On This Day in History

Hundreds of native creoles known as Forros were massacred on São Tomé Island by the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners.

American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash (wreckage pictured) shortly after takeoff from Mason City Municipal Airport in Iowa.

The deadliest blizzard in history began in Iran and continued for a week leaving more than 4,000 people dead.

Steve Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm and launched it as an independent computer-animation studio.

In mission STS-63, astronaut Eileen Collins (pictured) became the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle.

Despite a large international movement advocating the commutation of her sentence to life imprisonment, Karla Faye Tucker became the first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984.

Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen: 23 convicts, including several militants associated with al-Qaeda, escaped from a prison administered by the Political Security Organization in Sanaa, Yemen.

An edition of L'Homme qui marche I, a bronze sculpture by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, was sold for £65 million, setting the record for the most expensive sculpture sold at auction.

Russia's first school shooting took place when a student opened fire at School No. 263 in Moscow, resulting in the deaths of a teacher and a police officer.

A freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing hazardous materials into the surrounding area.