Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1493

Christopher Columbus set sail from Cadiz, Spain, with a flotilla of 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.

1513

Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to reach the Pacific Ocean.

1775

American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal.

1789

The first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.

1890

Mormon president Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto formally renouncing the practice of polygamy.

1919

President Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, Colo., during a national speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.

1957

With 300 United States Army troops standing guard, nine black children were escorted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, days after unruly white crowds had forced them to withdraw.

1981

Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1992

A judge in Orlando, Fla., ruled in favor of Gregory Kingsley, a 12-year-old boy seeking a ''divorce'' from his biological parents.

1997

Sportscaster Marv Albert pleaded guilty to assault and battery after earlier denying he bit a lover's back. Within hours, NBC fired him.

1897

Author William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Miss.