On this date:
In 1919, American-born Lady Astor was elected the first female member of the British Parliament.
In 1925, the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville's famed home of country music, made its radio debut on station WSM.
In 1942, nearly 500 people died in a fire that destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.
In 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War Two.
In 1958, the African nation of Chad became an autonomous republic within the French community.
In 1964, the United States launched the space probe "Mariner Four" on a course to Mars.
In 1975, President Ford nominated Federal Judge John Paul Stevens to the US Supreme Court seat vacated by William O. Douglas.
In 1979, an Air New Zealand DC-10 en route to the South Pole crashed into a mountain in Antarctica, killing all 257 people aboard.
In 1987, a South African Airways Boeing 747 crashed into the Indian Ocean with the loss of all 159 people aboard.
In 1990, Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister of Britain during an audience with Queen Elizabeth the Second, who conferred the premiership on John Major.
Ten years ago: Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci arrived in New York after escaping her homeland by way of Hungary.
Five years ago: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate. Norwegian voters rejected European Union membership. Sixties war protester Jerry Rubin died in Los Angeles, two weeks after being hit by a car; he was 56.
One year ago: Some Republicans expressed disappointment and outrage over President Clinton's written responses to 81 questions from the House Judiciary Committee concerning the Monica Lewinsky affair, with one accusing the president of "word games."
"No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach."
-- William Cowper, English poet (1731-1800).