TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:

• On April 25, 1507, a world map produced by German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller contained the first recorded use of the term “America,” in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (vehSPOO’-chee).

ON THIS DATE:

• In 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

• In 1862, during the Civil War, a Union fleet commanded by Flag Officer David G. Farragut captured the city of New Orleans.

• In 1898, the United States Congress declared war on Spain; the 10-week conflict resulted in an American victory.

• In 1915, during World War I, Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli (guh-LIH’-puh-lee) Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

• In 1917, legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia.

• In 1944, the United Negro College Fund was founded.

• In 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe (EL’-beh) River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany’s defenses. Delegates from some 50 countries gathered in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

• In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.

• In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in orbit from the space shuttle Discovery. (It was later discovered that the telescope’s primary mirror was flawed, requiring the installation of corrective components to achieve optimal focus.)

• In 1992, Islamic forces in Afghanistan took control of most of the capital of Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.

• In 2002, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of the Grammy-winning trio TLC died in an SUV crash in Honduras; she was 30.