Also on this date
In 1618, German astronomer Johannes Kepler devised his third law of planetary motion.
In 1817, the New York Stock & Exchange Board, which had its beginnings in 1792, was formally organized; it later became known as the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1948, the Supreme Court, in McCollum v. Board of Education, struck down voluntary religious education classes in Champaign, Illinois, public schools, saying the program violated separation of church and state.
In 1971, Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali by decision in what was billed as “The Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In 1983, in a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Orlando, Florida, President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.”
In 2000, President Bill Clinton submitted to Congress legislation to establish permanent normal trade relations with China. (The U.S. and China signed a trade pact in November 2000.)
In 2004, Iraq’s Governing Council signed a landmark interim constitution.
In 2008, President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.
In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a massive and ultimately unsuccessful search.
Ten years ago: The government reported the jobless rate dropped to 7.7% the previous month, the lowest level since President Barack Obama took office.
Five years ago: U.S. and South Korean officials said President Donald Trump had agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un by the end of May to negotiate an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
One year ago: President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would ban all Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine as a humanitarian crisis unfolded in the port city of Mariupol.