April 6 Birthday
On April 6, 1896, the first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece. 280 athletes from thirteen nations competed in forty-three events. The Games were the vision of Pierre de Coubertin, a French baron who believed that international sport could promote peace. The ancient Olympics had been held every four years for nearly 1,200 years until Emperor Theodosius abolished them in 393 CE. The first modern marathon was run at these Games, commemorating the run of Pheidippides from Marathon to Athens in 490 BCE. The winner, Spyridon Louis, a Greek water carrier, became a national hero. He was offered a lifetime of free meals, haircuts, and shoes. The Games were not the international spectacle they would become — there were no television cameras, no corporate sponsors, and athletes competed in street clothes. The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, three days after President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war. Wilson had campaigned for reelection in 1916 on the slogan "He kept us out of war." By April 1917, Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and sent the Zimmermann Telegram, proposing a military alliance with Mexico against the US. The telegram, intercepted by British intelligence, was the final provocation. The US sent 2 million soldiers to France — the American Expeditionary Forces under General John Pershing. They arrived at a moment when both sides were exhausted, and their fresh numbers tipped the balance. The war ended on November 11, 1918. The peace that followed was punitive and set the stage for World War II. The Declaration of Arbroath, dated April 6, 1320, is the Scottish declaration of independence. Written in Latin and addressed to Pope John XXII, it asked the Pope to recognize Scotland as an independent kingdom and Robert the Bruce as its rightful king. The declaration contains a passage that has echoed through centuries: "It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself." The document influenced the American Declaration of Independence — Thomas Jefferson is known to have read it. April 6 is Tartan Day in the United States, designated by Congress in 1998. Raphael, born this day in 1483, was the most balanced of the Renaissance masters — not as tormented as Michelangelo, not as restless as Leonardo. He painted the School of Athens, the Sistine Madonna, and the Transfiguration. He died on his thirty-seventh birthday, April 6, 1520, possibly of syphilis. His funeral mass was attended by the entire papal court. People born on April 6 fall under the zodiac sign of Aries. The birthstone is Diamond and the birth flower is Daisy. Historical events on April 6 include 1320: Declaration of Arbroath affirms Scottish independence from England, 1896: First modern Olympic Games open in Athens, 1917: US Congress declares war on Germany, entering World War I. Famous people born on April 6 include Raphael (1483), Merle Haggard (1937), Walter Mondale... no, Marilu Henner (1952).