

2019. More than 370 former United States prosecutors sign a letter stating that if he had not held the office of U.S. president, Donald Trump would have been formally charged with obstruction of justice for the revelations included in the report of special counsel Robert Mueller on the so-called Russian plot.

2020. The President Donald Trump, vetoes a resolution approved by the United States Congress in February, which prevents him from taking any military action against Iran, without first requesting permission from the Legislature, a measure that the ruler considers 'very insulting'. - A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) supports infecting volunteers with the covid-19 virus to develop a short-term vaccine that prevents the loss of "millions of lives" and extreme stress on healthcare systems around the planet.

2021. Regulators in Russia approve a single-dose version of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, to accelerate collective immunity against the coronavirus, contrary to Sputnik Light, which requires two doses and has not yet completed the advanced tests necessary to guarantee its safety.

- Residents of the Jacarezinho favela, north of Rio de Janeiro, are experiencing moments of terror during an intense shootout between the Police and drug traffickers that left a balance of 25 dead, including a police officer.

Births: May 6th Anniversaries

1758: Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician, key figure of the French Revolution.
1856: Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis.
1895: Rodolfo Valentino, Italian actor, icon of American silent cinema.
1915: Orson Welles, American director and actor, famous for Citizen Kane.
1945: Bob Seger, American rock singer and songwriter.
1953: Tony Blair, British politician, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1961: George Clooney, American actor, producer, and director.
1993: Naomi Scott, British actress and singer.

Deaths: May 6th Anniversaries

1859: Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and geographer, considered the father of phytogeography.
1862: Henry David Thoreau, American writer, philosopher, and naturalist, author of "Civil Disobedience".
1864: Ludolf Christian Treviranus, German botanist.
1873: José Antonio Páez, leader of Venezuelan independence and president.
1877: Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish national poet.
1881: Jacinto Vera, Uruguayan bishop.
1892: Ernest Guiraud, French composer.
1910: Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom and India.
1919: Lyman Frank Baum, American writer, creator of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".
1933: Li Ching Yuen, Chinese supercentenarian.
1946: Alcides Arguedas, Bolivian writer, politician, and historian.
1950: Víctor Manuel Román y Reyes, President of Nicaragua.
1951: Élie Cartan, French mathematician.
1937: Hindenburg disaster: 36 people die after the fire of the German airship in the United States.
2022: Saratoga Hotel explosion in Havana, Cuba, leaving 47 dead.
2023: Menahem Pressler, German-American pianist, founder of the Beaux Arts Trio.
2024: Bill Holman, American jazz saxophonist and composer.