1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1864 – Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as U.S. currency.
1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in East Germany. the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elian Gonzalez from his relatives’ home in Miami.
