ON SEPTEMBER 6 ...
In 1837 the Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio went co-educational.
In 1901 President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. (McKinley died eight days later; he was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. Czolgosz was executed Oct. 29, 1901.)
In 1916 the first self-serve grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was opened in Memphis by Clarence Saunders. (The store was set up to allow customers to handpick their groceries, rather than request them from a clerk standing behind a counter.)
In 1939 South Africa declared war on Germany.
In 1941 Jews older than 6 in German-occupied areas were ordered to wear yellow Stars of David.
In 1970 Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three jetliners that were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated.
In 1975 Czechoslovak tennis star Martina Navratilova, in New York for the U.S. Open, requested political asylum.
In 1978 James Wickwire, of Seattle, and Louis Reichardt, of San Francisco, became the first Americans to reach the summit of Pakistan’s K-2, the world’s second-highest mountain.
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, in the Soviet Union, the State Council, a new executive body composed of President Mikhail Gorbachev and republic leaders, recognized the independence of the Baltic states.
In 1994 Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds and Gerry Adams, the head of the IRA’s political ally, Sinn Fein, made a joint commitment to peace after their first face-to-face meeting.
In 1995 the Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously to recommend expulsion of Sen. Bob Packwood, accused of sexual and official misconduct. Also in 1995 Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record by playing his 2,131st consecutive game.
In 1997 Britain bade farewell to Princess Diana with a funeral at Westminster Abbey.
In 1999, in Detroit, striking teachers and the school board agreed on a tentative agreement aimed at ending a weeklong walkout. (The teachers ratified the contract two days later.)
In 2001 the Bush administration abandoned the Clinton-era effort to break up Microsoft. Also in 2001 Barry Bonds became the fifth player in baseball history to hit 60 home runs in a season, connecting in the second inning of San Francisco’s game against Arizona.
In 2002, meeting outside Washington for only the second time since 1800, Congress convened in New York to pay homage to the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
In 2004 former President Bill Clinton underwent successful heart-bypass surgery during a 4-hour procedure at a New York hospital.
In 2005 the California Legislature became the first legislative body in the nation to approve same-sex marriages, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger later vetoed the bill.
In 2012 Democratic delegates nominated President Barack Obama to a second term at the party’s national convention in Charlotte, N.C. Also in 2012 a jury found former Bolingbrook, Ill., police Officer Drew Peterson guilty of murder in the drowning of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. (He was later sentenced to 38 years in prison.)