On this date

1789 — President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Virginia, for his inauguration in New York. 1818 — The U.S. Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty severely limiting the number of American and British military vessels on the Great Lakes. 1862 — During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. The Confederacy conscripted all white men between the ages of 18 to 35. 1912 — American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, leaving Dover, England, and arriving near Calais, France, in 59 minutes. 1935 — The radio comedy program “Fibber McGee and Molly” premiered on the NBC Blue Network. 1945 — During World War II, a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoed and sank the MV Goya, which Germany was using to transport civilian refugees and wounded soldiers; it’s estimated that up to 7,000 people died. 1947 — The cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate, blew up in the harbor in Texas City, Texas; a nearby ship, the High Flyer, which was carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur, caught fire and exploded the following day; the blasts and fires killed nearly 600 people. 1972 — Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on board. 1986 — Dispelling rumors he was dead, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appeared on television to condemn the U.S. raid on his country and to say that Libyans were “ready to die” defending their nation. 2007 — In one of America’s worst school attacks, a Korean-born college senior killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life. 2010 — Ex-nursing home owner George D. Houser pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud Georgia Medicare and Medicaid programs of more than $30 million between 2004 and 2007. (Houser was found guilty in February 2012 and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.)