Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

September 6

1991
The Soviet city Leningrad's name is restored to St. Petersburg.

1991
The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

1989
The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon is evacuated.

1979
National Grandparents Day is proclaimed by the president. To be celebrated on the Sunday following Labor Day.

1969
H.R. Pufnstuf with puppets by Sid and Marty Krofft debuts on NBC. They sued McDonald's because of Mayor McCheese's resemblance to Pufnstuf and won $50,000.

1941
World War II: Jews in German-occupied lands are ordered to wear a Star of David for identification.

1938
Boys Town is released, starring Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1901
Pres. McKinley is shot and mortally wounded by Leon Czolgosz. He died eight days later.

1837
First co-ed college: Oberlin Collegiate Institute, Ohio grants women equal status, although it had allowed them to attend since its opening in 1833.

1687
Sir Isaac Newton completes the Principa Mathematica.

1522
First circumnavigation of the globe: 31 survivors of the Magellan expedition reach San Lucar, completing the three-year voyage. Magellan was killed during the voyage.

1947
Jane Curtin, American Emmy-winning actress, comedienne. TV: Saturday Night Live, Kate & Allie (Allie).

1944
Swoosie Kurtz, American actress. TV: Love, Sidney (Sidney's roommate Laurie).

1944
Roger Waters, English singer, with Pink Floyd. Music: Dark Side of the Moon (1972, #1), Wish You Were Here (1975, #1), and The Wall (1979, #1).

1937
Jo Anne Worley, American comedienne. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

1899     d. 1966
Billy Rose (William Samuel Rosenberg), American songwriter. Music: Me and My Shadow and It's Only a Paper Moon.

1892     d. 1965
Sir Edward Victor Appleton, English Nobel-winning physicist, discovered the conductive "Appleton layer" in the ionosphere making long range radar and radio transmission possible.

1877     d. 1931
Buddy Bolden, American cornetist. He is reputed to have invented jazz music in New Orleans.

1876     d. 1935
John James Rickard MacLeod, Scottish physiologist. He shared a Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin (1921), although his primary role was only to provide the lab in the work was done.

1766     d. 1844
John Dalton, English chemist, physicist, perfected the atomic theory (1804).

1757     d. 1834
Marquis de Lafayette, French general. He became the youngest major general ever in the U.S. army when he joined (1777) during the American Revolution.

1711     d. 1787
Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg, American religious leader, founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (1748). (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1984     b. 1914
Ernest Tubb, American country music Hall of Famer. Music: I'm Walkin' the Floor Over You (1942) and Goodnight, Irene (1950, #1).

1981     b. 1932
Christy Brown, Irish author, artist, cerebral palsy victim. The movie My Left Foot was based on his 1954 autobiography - which he typed using the little toe of his left foot.

1966     b. 1883
Margaret Sanger, American birth-control advocate. She coined the term "birth control" (1914) and opened the first birth-control clinic in the U.S. (for which she was promptly arrested).

1959     b. 1875
Edmund Gwenn, English Oscar-winning actor. Film: Miracle on 34th Street (1947, Oscar as Kris Kringle) and The Trouble with Harry (1955).

1902     b. 1827
Sir Frederick Abel, English chemist. With Sir James Dewar, he invented cordite, a smokeless explosive (1891). Used by the British army in WWI, it enabled the battlefield to remain visible during heavy bombings.

1311     b. circa 1240
Arnold of Villanova, Spanish alchemist, the first person to produce pure alcohol.

972     b. ????
John XIII, Italian religious leader, 133rd Pope (965-972).

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