May 6 has a way of producing events that mark the end of one era and the reluctant beginning of another. 1937 — The Hindenburg Burns at Lakehurst At 7:25 p.m. on May 6, 1937, the German airship Hindenburg caught fire while attempting to dock at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey. The hydrogen-filled zeppelin was on its first transatlantic crossing of the season. It had crossed from Frankfurt in just under three days.