On this date in history:

In 1609, Henry Hudson discovered what is now known as the Hudson River.

In 1940, near Montignac, France, a collection of prehistoric cave paintings, believed to be 15,000-17,000 years old, was discovered by four teenagers who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog down a narrow entrance into a cavern.

In 1953, six months after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev succeeded him following his election as first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1958, Little Rock High School in Arkansas was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to admit black students.

In 1974, military officers deposed Emperor Haile Selassie from the Ethiopian throne he had occupied for more than half a century.

In 1977, Steven Biko, leader of South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement, died of severe head trauma on the stone floor of a prison cell in Pretoria. Six days earlier, he had suffered a major blow to his skull during a police interrogation.

In 1992, actor Anthony Perkins, best known for his role of Norman Bates in Psycho, died from complications of AIDS. He was 60.

In 1994, a pilot crashed his small plane on the White House lawn, killing himself and creating an alarm about presidential security.

In 2001, after meeting with his national security team, U.S. President George W. Bush said at a news conference: The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war. .... The American people need to know that we're facing a different enemy than we have ever faced. This enemy hides in shadows. ...This enemy attacked not just our people, but all freedom-loving people everywhere in the world. ... This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil. But good will prevail.

In 2004, Iran announced it planned to start processing 37 tons of uranium yellowcake, which Western intelligence officials estimated could be used to build five nuclear bombs.

In 2005, the last of Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip, as planned, and the Palestinians immediately reclaimed the area Israel had controlled since the 1967 war.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI, in his first papal trip to his native Bavaria, in Germany, angered Muslims in a speech with a 14th-century quote criticizing Islam, leading to church bombings and other protests. The pope apologized for any offense caused, saying the words didn't reflect his own views.

In 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned after just one year in office amid a series of financial scandals.

In 2008, a commuter train ran through a stop signal near Chatsworth, Calif., and slammed into an oncoming freight train, killing 25 people and injuring more than 130. (Federal officials said they confirmed the commuter engineer, who was killed, had been using his cellphone for text messaging shortly before the crash.)

In 2009, thousands of tax protesters gathered at the U.S. Capitol in the largest anti-government demonstration since U.S. President Barack Obama took office. The rally marked the final stop for the Tea Party Express in a 30-city protest campaign.

In 2010, U.S. hiker Sarah Shourd, imprisoned in Iran on charges of espionage for more than a year after she and two male companions were accused of illegally crossing into Iranian territory, was released on $500,000 bail. (The men -- Shane Bauer, her fiance, and Josh Fattal --were freed just over a year later.)

In 2011, a leaking gasoline pipeline exploded into flames in a densely populated slum in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, engulfing a crowd of onlookers in an inferno that killed more than 100 people and injured a similar number. Police said the fire may have been touched off after the pipeline was punctured in an effort to steal fuel.

In 2012, North Korea, reported to be in dire need of help from storms and flooding that killed dozens of people, rejected an offer of aid from South Korea.

In 2013, officials in Britain announced that Prince William, 31, had left the armed forces after more than 7½ years of service -- first in the army, then as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot -- to focus on royal duties and charity work.

Copyright 2014 by United Press International