On this date in history:

In 1704, the Boston News-Letter became the first U.S. newspaper to be published on a regular basis.

In 1800, the U.S. Congress established the Library of Congress.

In 1913, the Woolworth Building, designed by architect Cass Gilbert, an early proponent of skyscrapers, opened to the public and its tenants.

In 1914, the Easter Rising began. Irish republicans armed themselves in rebellion against the British government. Nearly 500 people died --including more than 250 civilians -- during the six-day skirmish, and the British executed 16 rebels.

In 1957, the Suez Canal was reopened to shipping after being shut for more than five months following a conflict between Egypt, and the trio of Israel, Britain and France.

In 1980, Operation Eagle Claw, the attempt to rescue 52 embassy staff held captive in Tehran, ends with the death of eight servicemen when a helicopter crashed into a transport aircraft.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer.

In 1983, German endurance racing driver Rolf Stommelen died during a crash at the Riverside International Raceway in California. He was 39.

In 1986, the duchess of Windsor, Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom Britain's King Edward VIII gave up his throne, died in Paris at age 89.

In 1991, Freddie Stowers, a World War I corporal, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the first African American to receive the highest medal for valor in combat.

In 1996, the Palestinian National Council voted to drop its official commitment to the destruction of Israel.

In 2005, Benedict XVI was installed in Rome as the 265th Roman Catholic pope.

In 2013, a building that housed clothing factories collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,000 people.

In 2018, authorities in California arrested the so-called Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, more than 40 years after the start of a decade-long killing spree throughout the state. Investigators tracked him down by submitting his DNA to an ancestry website.

Copyright 2019 by United Press International