1929

Babe Ruth became the firstplayer to reach 500 career home runs with a homer at Cleveland’s League Park.

1934

The first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz Island, a former military prison, in San Francisco Bay; the island would be home to more than 1,500 prisoners over the next three decades, including gangsters Al Capone and James “Whitey” Bulger, before closing in 1963.

1965

Rioting that claimed 34 lives and lasted six days broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

1972

The last U.S. ground combat troops in South Vietnam left to return to the United States.