1775 - Patrick Henry ignited the American Revolution with a speech before the Virginia Convention - "...give me liberty or give me death."
1934 - President Franklin Roosevelt grants independence to the Philippine Islands after nearly 50 years of American control.
1979 - The Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, nuclear power plant accident occurred when the reactor core overheated after a pressure relief valve stuck and operators misunderstood what was happening.
1989 - The oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, leaking 11-million gallons of oil and impacting a 45-mile stretch of coastline.