On this date

1565 — The city of Rio de Janeiro was founded by Portuguese knight Estacio de Sa. 1792 — Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II died; he was succeeded by his son, Francis II. 1815 — Napoleon, having escaped exile in Elba, arrived in Cannes, France, and headed for Paris to begin his “Hundred Days” rule. 1932 — Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, New Jersey. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.) 1940 — “Native Son” by Richard Wright was first published by Harper & Brothers. 1954 — Four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the spectators’ gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five members of Congress. 1957 — “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss was released to bookstores by Random House. 1961 — President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. 1967 — U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, D-N.Y., accused of misconduct, was denied his seat in the 90th Congress. (The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that Powell had to be seated.) 1971 — A bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol; the radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast. 1981 — Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later. 1997 — Severe storms hit Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and spawned tornadoes in Arkansas blamed for two dozen deaths.