1492 – Christopher Columbus sets sail on his first voyage with three ships, Santa María, Pinta and Niña from Palos de la Frontera, Spain for the “Indies”
1596 – David Fabricius discovers light variation of Mira (1st variable star)
1914 – Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, beginning World War I
1934 – Adolf Hitler merges the offices of German Chancellor and President, declaring himself “Führer” (leader)
1972 – US Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union to limit the use of missile systems capable of defending against missile-delivered nuclear weapons
1981 – 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike; US President Ronald Reagan offers ultimatum to workers: ‘if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated’
1999 – Arsenal FC completes a huge signing coup snapping up ace French striker Thierry Henry for a bargain £10 million from Italian club Juventus.
2001 – The Princess Diaries, starring Anne Hathaway in her film debut, is released
2004 – The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11, 2001 attacks
2008 – Morgan Freeman is injured in an automobile accident near Ruleville, Mississippi, when his car flipped over several times on the highway
2020 – Number of Iranian COVID-19 deaths triple that of government tally, showing 42,000 have died instead of 14,405, according to BBC Persian Service investigation [1]
Film & TV:
1995 – CNN en Espanol premieres
Sport:
1949 – Basketball Association of America (BAA) & National Basketball League (NBL) merge to form National Basketball Association (NBA), Maurice Podoloff elected head of new league
2017 – Brazilian soccer forward Neymar transfers from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record transfer fee of €222 on a 5-year deal
