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On This Day: Pope Paul VI first pontiff to visit South America

On Aug. 22, 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia, becoming the first pontiff to visit South America.

By UPI Staff
A tapestry of Pope Paul VI is unveiled during a beatification ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near Rome on October 19, 2014. On Aug. 22, 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia, becoming the first pontiff to visit South America. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI
1 of 4 | A tapestry of Pope Paul VI is unveiled during a beatification ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near Rome on October 19, 2014. On Aug. 22, 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia, becoming the first pontiff to visit South America. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 22 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1851, the U.S.-built schooner America outran a fleet of Britain's finest ships around England's Isle of Wight in an international race that became known as the America's Cup.

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In 1881, American humanitarians Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons founded the National Red Cross.

In 1922, Michael Collins, a founder of the Irish Republican Army and a key figure in Ireland's independence movement, was assassinated by political opponents.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia, becoming the first pontiff to visit South America.

In 1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of nuclear industry worker Karen Silkwood more than $1 million, ending a 10-year legal battle waged by her family over her exposure to radioactive materials at the company's Oklahoma plant.

In 2004, two masked robbers stole Edvard Munch's The Scream and another painting from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. They were found about two years later and put back on display in 2008. The Scream had been stolen once before, 10 years earlier, but was recovered within three months.

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File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

In 2005, the last Jewish settlers moved peacefully out of the Gaza Strip after carrying Torah scrolls down the main street of Netzarim, last of 21 settlements to be evacuated.

In 2011, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington opened to the public. The $120 million memorial, 25 years in the making, is on a four-acre site on the National Mall.

In 2013, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old landscaper and acquaintance of the football player. In 2014, Hernandez was charged with two more murders. Hernandez killed himself in prison this spring.

In 2017, India's Supreme Court declared the "instant divorce" practice among the nation's Muslim population to be unconstitutional.

File Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA

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