On this day in 1497, Portuguese navigator and explorer Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon in an attempt to find a sea passage to India. He was the first European to sail to India, and opened the rich land of the East to Portuguese trade and colonization.
On this day in 1914, the Chinese Revolutionary Party was established in Tokyo with Dr. Sun Yat-sen sworn in as its director-general.
On this day in 2009, a public memorial service for "King of Pop" Michael Jackson was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles where he had rehearsed for the London concerts the night before his death.