Todays History

United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.

Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate mass suicides.

Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.

NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).

The first playoff game for the Stanley Cup starts.

The social media site Twitter is founded.

The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.

The last male northern white rhinoceros, Sudan, dies, ensuring a chance of extinction for the species.