Source: HistoryNet.com
1321: Dante Alighieri dies of malaria just hours after finishing writing Paradiso.
1814: Francis Scott Key writes the words to the "Star Spangled Banner" as he waits aboard a British launch in the Chesapeake Bay for the outcome of the British assault on Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.
1960: Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia form OPEC.
1994: Major League Baseball players strike over a salary cap and other proposed changes, forcing the cancellation of the entire postseason and the World Series.
2001: Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital.