On this day in history
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Source: HistoryNet.com
1500: Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil.
1509: Henry VIII ascends to the throne of England upon the death of his father, Henry VII.
1529: Spain and Portugal divide the eastern hemisphere in the Treaty of Saragossa.
1792: President George Washington proclaims American neutrality in the war in Europe.
1861: Robert E. Lee is named commander of Virginia forces.
1889: The Oklahoma land rush officially starts at noon as thousands of Americans race for new, unclaimed land.
1898: In the first action of the Spanish-American War, the USS Nashville, takes on a Spanish ship.
1915: At the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans use poison gas for the first time.
1918: British naval forces attempt to sink block-ships in the German U-boat bases at the Battle of Zeebrugge.
1931: Egypt signs treaty of friendship with Iraq.
1944: Allies launch major attack against the Japanese in Hollandia, New Guinea.
1954: The Senate Army-McCarthy hearings begin. They are broadcast on television.
1955: Congress orders all U.S. coins to bear the motto "In God We Trust."
1976: Barbara Walters becomes the first female nightly news anchor on network television.
1995: In Africa, Rwandan troops kill thousands of Hutu refugees in Kibeho.
