On this date in history:

In 1770, British troops killed five colonials in the so-called Boston Massacre, one of the events that led to the American Revolution.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson was publicly inaugurated for his second term. He had a private, official inauguration a day earlier.

In 1933, in German elections, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party won nearly half the seats in the Reichstag (the Parliament).

In 1946, Winston Churchill, in a famous speech in Fulton, Mo., stated that a Soviet Union Iron Curtain had descended across Europe.

In 1953, the Soviet Union announced that dictator Joseph Stalin had died at age 73. Stalin had been in a coma after having a massive stroke four days earlier.

In 1966, Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler's Ballad of the Green Berets hit No. 1, spending five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Sadler died in 1989 after being shot in the head.

In 1984, the Standard Oil Co. of California, also known as Chevron, bought Gulf Corp. for more than $13 billion in the largest business merger in U.S. history at the time.

In 1993, Canada's Ben Johnson, once called the world's fastest human, tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was banned for life from track competition.

In 2011, archaeologists renovating the Rio de Janeiro harbor for the 2016 Olympics reported uncovering the remains of a 19th-century port where thousands of people arrived from Africa and were sold into slavery.

In 2013, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died at age 58 and Vice President Nicolas Maduro ascends to the presidency.

In 2014, the New York-based College Board announced plans for a major overhaul of the SAT test -- the college entrance exam -- to take effect in 2016.

In 2017, President Donald Trump, offering no proof, accuses President Barack Obama of having his wires tapped in Trump Tower.

Copyright 2018 by United Press International