On this date

In 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.

In 1938, Superman made his debut as the first issue of Action Comics (bearing a cover date of June) went on sale for 10 cents a copy. (In 2014, a nearly flawless original copy was sold on eBay for $3.2 million.) In 1942, during World War II, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities. In 1956, American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco in a civil ceremony. (A church wedding took place the next day.) In 1966, Bill Russell was named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the NBA’s first black coach. In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999. In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber. Ten years ago: Addressing the United Nations, Pope Benedict XVI said that respect for human rights, not violence, was the key to solving many of the world’s problems. Five years ago: The FBI released surveillance camera images of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public’s help in identifying them, hours after President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended an interfaith service at a Roman Catholic cathedral. One year ago: At Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha, President Donald Trump signed an order he said should help American workers whose jobs were threatened by skilled immigrants.