Today in history

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage to the present-day Americas.

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr went on trial in federal court in Richmond, Va., charged with treason. (He was acquitted.)

In 1914, Germany declared war on France at the onset of World War I.

In 1921, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the “Black Sox” scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint.

In 1943, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice. (Patton was later ordered by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to apologize for this and a second, similar episode.)

In 1958, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater.

In 1972, the U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. (The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the treaty in 2002.)

In 1980, closing ceremonies were held in Moscow for the Summer Olympic Games, which were boycotted by dozens of nations, including the U.S.

In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan they’d all be fired, which they were.