Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is July 31. The cornerstone for the first federal government building was laid on this date in 1792 in Philadelphia. It was the cornerstone for the U.S. Mint. Advertisement It was on this date in 1498 that Christopher Columbus, on his third voyage to the New World, first sighted the island he called La Trinidad. Upon his return to Spain, he told the King about the island -- describing it as very lush and pleasant -- and soon Spain began colonizing it. Spain ruled Trinidad and nearby Tobago until 1797, when the British took over. Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Britain in 1962. A flap involving the vice presidential choice of Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern ended on this date in 1972, when Sen. Thomas Eagleton, D-Mo., withdrew from the ticket. Six days earlier, Eagleton had revealed that he had previously been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. It was on this date in 1974 that Watergate figure John Ehrlichman was sentenced to 20 months in prison for his role in the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. Ellsburg was the Pentagon consultant who leaked the "Pentagon Papers," documents about the war in Vietnam. Advertisement And employees of ABC learned on this date in 1995 that they'd soon be wearing Mickey Mouse ears -- the Walt Disney Co. announced it was buying Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
