Today in history

On July 31, 1498, Christopher Columbus reached the island of Trinidad on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere.

In 1556 Inigo de Onez Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, died in Rome. (He would be canonized in 1622 as St. Ignatius of Loyola.)

In 1790 the U.S. government issued its first patent, to Samuel Hopkins, of Vermont, for a process to produce potash and pearl ash.

In 1792 the cornerstone of the U.S. Mint, the first building erected by the federal government for public use, was laid in Philadelphia by David Rittenhouse, the Mint’s first director. In 1877 Thomas Edison took out a patent leading to the development of the phonograph.

In 1930 the radio character “The Shadow” made his debut as narrator of the “Detective Story Hour” on CBS Radio.

In 1948 New York International Airport at Idlewild Field (now Kennedy International Airport) was dedicated by President Harry Truman and New York Gov. Thomas Dewey.

In 1964 the U.S. Ranger 7 spacecraft sent to Earth the first close-up pictures of the moon.

In 1971 the Apollo 15 astronauts took a 6 1⁄2-hour ride on the moon in an electric cart.

In 1974 Watergate figure John Ehrlichman was sentenced to 20 months in prison for his role in the break-in of the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.

In 1979 a federal judge in Florida sentenced former law student Ted Bundy to death for the murders of two college sorority members.

In 1981 a seven-week Major League Baseball strike ended.