On this date in history:

In 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was established.

In 1692, the notorious witch hunt began in the Salem village of the Massachusetts Bay colony, eventually resulting in the executions of 19 men and women.

In 1780, Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish slavery.

In 1781, the American colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation, paving the way for a federal union.

In 1803, Ohio was admitted to the union as the 17th state.

In 1867, Nebraska was admitted to the union as the 37th state.

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established by an act of Congress. It was the first area in the world to be designated a national park.

In 1932, aviator Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped. The child's body was found on May 12. Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of the kidnapping and murder and executed in 1936.

In 1953, former Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin has a major stroke, from which he died four days later.

In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, injuring five members of Congress.

In 1961, an executive order from U.S. President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps.

In 1971, a bomb exploded in a restroom in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol, causing $300,000 damage but no injuries. The Weather Underground, a leftist radical group that opposed the Vietnam War, claimed responsibility.

In 1995, the company formerly known as Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web incorporates under the name, Yahoo!

In 2003, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, was captured in Pakistan.

In 2004, an interim government took over in Haiti one day after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile following a monthlong insurrection.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that execution of juvenile offenders is unconstitutional.

In 2011, the U.S. Interior Department approved the first deep-water drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico since a BP offshore explosion and massive oil spill in April 2010.

In 2014, black-clad, knife-wielding attackers, including two women, killed at least 30 people and injured about 130 at a railway station in the southwest Chinese city of Kunming. Four of the assailants were killed by police and four others were arrested and charged with murder.

In 2016, Forbes listed the world's richest people, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates coming in No. 1 with an estimated $75 billion net worth. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg jumped 10 spots to sixth place with a net worth of $44.6 billion.

Copyright 2018 by United Press International