Today in history—May 6

1658: Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is born at Arras, France.  He will be one of the relatively few lawyers to be nicknamed “The Incorruptible.” 

1889: The Eiffel Tower opens for business in Paris.  Most Parisians complain that the big metal erector-set thing is weird and ugly, but they eventually get used to it.

1915: Future genius and TV pitchman Orson Welles is born at Kenosha, Wisconsin.  A vivid transcript of a genius recording a commercial for peas is here.

1919: Lyman Frank Baum, who used his part-time “Oz” series of books to finance all his serious literary and theatrical failures, dies at Hollywood, California.

1935: President Roosevelt signs the Executive Order creating the Works Progress Administration.

1937: The passenger Zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and burns in under a minute at Lakehurst, New Jersey.  Zeppelins had previously flown millions of miles without a single passenger injury, but after the newsreel and radio broadcasts Zeppelin travel in the U.S. is dead.

1994: Queen Elizabeth and French President Miterrand dedicate the Channel Tunnel, perhaps the most expensive hole in the ground ever dug.

2002: The World Wrestling Federation, following a legal battle over the “WWF” logo with the World Wildlife Fund, changes its name to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

2004: After 10 years and too many romantic entanglements to count, the sitcom Friends airs its last episode.  By the end of the series, each of the six stars make $1 million per episode.  Not counting residuals.