1869 - Thomas Edison filed for a patent on his first invention.
1881 - David Henderson Houston patented the first roll film for cameras.
1899 - The Boer War began in South Africa between the British and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.
1939 - U.S. President Roosevelt was presented with a letter from Albert Einstein that urged him to develop the U.S. atomic program rapidly.
1942 - The Battle of Cape Esperance, during World War II, began in the Solomons.
1968 - Apollo 7 was launched by the U.S. The first manned Apollo mission was the first in which live television broadcasts were received from orbit.
1994 - Iraqi troops began moving away from the Kuwaiti border.