1901: President William McKinley was shot twice in the stomach while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Leon Czolgosz, a Polish citizen associated with the Anarchist movement, fired at McKinley who was greeting the public in a receiving line. McKinley died September 14, whispering the words of his favorite hymn, "Nearer my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee." He was succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt. (Source: Library of Congress)

1757: Marquis De Lafayette, French general and aristocrat, was born in France. He came to the United States to help the American Revolution efforts. He became a lifelong friend of George Washington. There is a statue of Lafayette in a park across the street from the White House.