The first self-service grocery market opened in the US. (1916) Clarence Saunders, who had patented the idea of a self-service market, opened the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Memphis, Tennessee. There are still more than 600 Piggly Wiggly stores in the US today.
Palestinian terrorists hijacked and blew up four airplanes in Europe bound for New York. (1970) The hijackers held 382 passengers from four separate airplanes hostage, demanding the release of three Arab prisoners from a Swiss jail. One plane was taken to Cairo where the militants blew it up after evacuating the hostages. The other three planes were taken to Jordan where they also were blown up after removing hostages. All but six hostages were released on September 11; the remaining six were exchanged for one of the hijackers who had been captured by police and taken to London.
The world’s first tank was produced. (1915) Little Willie, a tank prototype, was produced in England. The original prototype weighed 14 tons (about 12,700 kilograms) and could travel about 2 miles per hour (3.2 kilometers per hour). The design was improved and the invention changed the course of military battle worldwide.
The first circumnavigation of the world on the high seas was completed. (1522) The ship Vittoria, one of Ferdinand Magellan’s ships, sailed into Spain, completing the round-the-world trip. Only 22 of the original crew members survived — many had starved to death or died from scurvy.
US President William McKinley was assassinated. (1901) Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist from Michigan, shot President McKinley in Buffalo, New York, while he was attending the Pan-American Exposition. Czolgosz was sentenced to death and electrocuted on October 29, 1901.
The Nazi’s started forcing Jews who lived in German-occupied territories to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing. (1941) All Jews older than six years old were required to wear the patch so they could be identified in public. The Nazi’s used the identifying patch to round up Jewish families to send to concentration camps.
The man who received the world’s first baboon liver transplant died. (1992) The 35-year-old man lived for 10 weeks after having the transplant surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He was given the experimental surgery because he had fatal form of hepatitis B; he ultimately died of a stroke. The medical team announced intentions to try the surgery again.
Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister of South Africa and the father of apartheid, was murdered. (1966) Verwoerd, ironically, was stabbed to death by a mentally ill messenger, Demetrio Tsafendas, who was not protesting apartheid. Tsafendas was confined in a mental institution until he died in 1999.
Robert Peary announced he had reached the North Pole six months earlier, on April 6. (1909) Peary was a Rear Admiral in the US Navy. His claim established him as the first person to ever reach the North Pole, but many scientists then and today doubt his claim.
2.5 billion people watched Princess Diana’s funeral. (1997) Elton John rewrote and performed his hit Candle in the Wind especially for her service, which was watched by more people than almost any other event in world history.