On this date in history:

In 1775, the Continental Congress ordered construction of America's first naval fleet.

In 1792, the cornerstone to the White House in Washington was laid. (It would be November 1800 before the first presidential family -- that of John Adams -- moved in.)

In 1903, the Boston Americans (later known as the Red Sox) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the first Modern World Series, five games to three.

In 1917, as many as 100,000 people gathered in Fatima, Portugal, for the Miracle of the Sun and its strange solar activity and, for many, a reported glimpse of the Virgin Mary.

In 1926, Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American aviator in the U.S. Navy, and a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, was born in Hattiesburg, Miss.

In 1943, conquered by the Allies, Italy declared war on Germany, its former partner.

In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 carrying 45 people, including a rugby team from Montevideo, crashes in the Andes mountains. It would take 72 days for rescuers to learn the fate of the survivors, and by that time, only 16 were left to tell their story. The survivor's harrowing story was brought to the big screen in the 1993 feature film, Alive.

In 1972, more than 170 people were killed in a Soviet airliner crash near Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport.

In 1987, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- the first winner from Central America. Arias was recognized for his work promoting democracy and peace in Central America.

In 1990, Syrian forces move into Lebanon, removing Christian militia leader General Michel Aoun from power, effectively ending the Lebanese Civil War.

In 1994, two months after the Irish Republican Army announced a cease-fire, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Freedom Fighters, the two main paramilitary groups fighting to keep Northern Ireland with its Protestant majority in the United Kingdom, announced a cease-fire.

In 2003, renowned U.S. jockey Bill Shoemaker, winner of nearly 9,000 races, died at his home in San Marino, Calif. He was 72.

In 2010, after more than two months entombed half a mile under the Chilean desert, the first of 33 trapped miners were pulled to safety in a narrow passageway drilled through more than 2,000 feet of rock, to be followed in the next 24 hours by the rest of the crew in a dramatic finale to a remarkable rescue mission.

In 2012, authorities in Afghanistan said a suicide bomber killed at least seven Afghan intelligence officers in Kandahar province, and five security guards employed by a private company died in coordinated terrorist bombings in Zabul province

In 2013, a stampede by masses of worshipers crossing a bridge over the Sindh River at a Hindu festival in India's Madhya Pradesh state killed more than 100 people and injured scores of others. A police official said people panicked as rumors spread that the bridge was collapsing.

Copyright 2015 by United Press International