On this date

1812

An earthquake devastated Caracas, Venezuela, causing an estimated 26,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

1827

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna at age 56.

1945

During World War II, Iwo Jima was fully secured by U.S. forces following a final, desperate attack by Japanese soldiers.

1962

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Baker v. Carr, gave federal courts the power to order reapportionment of states’ legislative districts.

1973

The soap opera “The Young and the Restless” premiered on CBS-TV.

1979

A peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and witnessed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House.

1982

Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1988

Jesse Jackson stunned fellow Democrats by soundly defeating Michael S. Dukakis in Michigan’s Democratic presidential caucuses.

1997

The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate technoreligious cult who committed suicide were found inside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

2020

The U.S. surpassed official Chinese government numbers to become the country with the most reported coronavirus infections.

Ten years ago:

Italy’s top criminal court overturned the acquittal of American Amanda Knox in the grisly murder of British roommate Meredith Kercher and ordered Knox to stand trial again. (Although convicted in absentia, Knox was exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.) A study from the Society of Actuaries said that insurance companies would have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. President Obama named veteran Secret Service agent Julia Pierson as the agency’s first female director.