On this day, June 24

1497 The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.

1811 The first Masonic Hall is dedicated.

1938 Carnegie-Illinois announced a reduction in steel prices to approximately the level prior to 1938.

1973 President Richard Nixon concluded his summit with the visiting leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, who hailed the talks in an address on American television.

1999 Penguins right wing Jaromir Jagr received the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.

2015 A federal judge in Boston formally sentenced Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 terror attacks. (A federal appeals court later threw out the sentence; the Supreme Court reinstated it.)

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Rock singer Arthur Brown, 80. Actor Michele Lee, 80. Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown, 79. Rock musician Jeff Beck, 78. Rock singer Colin Blunstone (The Zombies), 77. Musician Mick Fleetwood, 75. Actor Peter Weller, 75. Rock musician John Illsley (Dire Straits), 73. Actor Nancy Allen, 72. Reggae singer Derrick Simpson (Black Uhuru), 72. Actor Joe Penny, 66. Singer-musician Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark), 63. R&B/pop singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett, 62. Actor Iain Glen, 61. Rock singer Curt Smith, 61. Actor Danielle Spencer, 57. Actor Sherry Stringfield, 55. Singer Glenn Medeiros, 52. Actor Carla Gallo, 47. Actor Amir Talai (TV: “LA to Vegas”), 45. Actor-producer Mindy Kaling, 43. Actor Minka Kelly, 42. Actor Vanessa Ray, 41. Actor Justin Hires, 37. Actor Candice Patton, 37. Singer Solange Knowles, 36. Actor Max Ehrich, 31. Actor Beanie Feldstein, 29.

Thought for today: “I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.”