PHOTO CREDITS- WIKIPEDIA/INTERNET ARCHIVE

1994 Nelson Mandela wins the presidency in South Africa’s first multiracial elections.

1986 The world’s worst nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl power plant in the Soviet Union.

1983 The Dow Jones Industrial Average breaks 1,200 for first time.

1968 Students seize the administration building at Ohio State University.

1941 The first organ is played at a baseball stadium in Chicago.

1937 The ancient Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain is bombed by German planes.

1931 New York Yankee Lou Gehrig hits a home run but is called out for passing a runner, the mistake ultimately costs him the home run record.

1929 The first non-stop flight from England to India is completed.

1915 Second Lieutenant William Rhodes-Moorhouse becomes the first airman to win the Victoria Cross after conducting a successful bombing raid.

1914 Bernard Malamud, novelist and short story writer (The Natural).

1900 Charles Richter, physicist and seismologist.