On this date in history:

In 1876, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now Texas A&M, opened. It was the first public higher education institution in Texas.

In 1883, the Orient Express train made its first run, originating in Paris, at Gare de l'Est, and ending in Giurgiu, Romania, with stops in Munich and Vienna.

In 1895, the U.S. Open men's golf tournament was first contested. It was won by Horace Rawlins.

In 1927, artist Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore. It would take 14 years to complete, with work on the monument finishing in 1941. Despite the difficult nature of the project, there were no worker fatalities.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made space satellite, Sputnik 1. The Soviet's successful launch caught America by surprise and was the spark which ignited the Space Race.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York on the first visit by a pope to the United States.

In 1976, Earl Butz resigned as U.S. agriculture secretary, with an apology for what he called the gross indiscretion of uttering a racist remark.

In 1989, Art Shell was hired by the Oakland Raiders as the first black head coach in the modern National Football League.

In 1991, the United States and 23 other countries signed an agreement banning mineral and oil exploration in Antarctica for 50 years.

In 1992, at least 43 people were killed when an El Al 747 cargo plane crashed into an apartment building on the outskirts of Amsterdam. It's believed the actual death toll could be considerably higher because many undocumented immigrants lived in the building and weren't counted among the missing.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered several hundred more U.S. troops to Somalia on the second day the Battle of Mogadishu.

In 2001, a Siberian Airlines jetliner exploded and plunged into the Black Sea, killing all 64 passengers and 12 crew members. The United States said evidence indicated the plane had been hit by a missile fired during a Ukrainian military training exercise.

In 2004, SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded rocket to reach the edge of space, flew to an altitude above 62 miles over the California desert.

In 2006, WikiLeaks.org was created by Julian Assange as a depository for leaked documents and other classified materials.

In 2010, a sludge reservoir burst in Hungary, sending 200 million gallons of toxic mud onto the roads of three villages, killing seven people, injuring 150 others and driving hundreds from their homes.

In 2021, Fumio Kishida became prime minister of Japan, replacing Yoshihide Suga, who served for one year.

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