1794

Congress approved the “Act to provide a Naval Armament” of six armed ships, which provided the foundation of the permanent U.S. Navy.

1939

The first NCAA men’s Division I basketball championship game was held, with the University of Oregon defeating Ohio State, 46-33.

1968

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961, died when his MiG-15 jet crashed during a routine training flight near Moscow; he was 34.

1975

Construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; the 800-mile pipeline was completed just over two years later.

1977

In aviation’s deadliest disaster, 583 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off in heavy fog, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on an airport runway on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

1980

123 workers died when a North Sea floating oil field platform, the Alexander Kielland, capsized during a storm.

Birthdays

Actor Michael York is 83. Film director Quentin Tarantino is 62. Singer Mariah Carey is 56. Actor Pauley Perrette is 56. Actor Nathan Fillion is 54. Singer Fergie is 50. Former Giants catcher Buster Posey is 38. Singer Jessie J is 37. Actor-singer Halle Bailey is 25.