On this date in...

1975...More than 100 people are killed when an Eastern Airlines jet crashes while attempting to land at Kennedy Airport during a thunderstorm.

1987...Brooklyn-born Jackie Gleason – best known as bus driver Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners – dies of cancer at age 71. Today his statue sits outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

1993...The FBI breaks up an alleged plot to blow up several landmarks when they raid a bomb factory in Queens run by Muslim fundamentalists.

2011...The New York State Senate passes the same-sex marriage bill, which Governor Andrew Cuomo signs into law shortly before midnight.