April 8 (UPI) -- On this date in history:
In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted, requiring that U.S. senators be "elected by the people."
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1 of 3 | U.S. President Barack Obama, surrounded by members of Congress and Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White (2nd R), signs the Ryan White HIV/AIDS treatment extension act of 2009 in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington on October 30, 2009. The act was named in honor of Ryan White, a teenager who contracted AIDS through a tainted hemophilia treatment in 1984 and became a well-known advocate for AIDS research and awareness, until his death on April 8, 1990. UPI File Photo | License Photo
In 1918, actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin pitch Third Liberty Loan bonds in front of the Sub-Treasury (now Federal Hall National Memorial) in New York City.
In 1935, the U.S. Congress approved the Works Progress Administration, a central part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.
In 1952, U.S. President Harry Truman ordered government seizure of the steel industry to avoid a general strike.
In 1960, the United States Senate passed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1960. President Dwight D. Eisenhower would sign it into law on May 6, 1960.
In 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's longstanding career record. Aaron played two more seasons, ending with 755 home runs, a total eventually surpassed by Barry Bonds, who had 762.
File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
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In 1990, Ryan White, who put the face of a child on AIDS, died of complications from the disease at age 18.
In 1992, former tennis great Arthur Ashe confirmed he had AIDS. He said he contracted the disease from a blood transfusion.
In 1993, Marian Anderson, the first African-American singer to appear at New York's Metropolitan Opera, died at age 91.
In 2005, about 250,000 mourners attended a 3-hour funeral mass for Pope John Paul II in Rome's St. Peter's Square while about 1 million others gathered nearby. Among those in attendance were U.S. President George W. Bush and about 100 other world leaders.
File Photo by Tom Theobald/UPI
In 2008, American Airlines grounded all 300 of its MD-80 jetliners after an FAA review found faulty wiring in nine of them. Over the next five days, American canceled about 3,300 flights, disrupting travel of more than 100,000 passengers.
In 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the merger of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham, or ISIS.
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In 2019, several people were killed as protesters took to the streets of Sudan demanding President Omar al-Bashir.
File Photo courtesy of Stringer/EPA-EFE
