Hollow Leg History | What Happened on This Date, September 6?

Hollow Leg Podcast

1522

Victoria Becomes the First Ship to Circumnavigate the World. The Spanish ship, which was commanded by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, set sail from Spain September 20, 1519, to find a better route to Indonesia. The expedition began with 5 ships including Victoria and 260 crew members. Magellan himself died during the voyage. After three years and 42,000 miles only the Victoria manned by 18 crew members would return to Seville, Spain, after circumnavigating the world.

1870

A Woman casts her Vote in the US for the first time. Louisa Ann Swain voted during state elections in the state of Wyoming. Although women weren’t extended the right to vote in the US until 1920, the governor of Wyoming, John A. Campbell, had signed a bill that gave women the right to vote on December 13, 1869. This meant that women could vote in local and state elections, but not country-wide elections.

1901

President William McKinley assassinated. Visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, half a year into his second term, US President William McKinley is shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. The president rose slightly on his toes before collapsing forward, saying “be careful how you tell my wife.” McKinley will at first survive, and even seem to be improving after doctors operate, but will succumb to his wounds on September 14. McKinley died from gangrene that had gone undetected in the internal wound. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was immediately sworn in as president. Czolgosz claimed to have killed McKinley because he was the head of what he thought was a corrupt government. Czolgosz was convicted and executed in an electric chair on October 29, 1901. The unrepentant killer’s last words were “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people—the working people.”

1968

Swaziland Gains Independence From the British. The Southern African state became a British protectorate in 1902 after the Anglo-Boer war. King Sobhuza became the head of the nation in and reigned even after independence until 1982. He was succeeded by Mswati III, his son, who currently rules the country.

1976

Lieutenant Viktor Belenko, a Soviet air force pilot defects, flying a MiG-25 jet fighter to Japan and requesting political asylum in US. George H. W. Bush, the Director of Central Intelligence at the time, called the opportunity to examine the plane up close an "intelligence bonanza" for the West. Belenko almost never appears in interviews. However, in a brief and informal bar interview in 2000 where he posed for pictures and responded to questions, he stated that he was happy in the United States, remarking that "[Americans] have tolerance regarding other people's opinion. In certain cultures, if you do not accept the mainstream, you would be booted out or might disappear. Here we have people, you know, who hug trees, and people who want to cut them down -- and they live side by side!"

1995

Cal Ripken Jr. breaks Lou Gehrig's record. The Baltimore Orioles' shortstop plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig's record which had stood since 1939. Ripken will continue his streak for three more years, ending it in 1998 after 2,632 games played over 16 years.