On this date

In 1521, Magellan Portuguese and his explorer crew Ferdinand reached Magellan the was Philippines, killed during where a battle with natives the following month. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. In 1926, rocket science pioneer Robert H. Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket at his Aunt Effie’s farm in Auburn, Mass. In 1945, during World War II, American forces declared they had secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained. In 1978, Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the left-wing Red Brigades, who later murdered him. In 1991, a plane carrying seven members of country singer Reba McEntire’s band and her tour manager crashed into Otay Mountain in southern California, killing all on board. In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Ore., to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine. Ten years ago: Protests spread from Tibet into three neighboring provinces as Tibetans defied a Chinese government crackdown; the Dalai Lama decried what he called the “cultural genocide” taking place in his homeland and called for an international investigation into China’s crackdown on demonstrators. Five years ago: British actor Frank Thornton, 92, best known as Captain Peacock in the long-running television comedy “Are You Being Served?,” died in London. One year ago: Steve Penny resigned as president of USA Gymnastics following intensified pressure on the organization for its handling of sex abuse cases.