Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 6, the 249th day of 2022. There are 116 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On Sept. 6, 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 Oct. 29.)

On this date:

In 1909, American explorer Robert Peary sent a telegram from Indian Harbor, Labrador, announcing that he had reached the North Pole five months earlier.

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

In 1949, Howard Unruh, a resident of Camden, New Jersey, shot and killed 13 of his neighbors. (Found to have paranoid schizophrenia, Unruh was confined for the rest of his life; he died in a Trenton nursing home in 2009 at age 88.)

In 1972, the Summer Olympics resumed in Munich, West Germany, a day after the deadly hostage crisis that left eleven Israelis and five Arab abductors dead.

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 1991, the Soviet Union recognized the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

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. In Calcutta, India, weeping masses gathered to pay homage to Mother Teresa, who had died the day before at age 87.

In 2001, in a dramatic shift, the Bush administration abandoned the Clinton-era effort to break up Microsoft.

In 2002, meeting outside Washington, D.C., for only the second time since 1800, Congress convened in New York to pay homage to the victims and heroes of September 11.

In 2006, 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.

In 2007, opera star Luciano Pavarotti died in Modena, Italy, at the age of 71.

In 2018, the agent for actor Burt Reynolds confirmed that Reynolds, known for his roles in "Deliverance," "The Cannonball Run" and "Smokey and the Bandit," had died at the age of 82.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama conceded only halting progress toward solving the nation's economic woes, but vowed in a Democratic National Convention finale, "Our problems can be solved, our challenges can be met." Drew Peterson, the former Illinois police officer who gained notoriety after his much-younger wife, Stacy, vanished in 2007, was convicted of murdering a previous wife, Kathleen Savio. (Peterson was later sentenced to 38 years in prison.)

Five years ago: Hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, pounded Puerto Rico with heavy rain and powerful winds; authorities said more than 900,000 people were without power. A California parole panel recommended parole for Leslie Van Houten, who at 19 was the youngest of Charles Manson's murderous followers in 1969. (California Gov. Jerry Brown later blocked her release.) Pope Francis was welcomed by jubilant crowds along the road from the airport into Bogota, Colombia, where he encouraged Colombians to reconcile after five decades of armed rebellion. Two French companies among the world's biggest makers of luxury goods, including the owners of brands like Dior and Gucci, agreed to stop working with fashion models who were unhealthily thin.

One year ago: Support programs for Americans still being hit hard financially by the pandemic expired, including one that provided jobless aid to self-employed and gig workers; the Biden administration's $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit also ended. The Taliban said they had seized the last Afghan province that hadn't been in their control after their blitz through the country in August. Actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his role on "The Wire," was found dead in his New York apartment; he was 54. (A medical examiner found that Williams had died of acute drug intoxication.) A lawyer for actor Jean-Paul Belmondo confirmed that the actor, star of the French New Wave film "Breathless," had died at 88.

Today's Birthdays: Comedian JoAnne Worley is 86. Country singer David Allan Coe is 83. Rock singer-musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 79. Actor Swoosie Kurtz is 78. Comedian-actor Jane Curtin is 75. Rock musician Mick Mashbir is 74. Country singer-songwriter Buddy Miller is 70. Actor James Martin Kelly is 68. Country musician Joe Smyth (Sawyer Brown) is 65. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 64. Actor-comedian Michael Winslow is 64. Rock musician Perry Bamonte is 62. Actor Steven Eckholdt is 61. Rock musician Scott Travis (Judas Priest) is 61. Pop musician Pal Waaktaar (a-ha) is 61. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is 60. Television journalist Elizabeth Vargas is 60. Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 59. Actor Betsy Russell is 59. Actor Rosie Perez is 58. R&B singer Macy Gray is 55. Country songwriter Lee Thomas Miller (Songs: "The Impossible" "You're Gonna Miss This") is 54. Singer CeCe Peniston is 53. Actor Daniele Gaither is 52. Actor Dylan Bruno is 50. Actor Idris Elba is 50. Actor Justina Machado is 50. Actor Anika Noni Rose is 50. Rock singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans) is 48. Actor Justin Whalin is 48. Actor Naomie Harris is 46. Rapper Noreaga is 45. Actor Natalia Cigliuti is 44. Rapper Foxy Brown is 44. Actor Howard Charles is 39. Actor/singer Deborah Joy Winans is 39. Actor Lauren Lapkus is 37. Rock singer Max George (The Wanted) is 34.