Also on this date
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted present-day Florida.
In 1513,
In 1884,
the first telephone line between Boston and New York was inaugurated.
In 1945,
during World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.
In 1964,
Alaska was hit by a magnitude 9.2 earthquake (the strongest on record in North America) and tsunamis that together claimed about 130 lives.
In 1973,
“The Godfather” won the Academy Award for best picture of 1972, but its star, Marlon Brando, refused to accept his Oscar for best actor. Liza Minnelli won best actress for “Cabaret.”
In 1975,
construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which was completed two years later.
In 1977,
in aviation’s worst disaster, 583 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off in heavy fog, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on a runway on the Canary Island of Tenerife.
In 1980,
123 workers died when a North Sea floating oil field platform, the Alexander Kielland, capsized during a storm.
In 2015,
Italy’s highest court overturned the murder conviction of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend in the 2007 slaying of Knox’s roommate, ending the high-profile case that had captivated trial-watchers on both sides of the Atlantic.
International air raids targeted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte for the first time as rebels quickly closed in on the regime stronghold.
The Syrian government recaptured the historic city of Palmyra from Islamic State fighters who had waged a 10-month reign of terror there.
The House approved a $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package; it was immediately signed by President Donald Trump. The president issued an order seeking to force GM to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients under the Defense Production Act. New outbreaks surged in cities including Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Associated Press