Today in History

1493 – Pope Alexander VI issues edict dividing the ‘‘new world’’ between Spain and Portugal.

1626 – Dutch governor Peter Minuit lands on what is now Manhattan island.

1772 – French explorer Marion du Fresne arrives in the Bay of Islands on an ill-fated mission that ends in his death at the hands of local Ma¯ori the following month.

1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte goes

into exile on island of Elba. Bourbon reign is restored in France.

1927 – The US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.

1932 – Al Capone, left, convicted of income-tax evasion, enters federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

1945 – German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agree to surrender during World War II.

1946 – A two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay ends after five people are killed.

1961 – A group of ‘‘Freedom Riders’’ leaves Washington, DC, for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.

1970 – Four students protesting against Vietnam War are killed by US National Guard at Kent State University in Ohio.

1982 – British destroyer Sheffield sunk by Argentine plane off the Falkland Islands.

1989 – Tens of thousands of Chinese students march to Tiananmen Square, calling for freedom and democracy.

2007 – An out-of-control party in Christchurch ends with a youth driving his car through a group of young people, killing two and injuring eight others.