12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for September 6, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1522 – The Victoria, last surviving ship of Magellan’s expedition, returns to Spain—first circumnavigation of the globe completed.
- 1620 – The Mayflower sails from Plymouth, England, carrying the Pilgrims toward North America.
- 1901 – U.S. President William McKinley is shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
- 1916 – The first self-service grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, opens in Memphis, Tennessee.
- 1966 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is assassinated on the floor of Parliament.
- 1968 – Swaziland (now Eswatini) gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1970 – PFLP militants launch the Dawson’s Field hijackings, seizing multiple airliners.
- 1972 – Eleven Israeli athletes are killed after a failed rescue attempt ends the Munich Olympics hostage crisis.
- 1991 – The Soviet State Council recognizes the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
- 1997 – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, is held in London and watched worldwide.
- 2007 – Israel conducts “Operation Orchard,” an airstrike on a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor.
- 2018 – India’s Supreme Court decriminalizes homosexuality, striking down key parts of Section 377.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1943 – Roger Waters, Pink Floyd co-founder and songwriter (82)
- 1947 – Jane Curtin, actor/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Kate & Allie) (78)
- 1958 – Jeff Foxworthy, comedian and TV host (Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?) (67)
- 1964 – Rosie Perez, actor and choreographer (Do the Right Thing, Fearless) (61)
- 1967 – Macy Gray, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter (“I Try”) (58)
- 1972 – Idris Elba, actor/producer (Luther, Beasts of No Nation) (53)
- 1976 – Naomie Harris, actor (Moonlight; Moneypenny in the Bond films) (49)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1966 – Margaret Sanger, birth control activist and Planned Parenthood founder (86)
- 1966 – Hendrik Verwoerd, prime minister of South Africa and chief architect of apartheid (64)
- 1990 – Tom Fogerty, Creedence Clearwater Revival rhythm guitarist (48)
- 1998 – Akira Kurosawa, Oscar-winning Japanese film director (Seven Samurai) (88)
- 2007 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian operatic tenor (71)
- 2018 – Burt Reynolds, film star (Smokey and the Bandit, Boogie Nights) (82)
- 2021 – Michael K. Williams, Emmy-nominated actor (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire) (54)
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