On This Day, March 27: Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir, convicted

March 27 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1886, Apache leader Geronimo surrendered to U.S. federal authorities.

In 1933, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin reported that physical mistreatment of Jews in Germany has been "virtually terminated."

In 1958, Nikita Khrushchev replaced Nikolai Bulganin as premier of the Soviet Union.

In 1964, the strongest earthquake to hit North America -- magnitude-9.2 -- struck Alaska, killing 139 people.

In 1976, the first section of Washington, D.C.'s Metro subway system opened with more than 4.6 miles of track on the Red Line running from Farragut North to Rhode Island Avenue in the District of Columbia.

File Photo Ken Cedeno/UPI

In 1977, two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided and exploded in flames on a foggy runway at Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, killing 583 people in the worst aviation accident in history.

In 1980, a Norwegian oil platform capsized during a storm in the North Sea, killing 123 people.

In 1993, Jiang Zemin was appointed president of the People's Republic of China.

In 1996, an Israeli court convicted Yigal Amir and sentenced him to life in prison for assassinating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Nov. 4, 1995.

In 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence.

In 2004, NASA's unmanned experimental hypersonic plane reached about 5,000 mph in a test flight -- more than seven times the speed of sound.

In 2005, ailing Pope John Paul II appeared at his apartment window before an Easter crowd in St. Peter's Square but was unable to speak. He silently blessed thousands of cheering people, many who wept. The pope died six days later, on April 2. He was 84.