On this day, Sept. 6
1791 Robert Johnson, the revenue collector, was tarred and feathered by angered citizens.
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; Czolgosz was executed on Oct. 29.)
1954 In Denver, 1,600 miles away, President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved an “atomic wand” over an electronic cabinet. He thus relayed the impulse that sent into motion huge steam shovels at the Shippingport site of the world’s first atomic power plant. Some 1,500 business, industrial and scientific leaders of the Pittsburgh area attended the Labor Day groundbreaking ceremony starting construction of the $45 million installation.
1975 Eighteen-year-old tennis star Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, in New York for the U.S. Open, requested political asylum in the United States.
1995 Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record by playing his 2,131st consecutive game.
2005 After leading the Pirates to a 55-81 record, manager Lloyd McClendon was fired. Coach Pete Mackanin completed the rest of the season as manager.
Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).
— Compiled by Rick Nowlin
Today’s birthdays: Comedian JoAnne Worley, 85. Country singer David Allan Coe, 82. Rock singer-musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), 78. Actor Swoosie Kurtz, 77. Comedian-actor Jane Curtin, 74. Rock musician Mick Mashbir, 73. Country singersongwriter Buddy Miller, 69. Actor James Martin Kelly, 67. Country musician Joe Smyth (Sawyer Brown), 64. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy, 63. Actor-comedian Michael Winslow, 63. Rock musician Perry Bamonte, 61. Actor Steven Eckholdt, 60. Rock musician Scott Travis (Judas Priest), 60. Pop musician Pal Waaktaar (a-ha), 60. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, 59. Television journalist Elizabeth Vargas, 59. Country singer Mark Chesnutt, 58. Actor Betsy Russell, 58. Actor Rosie Perez, 57. R&B singer Macy Gray, 54. Country songwriter Lee Thomas Miller (Songs: “The Impossible” “You’re Gonna Miss This”), 53. Singer CeCe Peniston, 52. Actor Daniele Gaither, 51. Actor Dylan Bruno, 49. Actor Idris Elba, 49. Actor Justina Machado, 49. Actor Anika Noni Rose, 49. Rock singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans), 47. Actor Justin Whalin, 47. Actor Naomie Harris, 45. Rapper Noreaga, 44. Actor Natalia Cigliuti, 43. Rapper Foxy Brown, 43. Actor Howard Charles, 38. Actor/singer Deborah Joy Winans, 38. Actor Lauren Lapkus, 36. Rock singer Max George (The Wanted), 33.
Thought for today: “We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.”
— Iris Murdoch, Anglo-Irish author and philosopher
(1919-1999)