TODAY IN HISTORY

1520

Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.

1942

Fire engulfed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing 492 people in the deadliest nightclub blaze ever.

1961

Ernie Davis of Syracuse University became the first African American to be named winner of the Heisman Trophy.

1964

The United States launched the space probe Mariner 4 on a course toward Mars, which it flew past in July 1965, sending back pictures of the red planet.