On This Day: Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito, Masako Owada marry

On this date in history:

In 1534, French navigator Jacques Cartier became the first European explorer to discover the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec.

In 1898, Britain leased Hong Kong from China for 99 years. The territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

In 1934, Donald Duck made his first screen appearance in “The Wise Little Hen.”

In 1943, the U.S. Congress passed an act authorizing employers to withhold income tax payments from salary checks.

In 1973, Secretariat, having won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, captured racing’s Triple Crown with a spectacular victory in the Belmont Stakes. The big chestnut colt, ridden by Ron Turcotte, was the first horse to do so since Citation in 1948.

In 1982, Gen. Efrain Rios Montt declares himself president of Guatemala. He overthrew the government in a coup d’etat in March 1982, and was himself overthrown in August 1983 by Defense Minister Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores.

In 1993, Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito married former diplomat Masako Owada in Tokyo in a Shinto ceremony.

In 1997, recognizing the findings of The National Bioethics Advisory Commission, which unanimously recommended a new federal law banning the creation of human babies through cloning, President Bill Clinton urged Congress to ban human cloning, saying it reflects ”our humanity and it is the right thing to do.”

In 1998, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar was sworn in as Nigeria’s military ruler, one day after the death of Gen. Sani Abacha of a heart attack.

In 2005, after weeks of protests, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa resigned.

In 2008, Internet providers Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner agreed to block access to websites that distribute child pornography.

In 2010, the United Nations passed another set of sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, a move strongly supported by President Barack Obama.

In 2013, Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated countryman David Ferrer in straight sets to win an unprecedented eighth French Open championship. Nadal won the tournament for the ninth time June 8, 2014.

In 2014, an attack by Taliban gunmen at busy Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, ended with about three-dozen people dead, including the attackers who disguised themselves a government security officers.

In 2014, actor Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time. “People need to be willing to let go of what they think they know about what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. Because that doesn’t necessarily mean anything inherently,” she told the magazine.

In 2017, tennis star Venus Williams was involved in a car crash in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., that killed a 78-year-old man. Police initially said she was to blame for the crash, but later said another vehicle caused it.