- 1901 – President William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6. He is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
- 1920 – The first live radio dance music was broadcast by a Detroit station.
- 1917 – The Russian Empire is formally replaced by the Russian Republic.
- 1960 – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded.
- 1994 – The Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike.
- 2008 – Brokerage firm Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for $50 billion and Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy after it failed to find a buyer.
