Today:
1506 – The cornerstone of St. Peter’s Basilica was laid in Vatican City, beginning construction of what would become the world’s largest church.
1775 – Paul Revere began his famous midnight ride to warn American colonial militia of the approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord.
1831 – The University of Alabama was officially founded.
1906 – The San Francisco earthquake struck California, causing massive destruction and killing an estimated 3,000 people.
1923 – Yankee Stadium officially opened in New York City with the New York Yankees defeating the Boston Red Sox 4–1.
1942 – The Doolittle Raid, the first U.S. air raid to strike the Japanese home islands during World War II, was launched from the USS Hornet.
1946 – The International Court of Justice held its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
1955 – Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76 in Princeton, New Jersey.
1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) gained independence from the United Kingdom.
2014 – NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirmed the discovery of Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size planet found in the habitable zone of another star.