On this date

1792 — Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.

1800 — Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21, in Vienna.

1865 — Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, because of advancing Union forces.

1917 — President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” (Congress declared war four days later.)

1932 — Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in The Bronx, New York, where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man in exchange for Lindbergh’s kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)

1942 — Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded “American Patrol” at the RCA Victor studios in Hollywood.

1956 — The soap operas “As the World Turns” and “The Edge of Night” premiered on CBS-TV.

1982 — Several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)

1986 — Four American passengers, including an 8-month-old girl, her mother and grandmother, were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a TWA jetliner en route from Rome to Athens, Greece.

1992 — Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering; he was later sentenced to life, and died in prison.

2014 — A huge fire consumed the former Northwest Georgia Medical Clinic on North Fifth Avenue in the early-morning hours.