Today in history

On Sept. 6, 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 PanAmerican Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. (McKinley died eight days later; he was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. Czolgosz was executed Oct. 29, 1901.)

In 1909 American explorer Robert Peary sent word he had reached the North Pole five months earlier.

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 hand-pick their groceries, rather than request them from a clerk standing behind a counter.)

In 1941 Jews older than 6 in German-occupied areas were ordered to wear yellow Stars of David. In 1948 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was crowned.

In 1952 Canadian television broadcasting began in Montreal.

In 1966 South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was stabbed to death by a deranged page during a parliamentary session in Cape Town.

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 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 1995 Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record by playing his 2,131st consecutive game.