Today in History

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 6, the 250th day of 2016. There are 116 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 6, 1916, the first self-serve grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was opened in Memphis, Tennessee, by Clarence Saunders. (The store was set up to allow customers to hand-pick their groceries from shelves, rather than request them from a clerk standing behind a counter.)

On this date:

In 1861, Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant occupied Paducah, Kentucky, during the Civil War.

In 1901, President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. (McKinley died eight days later; Czolgosz was executed on October 29.)

In 1925, the silent film horror classic "The Phantom of the Opera," starring Lon Chaney, had its world premiere at the Astor Theater in New York.

In 1939, the Union of South Africa declared war on Germany.

In 1943, 79 people were killed when a New York-bound Pennsylvania Railroad train derailed and crashed in Philadelphia.

In 1954, groundbreaking took place for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in western Pennsylvania.

In 1966, birth control advocate Margaret Sanger died in Tucson, Arizona, at age 86, eight days before her birthday. South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was stabbed to death by an apparently deranged page during a parliamentary session in Cape Town.

In 1970, Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three U.S.-bound jetliners. (Two were later blown up on the ground in Jordan, along with a London-bound plane hijacked on Sept. 9; the fourth plane was destroyed on the ground in Egypt. No hostages were harmed.)

In 1975, 18-year-old tennis star Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, in New York for the U.S. Open, requested political asylum in the United States.

In 1985, all 31 people aboard a Midwest Express Airlines DC-9 were killed when the Atlanta-bound jetliner crashed just after takeoff from Milwaukee's Mitchell Field.

In 1991, the Soviet Union recognized the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Russian lawmakers upheld a decision by residents of Leningrad to restore the city's pre-revolutionary name, St. Petersburg.

In 1997, a public funeral was held for Princess Diana at Westminster Abbey in London, six days after her death in a car crash in Paris.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time that the CIA was running secret prisons overseas and said tough interrogation had forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies. Japan's Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy (later named Hisahito), providing the centuries-old Chrysanthemum Throne with its first male heir in more than 40 years. Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter in his 13th career start as the Florida Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0.

Five years ago: A man with a rifle opened fire in an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, killing three of five uniformed National Guard members and a woman having breakfast with her husband; gunman Eduardo Sencion also shot himself and died in the parking lot. Convoys of Moammar Gadhafi loyalists, including his security chief, fled Libya, crossing the Sahara into Niger.

One year ago: Guatemala held its general election; with no presidential candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote, there was a runoff the following October between Jimmy Morales (who won) and Sandra Torres.

Today's Birthdays: Comedian JoAnne Worley is 81. Country singer David Allan Coe is 77. Rock singer-musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 73. Actress Swoosie Kurtz is 72. Comedian-actress Jane Curtin is 69. Country singer-songwriter Buddy Miller is 64. Actor James Martin Kelly is 62. Country musician Joe Smyth (Sawyer Brown) is 59. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 58. Actor-comedian Michael Winslow is 58. Rock musician Perry Bamonte is 56. Actor Steven Eckholdt is 55. Rock musician Scott Travis (Judas Priest) is 55. Pop musician Pal Waaktaar (a-ha) is 55. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is 54. Rock musician Kevin Miller is 54. ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Vargas is 54. Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 53. Actress Betsy Russell is 53. Actress Rosie Perez is 52. Rhythm and blues singer Macy Gray is 49. Singer CeCe Peniston is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer Darryl Anthony (Az Yet) is 47. Actress Daniele Gaither is 46. Rock singer Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries) is 45. Actor Dylan Bruno is 44. Actor Idris Elba is 44. Actress Justina Machado is 44. Actress Anika Noni) Rose is 44. Rock singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans) is 42. Actor Justin Whalin is 42. Actress Naomie Harris is 40. Rapper Noreaga is 39. Actress Natalia Cigliuti is 38. Rapper Foxy Brown is 38. Actor Howard Charles (TV: "The Musketeers") is 33. Actress Lauren Lapkus is 31. Rock singer Max George (The Wanted) is 28.

Thought for Today: "I never make a trip to the United States without visiting a supermarket. To me they are more fascinating than any fashion salon." -- Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986).