September 06, 2008 03:05 EDT

Today is Saturday, September 6th, the 250th day of 2008. There are 116 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On September 6th, 1901, President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley died eight days later; he was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

On this date:

In 1757, the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, was born in Auvergne, France.

In 1837, the Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio went co-educational.

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

In 1939, the Union of South Africa declared war on Germany.

In 1944, during World War II, the British government relaxed blackout restrictions and suspended compulsory training for the Home Guard.

In 1948, former Princess Juliana of the Netherlands was inaugurated as queen, two days after the abdication of her mother, Queen Wilhelmina.

In 1958, Miss Mississippi Mary Ann Mobley was crowned Miss America 1959 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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

In 1970, Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three jetliners which 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 K2, the world's second-highest mountain .

Ten years ago: Divers working off Nova Scotia found the flight data recorder from Swissair Flight 111, which had crashed, killing all 229 people on board . Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa died in Tokyo at age 88.

Five years ago: Mahmoud Abbas resigned as Palestinian prime minister. In the U.S. Open, Justine Henin-Hardenne won the all-Belgian women's singles final, beating fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters , 7-5, 6-1.

One year ago: Death claimed opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy, at age 71 and author Madeleine L'Engle in Litchfield, Connecticut, at age 88. President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao, in Sydney, Australia, for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, called for greater international cooperation in tackling climate change without stifling economic growth.

Today's Birthdays: Comedian JoAnne Worley is 71. Country singer David Allan Coe is 69. Country singer Mel McDaniel is 66. Rock singer-musician Roger Waters is 65. Actress Swoosie Kurtz is 64. Comedian-actress Jane Curtin is 61. Country singer-songwriter Buddy Miller is 56. Country musician Joe Smyth is 51. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 50. Actor-comedian Michael Winslow is 50. Rock musician Perry Bamonte is 48. Actor Steven Eckholdt is 47. Rock musician Scott Travis is 47. Pop musician Pal Waaktaar is 47. Rock musician Kevin Miller is 46. ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Vargas is 46. Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 45. Actress Rosie Perez is 44. Singer CeCe Peniston is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Darryl Anthony is 39. Rock singer Dolores O'Riordan is 37. Actor Dylan Bruno is 36. Actor Idris Elba is 36. Actress Anika Noni Rose is 36. Rock singer Nina Persson is 34. Actor Justin Whalin is 34. Actress Naomie Harris is 32. Rapper Noreaga is 31. Rapper Foxy Brown is 29.

Thought for Today: "Laziness is often mistaken for patience." -- French proverb.

Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.