Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

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.

1861

The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.

1961

About 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.

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, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.

1975

Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year war.

1991

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, ending the day at 3,004.46.

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 Menendez and his brother Erik were spared the death penalty by a Los Angeles jury, which recommended they serve life in prison without parole for killing their wealthy parents.

1790

American statesman Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.