On this day in 1491, explorer Christopher Columbus, at the behest of Spain's Queen Isabella, sets sail with three ships to pick up some Chinese food and a pack of cigarettes.

On this day in 1960, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupts a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding his desk with his shoe (above). Later, he admits to having signed a lucrative endorsement deal with Florsheim and Dr. Scholl's.