1900 – Newly named American League opener in Cleveland draws 6,500 spectators. It was still a minor league, formerly known as the Western League.
1920 – Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold “great debate” on the nature of nebulae, galaxies and size of the universe at US National Academy of Science in Washington, D.C.
1931 – Lou Gehrig hits a home run but is called out for passing a runner, a mistake that cost him the American League home run crown. He and Babe Ruth tied for the league lead with 46 home runs.
1941 – A tradition begins as the first organ at a baseball stadium is played at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.
1952 – Patty Berg scores a 64, best competitive round of golf by a woman.
1954 – Mass trials of Jonas Salk’s anti-polio vaccine begin. The first shot is delivered in Fairfax County, Virginia. More than 443,000 children received shots over three months.
1956 – First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas.
1962 – First Lockheed A-12 flies.
1966 – Red Auerbach retires as Boston Celtics coach. His teams won eight straight National Basketball Association championships from 1959 to 1966.
1975 – Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt’s two home runs ties the National League record of 11 home runs hit in April.
1976 – Pan Am Airlines begins non-stop flights from New York City to Tokyo.
1983 – Dow Jones Industrial Average breaks 1,200 for the first time.
1984 – President Ronald Reagan visits China.
1988 – National Basketball Association approves addition of third referee for 1988-89 season.
1992 – Baseball player Ozzie Smith steals his 500th base.
1995 – Baseball season begins after a lengthy strike.
2010 – “Iron Man 2”, directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, premieres in Los Angeles.
2018 – Comedian Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault in Pennsylvania.
2021 – The United States, European Union and other countries announce they are sending pandemic aid to India as its COVID-19 crisis continues to worsen.
2021 – US census results show its population growth is second slowest in recorded history with a population at 331,449,281, a 7.4% increase since 2010.
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