Today in History | New

On September 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 October 29.)

TO THIS DATE : In 1909, American explorer Robert Peary sent a telegram from Indian Harbour, Labrador, announcing that he had reached the North Pole five months early.

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

In 1949, Howard Unruh, a resident of Camden, New Jersey, shot and killed 13 of his neighbors. (Discovered of 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 left eleven Israelis and five Arab kidnappers dead.

In 1975, 18-year-old tennis star Martina Navratilova from Czechoslovakia, in New York for the US Open, has 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 she died in a car crash in Paris. In Calcutta, India, tearful masses gathered to pay homage to Mother Teresa, who died the day before at 87.

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

In 2002, Gathered outside Washington, DC for only the second time since 1800, Congress gathered in New York to honor the victims and heroes of 9/11.

In 2006, President George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time that the CIA ran secret prisons overseas and said harsh interrogations forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies.

In 2007, Opera star Luciano Pavarotti has died in Modena, Italy, aged 71.

In 2018, Actor Burt Reynolds’ agent has confirmed that Reynolds, known for his roles in ‘Deliverance’, ‘The Cannonball Run’ and ‘Smokey and the Bandit’, has died aged 82.

TEN YEARS AGO: President Barack Obama conceded only halting progress toward solving the country’s economic problems, but vowed during a Democratic National Convention final: ‘Our problems can be solved, our challenges can be met’ . Drew Peterson, the former Illinois police officer who rose to prominence after his much younger wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007, has been 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 on record in the Atlantic, hit Puerto Rico with heavy rains and strong winds; authorities said more than 900,000 people were without power. A California parole board recommended parole for Leslie Van Houten, who at 19 was the youngest of Charles Manson’s murderous supporters in 1969. (California Governor Jerry Brown later blocked his release.) Pope Francis was greeted by cheering crowds along the airport road. in Bogota, Colombia, where he encouraged Colombians to reconcile after five decades of armed rebellion. Two French companies among the world’s largest luxury goods makers, including owners of brands like Dior and Gucci, have agreed to stop working with models who were unhealthy.

ONE YEAR AGO: Support programs for Americans still hard hit financially by the pandemic have expired, including one that provided unemployment assistance to self-employed and gig workers; the Biden administration’s additional $300 weekly unemployment benefit also ended. The Taliban said they seized the last Afghan province not under their control after they bombed across the country in August. Actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his role in ‘The Wire,’ was found dead in his New York apartment; he was 54 years old. (A medical examiner has found that Williams died of acute drug intoxication.) A lawyer for actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has confirmed that the actor, star of the French New Wave film “A bout de souffle “, had died at 88 years old.

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