September 6: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Max Verstappen broke the record for the fastest qualifying lap in Formula One history with a time of 1:18.792.

The lap averaged 164.466 mph (264.682 km/h), surpassing Lewis Hamilton's 2018 record of 1:18.887 at the same circuit at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 34-29 in Brazil in the first NFL game in South America.

The Indian Space Research Organization’s Vikram Moon lander crash-landed on the moon.

The Vikram was launched on July 22 earlier the same year through the Chandrayaan 2 mission and carried India's first lunar rover, Pragyan. Contact was lost with the lander during its descent, and although the orbiter later managed to photograph the lander on the moon's surface, no further contact has been made. If successful, the landing would have made India the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the moon.

The World Surf League closed the gender pay gap by giving equal prizes to all genders.

Former President Barack Obama gave his nominee acceptance speech.

The historical drama “The King’s Speech” premiered at Telluride Festival in the United States.

Stephanie Myers published New Moon, the second novel in the Twilight series.

At first, only 100,000 copies of New Moon were printed, which was far from enough to make up for the enormous demand for the romantic vampire fantasy novel. As a result, eager fans clamoring for the second book spent hundreds of dollars per copy on auction sites like eBay.

Princess Diana of Wales was laid to rest with 2 billion people watching her funeral on TV.

7-month-old twins joined at the back of the head were successfully separated.

Benjamin and Patrick Binder endured a 22-hour operation and included a world-first procedure by temporarily lowering the twin's temperatures to halt their hearts and blood flow.

Swaziland gained independence from the United Kingdom.

Swaziland was officially renamed Eswatini in 2018. It's a landlocked country in Southern Africa.

Clarence Saunders founded the Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee, US.

The supermarket, popular in the Southern and Midwest US, has been recognized as the first self-service grocery store in the US. It was the first supermarket to have checkout stands, price tags, and shopping carts.

The First Battle of the Marne began during World War I.

The Pointe-à-Pitre hurricane hit Guadeloupe killing 6,000 people.

It was the most deadly North Atlantic hurricane on record at the time.

The Great Fire of London was extinguished after destroying around 70,000 homes.

The four-day-long fire, which started in a bakery around midnight on September 2, took over London and burned down around 80% of buildings in central London.

The Long Parliament ordered all theaters to close in London, including The Globe Theatre, which was once partly owned by William Shakespeare.

“Victoria” became the world’s first recorded ship to have circumnavigated the globe when it arrived back in Spain.

Although the voyage began with Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan as its captain, not everyone who set out made it back. Many were lost during the trip due to mutinies, starvation, scurvy, and storms, including Magellan himself, who lost his life in the Philippines.