On May 6, 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for 10 years. (The act would remain in effect until 1943.)

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened to the public as part of the Paris World’s Fair.

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration was established under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey; 35 of the 97 people on board and one crew member on the ground were killed.

In 1994, the Channel Tunnel connecting England and France was officially opened in a ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth II and French president François Mitterrand.