This Day That Year

May 6

in History

Henry II Was Born — The last Ottonian emperor arrives
Bad Abbach, Bavaria, GermanyMedieval
973

Henry II Was Born

The last Ottonian emperor arrives

In the Bavarian town of Abbach, Henry was born -- the man who would become the last ruler of the Ottonian dynasty and Holy Roman Emperor. Ascending to the German throne after the sudden death of his cousin Otto III in 1002, he spent his reign consolidating imperial power and reforming the Church. Crowned emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014, he died without an heir in 1024, ending a dynasty that had shaped Europe for over a century. He was later canonized as a saint.

973 AD
Gorkhapatra Published — Nepal's oldest newspaper rolls off the press
Kathmandu, NepalEarly 20th Century
1901

Gorkhapatra Published

Nepal's oldest newspaper rolls off the press

In Kathmandu, the first issue of Gorkhapatra rolled off the press, launching what would become the oldest continuously running state-owned newspaper in Nepal. Beginning as a modest weekly publication, it would grow into the nation's paper of record, eventually becoming a daily in 1961. For more than a century, Gorkhapatra has documented Nepal's transformation from an isolated Himalayan kingdom to a modern republic, serving as the written conscience of a nation in perpetual change.

1901 AD
Oxford — At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English runner Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
Late 20th Century
1954

Oxford

At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English runner Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English runner Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

1954 AD