2014: In a popular referendum, Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation; despite opposition from numerous countries, Russia later annexed the region. [Test your knowledge of Russian history.]

1995: Mississippi ratified the Thirteenth Amendment—which abolished slavery—130 years after it was added to the U.S. Constitution; however, Mississippi's ratification was not made official until 2013, when the state notified the U.S. Archivist. [Take our amendments to the U.S. Constitution quiz.]

1926: American comedian Jerry Lewis, whose unrestrained comic style made him one of the most popular performers of the 1950s and '60s, was born. [Discover how much you know about actors.]

1802: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York—one of the oldest service academies in the world—was originally founded as a training centre for the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

1751: James Madison, the fourth U.S. president and one of the Founding Fathers, was born in Virginia. [ Watch an overview of the Founding Fathers.]

1521: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the Spanish flag on his circumnavigation of the globe, reached the Philippines, securing the first alliance in the Pacific Islands for Spain. [Test your knowledge of human exploration.]