On this date
In 1780, a mysterious darkness enveloped much of New England and part of Canada in the early afternoon.
In 1913, California Gov. Hiram Johnson signed the Webb-Hartley Law prohibiting “aliens ineligible to citizenship” from owning farm land, a measure targeting Asian immigrants, particularly Japanese.
In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” died in Dorset, England, six days after being injured in a motorcycle crash.
In 1943, in his second wartime address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country’s full support in the fight against Japan.
In 1967, the Soviet Union ratified a treaty banning nuclear and other weapons from outer space as well as celestial bodies such as the moon. (The treaty entered into force in October 1967.)
In 1977, in what became known as the “Girl in the Box” case, 20-year-old Colleen Stan, hitchhiking her way to a party in northern California, was abducted by a couple she’d accepted a ride from and imprisoned as a sex slave for the next seven years.
In 1992, in a case that drew much notoriety, Mary Jo Buttafuoco of Massapequa, N.Y., was shot and seriously wounded by her husband Joey’s teenage lover, Amy Fisher.
In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle sparked controversy by publicly criticizing the CBS sitcom “Murphy Brown” for having its title character, played by Candice Bergen, decide to become a single mother.
In 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.
Ten years ago: Group of Eight financial officials wrapped up two days of talks in Germany by calling for more aid, increased debt relief and responsible lending to Africa.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama and other G-8 leaders held economic talks at Camp David, where they declared that their governments needed to both spark growth and cut debt.
One year ago: An EgyptAir jetliner en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard swerved wildly in flight before crashing into the Mediterranean Sea; the cause has yet to be officially determined, although a bomb is suspected.