This Day In History
- 1492 Christopher Columbus signed a contract with a representative of Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
- 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano reached present-day New York harbor.
- 1629 Horses were first imported into the colonies by the Massachusetts Bay Colony on this day.
- 1790 American statesman Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.
- 1861 The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.
- 1935 People gathered around the radio to listen for the first time to what would become the ultimate horror show on NBC Radio. "Lights Out" remained on radio until 1946.
- 1941 Igor Sikorsky accomplished the first successful helicopter (or heliocopter as it was called then) lift-off from water near Stratford, CT.
- 1964 The Ford Motor Co. unveiled its new Mustang model.
- 1964 Jerrie Mock of Columbus, Ohio, became the first woman to complete a solo airplane flight around the world.
- 1969 A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1969 Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.
- 1970 The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.
- 1975 Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year war.
- 1985 The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its new 22-cent "LOVE" stamp. In a clever promotion, the USPS used the set of ABC-TV?s "The Love Boat" as a backdrop. The stamp went on to become one of the most popular ever offered by the postal service.
- 1991 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time.
- 1993 A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted.
- 1996 Lyle and Erik Menendez were spared the death penalty by a Los Angeles jury, which recommended they serve life in prison without parole for killing their wealthy parents.
- 1998 Photographer Linda McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, died in Tucson, Ariz., at age 56.
- 2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 500th career home run, becoming the 17th major leaguer to reach the mark.
- 2003 Diet doctor Robert C. Atkins died in New York at age 72.
- 1837 J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan (financier; died Mar 31, 1913)
- 1894 Nikita Khrushchev (U.S.S.R. premier [1958-1964]; died Sep 11, 1971)
- 1918 William Holden (Beedle Jr.) (Academy Award-winning actor: Stalag 17 [1953], Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Born Yesterday, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Casino Royale, The Moon is Blue, Network, Picnic, Sunset Boulevard, The Towering Inferno, The World of Suzie Wong; died Nov 16, 1981)
- 1923 Harry Reasoner (newsman: Sixty Minutes, CBS Sunday Night News with Harry Reasoner, ABC News with Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters; died Aug 6, 1991)
- 1959 Stephen Singleton (musician: saxophone: group: ABC: Tears are Not Enough, Poison Arrow, Be Near Me, When Smokey Sings, King Without a Crown)
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