1821 - The first native-born American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, died in Emmitsburgh.
1884 - The socialist Fabian Society was founded in London.
1885 - Dr. William Grant performed the first successful appendectomy. The patient was Mary Gartside.
1936 - The first pop music chart based on national sales was published by "Billboard" magazine.
1944 - The attack on Monte Cassino was launched by the British Fifth Army in Italy.
1948 - Britain granted independence to Burma.
1958 - The Soviet satellite Sputknik I fell to the earth from its orbit. The craft had been launched on October 4, 1957.
1962 - New York City introduced a train that operated without conductors and motormen.
1965 - Poet T.S. Eliot died at age 76.
1999 - 16 people were killed and 25 injured when gunmen opened fire on Shiite Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan.