Today in history

On explorerMay 4, Peter 1626, Minuit Dutch landed on present-day Manhattan Island. In 1904 the U.S. began building the Panama Canal. In 1932 mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

In 1946 a two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay ended.

In 1961 a group of “Freedom Riders” left Washington for New Orleans to challenge segregation in interstate buses and bus terminals.

In 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed a historic accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. In 2000 the “ILOVEYOU” email virus infected computer networks and hard drives across the globe, spawning various imitations.

In 2003 Pope John Paul II proclaimed five new saints before a crowd in Madrid. Also in 2003, two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut ended up nearly 300 miles off course after returning from the International Space Station.

In 2005 a judge at Fort Hood, Texas, threw out Pfc. Lynndie England’s guilty plea to abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, saying he was not convinced the Army reservist knew her actions were wrong at the time. In 2006 a judge sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison for his role in the Sept. 11 attacks; the convicted terrorist declared: “God save Osama bin Laden — you will never get him.” In 2013 Orb won the 139th Kentucky Derby, giving Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey his first victory in the race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds.