1901 - U.S. President William McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He died eight days later.
1914 - In World War I, the First Battle of the Marne began along a 300-mile (480-kilometer) front as the French launched a counterattack against the German advance.
1948 - Princess Juliana became Queen of the Netherlands after her mother, Queen Wilhelmina, abdicated the throne.
1951 - Prince Talal was proclaimed King of Jordan following the assassination of his father, King Abdullah.
1966 - Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa since 1958, was fatally stabbed in Parliament by parliamentary messenger Dimitri Tsafendas.
1968 - Swaziland gained independence.
1970 - Palestinian fighters hijacked four airplanes headed to New York from Europe. A Pan Am jumbo plane was bombed the next day in Cairo, and two Boeing 707s that landed in Jordan were bombed on September 12. The fourth plane landed in London, and hijacker Leila Khaled was arrested.
1994 - Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds held the first talks of his government with Gerry Adams, the leader of the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, Sinn Féin.
1997 - British Princess Diana was buried in her family's estate. The estimated global television viewership for the funeral was over 2 billion people.
2007 - Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti, who brought his powerful voice and charm to opera audiences, died of cancer at the age of 71.
2009 - Hundreds of passengers were rescued from the "Superferry 9" as it sank in the southern Philippines.
