On this date

1883 — The United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.

1886 — The 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York.

1916 — The World War I Battle of the Somme pitting British and French forces against German troops ended inconclusively after 4½ months of bloodshed.

1928 — Walt Disney’s first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, “Steamboat Willie” starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.

1936 — Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

1959 — “Ben-Hur,” the Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.

1966 — U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issued a Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence, which did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent.

1976 — Spain’s parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

1978 — U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., and four others were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members.

1987 — The congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore “ultimate responsibility” for wrongdoing by his aides.

1991 — Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.