1815

Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba, sailing back to France in a bid to regain power.

1919

President Woodrow Wilson signed an act making the Grand Canyon a national park.

1952

Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.

1987

The Tower Commission, which had probed the Iran-Contra affair, issued its report, which rebuked President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.

1993

A truck bomb built by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others, mainly due to smoke inhalation.

2012

Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who said he acted in self-defense.

Birthdays

Singer Mitch Ryder is 81. Singer Michael Bolton is 73. Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Mullen is 69. Actor Greg Germann is 68. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia is 68. Singer Erykah Badu is 55. Filmmaker Sean Baker is 55. Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk is 53. Olympic swimming gold medalist Jenny Thompson is 53. Singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 47. Tennis Hall of Famer Li Na is 44. Singer Natalia Lafourcade is 42.