On this day in 1903, Panama signed a treaty with the United States, giving the US the right to build the Panama Canal.

On this day in 1974, Gerald Ford became the first US president to visit Japan, while on this day in 1977, Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian leader to visit Israel.

And on this day in 1978, Jim Jones led more than 900 members of his Peoples Temple to a mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. That was just hours after the assassination of US Congressman Leo Ryan who had gone to visit Jonestown as part of an investigation.