On this date

In 1791, Congress passed a measure taxing distilled spirits; it was the first internal revenue act in U.S. history.

In 1849, the U.S. Department of the Interior was established.

In 1918, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russian participation in World War I. (The treaty was rendered moot by the November 1918 armistice.)

In 1923, Time magazine, founded by Briton Hadden and Henry R. Luce, made its debut.

In 1960, Lucille Ball filed for divorce from her husband, Desi Arnaz, a day after they had finished filming the last episode of “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show” (“Lucy Meets the Mustache”) on Arnaz’s 43rd birthday.

In 1985, coal miners in Britain voted to end a yearlong strike that proved to be the longest and most violent walkout in British history.

In 1991, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video.

Ten years ago: A gunman opened fire inside a Wendy’s restaurant in West Palm Beach, Fla., killing a paramedic who’d gone back to fetch a missing meal toy for his child; the gunman wounded five others before turning the gun on himself.

Five years ago: Vice President Joe Biden led civil rights leaders and national political figures in a ceremonial crossing of a Selma, Ala., bridge where voting rights marchers were beaten by law enforcement officers in 1965.

One year ago: The Nintendo Switch, a hybrid game machine that works as both a console at home and a portable tablet on the go, made its debut.

GEORGE HOLLIDAY/COURTESY OF KTLA This image made from video provided by KTLA Los Angeles shows police officers beating a man, later identified as Rodney King, on March 3, 1991.