1512, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De Leon sighted Florida.
1794, President George Washington and Congress authorized the creation of the U.S. Navy.
1841, The first steam fire engine was tested in New York City.
1965 “Stop! In The Name Of Love” by the Supremes hits Number One on the pop chart.
1866 Andrew Rankin receives a patent for the urinal.
1860, The device which, officially, is a “covered gimlet screw with a ‘T’ handle,” or corkscrew, was patented this day by M. L. Byrn of New York City. If it weren’t for the invention of the corkscrew, we’d be pulling corks out of wine bottles with our teeth.
1912, First Lady Helen “Nellie” Taft, wife of U.S. President William Howard Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first two cherry trees in Washington, D.C. The trees are Yoshino cherries, and are still standing several hundred yards west of the John Paul Jones statue at the south end of 17th Street.
1958, Nikita Khrushchev became the Soviet premier in addition to being the First Secretary Of The Communist Party.
1968, Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, dies in a plane crash at age 34.
1971, “Proud Mary” by Ike & Tina Turner, a cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, peaks at Number Four on the pop chart.
1971, “What Is Life” by George Harrison peaks at Number 10 on the pop chart.
1973, Marlon Brando refused a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Godfather as a gesture of support for Native Americans occupying the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. When his name was called, the Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather went to the podium, refused the award, and spoke about Native American rights.
1976, “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright peaks at Number Two on the pop chart.
1977, Five hundred eighty-two people were killed in the worst disaster in aviation history. A KLM Boeing 747 that was trying to take off crashed into a Pan Am 747 sitting on a runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. All 249 people on the KLM plane and 333 of the 394 people aboard the Pan Am jet were killed.
1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police couldn’t stop drivers at random to check licenses and registrations unless there was reason to believe a law had been broken.
1979, Eric Clapton marries Pattie Boyd, the former wife of George Harrison and the inspiration for “Layla.” They later divorce.
1982, “I Love Rock N’ Roll” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts hits Number One on the pop chart for the second time. It stays there for five weeks.
1985, Billy Dee Williams received a star on the famous Hollywood Walk Of Fame. His place, for those looking to visit, is located between actress Joan Davis and baseball announcer Harry Carey.
1993, “Man On The Moon” by R.E.M. peaks at Number 30 on the pop chart.
1998, the Food And Drug Administration approved the drug Viagra to help impotent men improve their sexual function.
2002, a suicide bomber killed at least 19 people and injured more than 120 when he burst into a hotel dining room in Netanya, Israel, and blew himself up as the Israelis were sitting down to a Seder, the traditional meal celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover.
2002, Actor-comedian Milton Berle dies at age 93.
2002, Actor Dudley Moore (Foul Play, 10, Arthur) dies at age 66.
2002, President Bush signed landmark legislation designed to limit the role of big money in political campaigns, in a low-key, unannounced Oval Office signing.
2006, Elvis Presley‘s Graceland mansion officially becomes a National Historic Landmark in a ceremony officiated by Interior Secretary Gale Norton.