Edited daily
American history, reported as it happened
Made for the 250thOn this day › September 6
What happened on September 6 in American history
September 6 is the 249th day of the year (the 250th in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 6 stories from September 6 spanning 1620 to 2013. Among them: in 1620, Mayflower clears Plymouth harbor alone, bound for the New World; and in 1863, Under darkness, the last Confederates slip off Morris Island.
1620Member story · 1776 Club
Mayflower clears Plymouth harbor alone, bound for the New World
Speedwell's leaks cost the Pilgrims weeks and a second ship; 102 passengers sail on regardless.
1863Member story · 1776 Club
Under darkness, the last Confederates slip off Morris Island
Colonel Keitt pulls fewer than 400 effective men from Battery Wagner's ruins before dawn, ceding Charleston's harbor approach.
1870
A 69-year-old grandmother votes in Laramie; no American woman has voted legally in 63 years
Louisa Ann Swain stopped for yeast on her way to the polls, then voted half an hour ahead of the next woman in line.
1901
McKinley shot twice at point-blank range in a Buffalo music hall
The gun was wrapped in a handkerchief so guests in the receiving line wouldn't notice it.
1983Member story · 1776 Club
Moscow admits it: a fighter pilot shot down KAL 007, but says he never knew it was civilian
Five days after 269 people died over the Sea of Japan, the Soviet Union calls the shootdown a legal defense against an American spy mission.
2013
A rocket built from retired nukes lifts a moon probe off Wallops Island
Crowds from Maine to South Carolina watch the first Minotaur V carry NASA's LADEE spacecraft into the night sky.
Read the full September 6 edition →
← September 5 · Every date · September 7 →