This Day in History

11/3/1964: D.C. Residents Cast First Presidential Votes​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dc-residents-cast-first-presidential-votes

On this day in 1964, residents of the District of Columbia cast their ballots in a presidential election for the first time. The passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave citizens of the nation's capital the right to vote for a commander in chief and vice president. They went on to help Democrat Lyndon Johnson defeat Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964, the next presidential election.

Between 1776 and 1800, New York and then Philadelphia served as the temporary center of government for the newly formed United States. The capital's location was a source of much controversy and debate, especially for Southern politicians, who didn't want it located too far north. In 1790, Congress passed a law allowing President George Washington to choose the permanent site. As a compromise, he selected a tract of undeveloped swampland on the Potomac River, between Maryland and Virginia, and began to refer to it as Federal City. The commissioners overseeing the development of the new city picked its permanent name—Washington—to honor the president. Congress met for the first time in Washington, D.C., on November 17, 1800.

The District was put under the jurisdiction of Congress, which terminated D.C. residents' voting rights in 1801. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment restored these rights, allowing D.C. voters to choose electors for the Electoral College based on population, with a maximum of as many electors as the least populated state. With a current population of over 550,000 residents, 61-square-mile D.C. has three electoral votes, just like Wyoming, America's smallest state, population-wise. The majority of D.C.'s residents are African Americans and they have voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates in past presidential elections.

In 1970, Congress gave Washington, D.C., one non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives and with the passage of 1973's Home Rule Act, Washingtonians got their first elected mayor and city council. In 1978, a proposed amendment would have given D.C. the right to select electors, representatives and senators, just like a state, but it failed to pass, as have subsequent calls for D.C. statehood.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Washington learns of Conway cabal, 1777

Automotive
- Detroit-Windsor Tunnel opens to traffic, 1930

Civil War
- Confederate General Jubal Early is born, 1816

Cold War
- Johnson defeats Goldwater for presidency, 1964

Crime
- A serial killer abducts and rapes his teenage victim, 1984

Disaster
- Hotel fire ends in disaster in South Korea, 1974

General Interest
- Panama declares independence, 1903
- The Soviet space dog, 1957
- Communists and Klansmen clash in Greensboro, 1979
- Iran arms sales revealed, 1986

Hollywood
- Carrie creeps out audiences, 1976

Literary
- Thackeray completes Barry Lyndon, 1844

Music
- The Crystals earn a #1 hit with "He's A Rebel"—or do they?, 1962

Old West
- Black Bart makes his last stagecoach robbery, 1883

Presidential
- Newspaper mistakenly declares Dewey president, 1948

Sports
- The Body is elected governor of Minnesota, 1998

Vietnam War
- Battle of Dak To begins, 1967
- Nixon calls on the "silent majority", 1969

World War I
- Central Powers face rebellion on the home front, 1918

World War II
- The order is given: Bomb Pearl Harbor, 1941

 

11/4/1956: Soviets Put Brutal End to Hungarian Revolution​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-put-brutal-end-to-hungarian-revolution

A spontaneous national uprising that began 12 days before in Hungary is viciously crushed by Soviet tanks and troops on this day in 1956. Thousands were killed and wounded and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fled the country.

The problems in Hungary began in October 1956, when thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding a more democratic political system and freedom from Soviet oppression. In response, Communist Party officials appointed Imre Nagy, a former premier who had been dismissed from the party for his criticisms of Stalinist policies, as the new premier. Nagy tried to restore peace and asked the Soviets to withdraw their troops. The Soviets did so, but Nagy then tried to push the Hungarian revolt forward by abolishing one-party rule. He also announced that Hungary was withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact (the Soviet bloc's equivalent of NATO).

On November 4, 1956, Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest to crush, once and for all, the national uprising. Vicious street fighting broke out, but the Soviets' great power ensured victory. At 5:20 a.m., Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy announced the invasion to the nation in a grim, 35-second broadcast, declaring: "Our troops are fighting. The Government is in place." Within hours, though, Nagy sought asylum at the Yugoslav Embassy in Budapest. He was captured shortly thereafter and executed two years later. Nagy’s former colleague and imminent replacement, János Kádár, who had been flown secretly from Moscow to the city of Szolnok, 60 miles southeast of the capital, prepared to take power with Moscow's backing.

The Soviet action stunned many people in the West. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had pledged a retreat from the Stalinist policies and repression of the past, but the violent actions in Budapest suggested otherwise. An estimated 2,500 Hungarians died and 200,000 more fled as refugees. Sporadic armed resistance, strikes and mass arrests continued for months thereafter, causing substantial economic disruption. Inaction on the part of the United States angered and frustrated many Hungarians. Voice of America radio broadcasts and speeches by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles had recently suggested that the United States supported the "liberation" of "captive peoples" in communist nations. Yet, as Soviet tanks bore down on the protesters, the United States did nothing beyond issuing public statements of sympathy for their plight.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Patriot, politician and physician William Shippen dies, 1801

Automotive
- Iranian students storm U.S. embassy in Tehran, leading to oil embargo, 1979

Civil War
- Rebels attack Yankee supply base at the Battle of Johnsonville, 1864

Cold War
- Soviets crush Hungarian revolt, 1956

Crime
- One of New York's most notorious gamblers is shot to death, 1928

Disaster
- Heavy rain leads to flooding in New England, 1927

General Interest
- Entrance to King Tut's tomb discovered, 1922
- Iranians storm U.S. embassy, 1979
- Yitzhak Rabin assassinated, 1995

Hollywood
- Dances with Wolves debuts, 1990

Literary
- T.S. Eliot wins Nobel Prize in literature, 1948

Music
- Anne Murray earns a #1 pop hit with "You Needed Me", 1978

Old West
- Will Rogers is born in Oklahoma, 1879

Presidential
- Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd, 1842

Sports
- End of an era for the Yankees, 2001

Vietnam War
- South Vietnamese battle communists along the Cambodian border, 1969
- U.S. hands over air base to the Vietnamese Air Force, 1970

World War I
- Poet Wilfred Owen killed in action , 1918

World War II
- Gen. Sir John Dill dies, 1944

 

11/6/1962: U.N. Condemns Apartheid​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/un-condemns-apartheid

On this day in 1962, the United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with the country.

In effect from 1948 to 1993, apartheid, which comes from the Afrikaans word for "apartness," was government-sanctioned racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against South Africa's non-white majority. Among many injustices, blacks were forced to live in segregated areas and couldn’t enter whites-only neighborhoods unless they had a special pass. Although whites represented only a small fraction of the population, they held the vast majority of the country's land and wealth.

Following the 1960 massacre of unarmed demonstrators at Sharpeville near Johannesburg, South Africa, in which 69 blacks were killed and over 180 were injured, the international movement to end apartheid gained wide support. However, few Western powers or South Africa's other main trading partners favored a full economic or military embargo against the country. Nonetheless, opposition to apartheid within the U.N. grew, and in 1973 a U.N. resolution labeled apartheid a "crime against humanity." In 1974, South Africa was suspended from the General Assembly.

After decades of strikes, sanctions and increasingly violent demonstrations, many apartheid laws were repealed by 1990. Finally, in 1991, under President F.W. de Klerk, the South African government repealed all remaining apartheid laws and committed to writing a new constitution. In 1993, a multi-racial, multi-party transitional government was approved and, the next year, South Africa held its first fully free elections. Political activist Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison along with other anti-apartheid leaders after being convicted of treason, became South Africa's new president.

In 1996, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established by the new government, began an investigation into the violence and human rights violations that took place under the apartheid system between 1960 and May 10, 1994 (the day Mandela was sworn in as president). The commission's objective was not to punish people but to heal South Africa by dealing with its past in an open manner. People who committed crimes were allowed to confess and apply for amnesty. Headed by 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the TRC listened to testimony from over 20,000 witnesses from all sides of the issue—victims and their families as well as perpetrators of violence. It released its report in 1998 and condemned all major political organizations—the apartheid government in addition to anti-apartheid forces such as the African National Congress—for contributing to the violence. Based on the TRC's recommendations, the government began making reparation payments of approximately $4,000 (U.S.) to individual victims of violence in 2003.

Other Stories:​

American Revolution
- John Carroll named first Catholic bishop in U.S., 1789

Automotive
- President Clinton designates "Automobile National Heritage Area" in Detroit, 1998

Civil War
- Jefferson Davis elected president of the Confederacy, 1861

Cold War
- Renowned Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov visits United States, 1988

Crime
- A woman ices her husband with anti-freeze, 1982

Disaster
- Dam gives way in Georgia, 1977

General Interest
- Abraham Lincoln elected president, 1860
- Canadians take Passchendaele, 1917
- Bolsheviks revolt in Russia, 1917

Hollywood
- Downey stars in Less Than Zero, 1987

Literary
- Playwright Thomas Kyd is baptized, 1558

Music
- John Philip Sousa is born, 1854

Old West
- Cabeza de Vaca discovers Texas, 1528

Presidential
- Teddy Roosevelt travels to Panama, 1906

Sports
- Art Modell announces Browns are moving to Baltimore, 1995

Vietnam War
- General Minh takes over leadership of South Vietnam, 1963
- South Vietnamese forces attack into Cambodia, 1970

World War I
- British victory at Passchendaele , 1917

World War II
- Stalin celebrates the Revolution's anniversary, 1941

 

I'm liking this odd little factiod.

Thanks Amaury. I needed that~

 

11/8/1895: German Scientist Discovers X-Rays​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/german-scientist-discovers-x-rays

On this day in 1895, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (1845-1923) becomes the first person to observe X-rays, a significant scientific advancement that would ultimately benefit a variety of fields, most of all medicine, by making the invisible visible. Rontgen's discovery occurred accidentally in his Wurzburg, Germany, lab, where he was testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass when he noticed a glow coming from a nearby chemically coated screen. He dubbed the rays that caused this glow X-rays because of their unknown nature.

X-rays are electromagnetic energy waves that act similarly to light rays, but at wavelengths approximately 1,000 times shorter than those of light. Rontgen holed up in his lab and conducted a series of experiments to better understand his discovery. He learned that X-rays penetrate human flesh but not higher-density substances such as bone or lead and that they can be photographed.

Rontgen's discovery was labeled a medical miracle and X-rays soon became an important diagnostic tool in medicine, allowing doctors to see inside the human body for the first time without surgery. In 1897, X-rays were first used on a military battlefield, during the Balkan War, to find bullets and broken bones inside patients.

Scientists were quick to realize the benefits of X-rays, but slower to comprehend the harmful effects of radiation. Initially, it was believed X-rays passed through flesh as harmlessly as light. However, within several years, researchers began to report cases of burns and skin damage after exposure to X-rays, and in 1904, Thomas Edison's assistant, Clarence Dally, who had worked extensively with X-rays, died of skin cancer. Dally's death caused some scientists to begin taking the risks of radiation more seriously, but they still weren't fully understood. During the 1930s, 40s and 50s, in fact, many American shoe stores featured shoe-fitting fluoroscopes that used to X-rays to enable customers to see the bones in their feet; it wasn't until the 1950s that this practice was determined to be risky business. Wilhelm Rontgen received numerous accolades for his work, including the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901, yet he remained modest and never tried to patent his discovery. Today, X-ray technology is widely used in medicine, material analysis and devices such as airport security scanners.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Washington seeks to make militias into a military, 1775

Automotive
- Sun sets on the Ford Rotunda, 1962

Civil War
- President Lincoln is re-elected, 1864

Cold War
- John F. Kennedy elected president, 1960

Crime
- Ted Bundy botches an abduction attempt, 1974

Disaster
- Hurricane Gordon is born, 1994

General Interest
- Louvre Museum opens, 1793
- Beer Hall Putsch begins, 1923
- The Republican Revolution, 1994

Hollywood
- Dracula creator Bram Stoker born, 1847

Literary
- Margaret Mitchell is born, 1900

Music
- Salvatore "Sonny" Bono is elected to the U.S. Congress, 1994

Old West
- Doc Holliday dies of tuberculosis, 1887

Presidential
- FDR broadcasts message to Vichy France leader Marshal Petain, 1942

Sports
- Yogi Berra is the AL MVP, 1951

Vietnam War
- Lawrence Joel earns Medal of Honor, 1965

World War I
- New Russian leader Lenin calls for immediate armistice, 1917

World War II
- Hitler survives assassination attempt, 1939

 

11/9/1938: Nazis Launch Kristallnacht
​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nazis-launch-kristallnacht

On this day in 1938, in an event that would foreshadow the Holocaust, German Nazis launch a campaign of terror against Jewish people and their homes and businesses in Germany and Austria. The violence, which continued through November 10 and was later dubbed "Kristallnacht," or "Night of Broken Glass," after the countless smashed windows of Jewish-owned establishments, left approximately 100 Jews dead, 7,500 Jewish businesses damaged and hundreds of synagogues, homes, schools and graveyards vandalized. An estimated 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, many of whom were then sent to concentration camps for several months; they were released when they promised to leave Germany. Kristallnacht represented a dramatic escalation of the campaign started by Adolf Hitler in 1933 when he became chancellor to purge Germany of its Jewish population.

The Nazis used the murder of a low-level German diplomat in Paris by a 17-year-old Polish Jew as an excuse to carry out the Kristallnacht attacks. On November 7, 1938, Ernst vom Rath was shot outside the German embassy by Herschel Grynszpan, who wanted revenge for his parents' sudden deportation from Germany to Poland, along with tens of thousands of other Polish Jews. Following vom Rath's death, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels ordered German storm troopers to carry out violent riots disguised as "spontaneous demonstrations" against Jewish citizens. Local police and fire departments were told not to interfere. In the face of all the devastation, some Jews, including entire families, committed suicide.

In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, the Nazis blamed the Jews and fined them 1 billion marks (or $400 million in 1938 dollars) for vom Rath's death. As repayment, the government seized Jewish property and kept insurance money owed to Jewish people. In its quest to create a master Aryan race, the Nazi government enacted further discriminatory policies that essentially excluded Jews from all aspects of public life.

Over 100,000 Jews fled Germany for other countries after Kristallnacht. The international community was outraged by the violent events of November 9 and 10. Some countries broke off diplomatic relations in protest, but the Nazis suffered no serious consequences, leading them to believe they could get away with the mass murder that was the Holocaust, in which an estimated 6 million European Jews died.

Other Stories:​

American Revolution
- Sumter evades Wemyss in South Carolina, 1780

Automotive
- Robert McNamara becomes president of Ford Motor Company, 1960

Civil War
- Burnside assumes command of the Union Army of the Potomac, 1862

Cold War
- East Germany opens the Berlin Wall, 1989

Crime
- A Sunday school teacher murders his family and goes undercover for 18 years, 1971

Disaster
- Fire rips through Boston, 1872

General Interest
- Roosevelt travels to Panama, 1906
- Nazis suppressed in Munich, 1923
- Sartre renounces communists, 1956
- The Great Northeast Blackout, 1965

Hollywood
- Kodak Theatre, new home of Oscars, opens, 2001

Literary
- Best-selling Millennium trilogy author Stieg Larsson dies at 50, 2004

Music
- Willie Nelson's assets are seized by the IRS, 1990

Old West
- Followers of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse identified as hostile, 1875

Presidential
- Teddy Roosevelt establishes a naval base in the Philippines, 1901

Sports
- Army and Notre Dame fight to a draw, 1946

Vietnam War
- Antiwar protestor sets himself afire, 1965
- Captain Lance Sijan shot down over North Vietnam, 1967
- Supreme Court refuses to rule on legality of Vietnam War, 1970

World War I
- Australian warship Sydney sinks German Emden , 1914

World War II
- "The Night of Broken Glass", 1938

 

11/11/1918: World War I Ends

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-i-ends

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.

On June 28, 1914, in an event that is widely regarded as sparking the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was shot to death with his wife by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ferdinand had been inspecting his uncle's imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite the threat of Serbian nationalists who wanted these Austro-Hungarian possessions to join newly independent Serbia. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the problem of Slavic nationalism once and for all. However, as Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention.

On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe's great powers collapsed. On July 29, Austro-Hungarian forces began to shell the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and Russia, Serbia's ally, ordered a troop mobilization against Austria-Hungary. France, allied with Russia, began to mobilize on August 1. France and Germany declared war against each other on August 3. After crossing through neutral Luxembourg, the German army invaded Belgium on the night of August 3-4, prompting Great Britain, Belgium's ally, to declare war against Germany.

For the most part, the people of Europe greeted the outbreak of war with jubilation. Most patriotically assumed that their country would be victorious within months. Of the initial belligerents, Germany was most prepared for the outbreak of hostilities, and its military leaders had formatted a sophisticated military strategy known as the "Schlieffen Plan," which envisioned the conquest of France through a great arcing offensive through Belgium and into northern France. Russia, slow to mobilize, was to be kept occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces while Germany attacked France.

The Schlieffen Plan was nearly successful, but in early September the French rallied and halted the German advance at the bloody Battle of the Marne near Paris. By the end of 1914, well over a million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the battlefields of Europe, and neither for the Allies nor the Central Powers was a final victory in sight. On the western front—the battle line that stretched across northern France and Belgium—the combatants settled down in the trenches for a terrible war of attrition.

In 1915, the Allies attempted to break the stalemate with an amphibious invasion of Turkey, which had joined the Central Powers in October 1914, but after heavy bloodshed the Allies were forced to retreat in early 1916. The year 1916 saw great offensives by Germany and Britain along the western front, but neither side accomplished a decisive victory. In the east, Germany was more successful, and the disorganized Russian army suffered terrible losses, spurring the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia and immediately set about negotiating peace with Germany. In 1918, the infusion of American troops and resources into the western front finally tipped the scale in the Allies' favor. Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies on November 11, 1918.

World War I was known as the "war to end all wars" because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. Unfortunately, the peace treaty that officially ended the conflict—the Treaty of Versailles of 1919—forced punitive terms on Germany that destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for World War II.

Other Stories:​

American Revolution
- Poor leadership leads to Cherry Valley Massacre, 1778

Automotive
- The General Lee jumps into history, 1978

Civil War
- Confederate General Benjamin McCulloch is born, 1811

Cold War
- Soviet Union refuses to play Chile in World Cup Soccer, 1973

Crime
- Police make a grisly discovery in Dorothea Puente's lawn, 1988

Disaster
- Skiers die in cable-car fire, 2000

General Interest
- Nat Turner executed in Virginia, 1831
- George Patton born, 1885
- Dedication of the Tomb of the Unknowns, 1921

Hollywood
- Interview with the Vampire debuts, 1994

Literary
- Louisa May Alcott publishes her first story, 1852

Music
- Donna Summer earns her first #1 pop hit with "MacArthur Park", 1978

Old West
- Massive dust storm sweeps South Dakota, 1933

Presidential
- Franklin Pierce marries Jane Appleton, 1834- James Garfield marries Lucretia Rudolph, 1858

Sports
- Fernando Valenzuela wins Cy Young Award, 1981

Vietnam War
- Viet Cong release U.S. prisoners of war, 1967- Operation Commando Hunt commences, 1968
- Long Binh base turned over to South Vietnam, 1972

World War I
- World War I ends, 1918

World War II
- Draft age is lowered to 18, 1942
​

 

11/12/1954: Ellis Island Closes
​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ellis-island-closes

On this day in 1954, Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Today, an estimated 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor off the New Jersey coast and named for merchant Samuel Ellis, who owned the land in the 1770s.

On January 2, 1892, 15-year-old Annie Moore, from Ireland, became the first person to pass through the newly opened Ellis Island, which President Benjamin Harrison designated as America's first federal immigration center in 1890. Before that time, the processing of immigrants had been handled by individual states.

Not all immigrants who sailed into New York had to go through Ellis Island. First- and second-class passengers submitted to a brief shipboard inspection and then disembarked at the piers in New York or New Jersey, where they passed through customs. People in third class, though, were transported to Ellis Island, where they underwent medical and legal inspections to ensure they didn't have a contagious disease or some condition that would make them a burden to the government. Only two percent of all immigrants were denied entrance into the U.S.

Immigration to Ellis Island peaked between 1892 and 1924, during which time the 3.3-acre island was enlarged with landfill (by the 1930s it reached its current 27.5-acre size) and additional buildings were constructed to handle the massive influx of immigrants. During the busiest year of operation, 1907, over 1 million people were processed at Ellis Island.

With America's entrance into World War I, immigration declined and Ellis Island was used as a detention center for suspected enemies. Following the war, Congress passed quota laws and the Immigration Act of 1924, which sharply reduced the number of newcomers allowed into the country and also enabled immigrants to be processed at U.S. consulates abroad. After 1924, Ellis Island switched from a processing center to serving other purposes, such as a detention and deportation center for illegal immigrants, a hospital for wounded soldiers during World War II and a Coast Guard training center. In November 1954, the last detainee, a Norwegian merchant seaman, was released and Ellis Island officially closed.

Beginning in 1984, Ellis Island underwent a $160 million renovation, the largest historic restoration project in U.S. history. In September 1990, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened to the public and today is visited by almost 2 million people each year.

Other Stories
​

American Revolution
- Abigail Adams leads rhetorical charge against Britain, 1775

Automotive
- Goldenrod sets the land-speed record, 1965

Civil War
- The destruction of Atlanta begins, 1864

Cold War
- Yuri Andropov assumes power in the Soviet Union, 1982

Crime
- High school sweethearts murder their newborn child, 1996
- Scott Peterson convicted, 2004

Disaster
- Plane crashes in Rockaway, New York, 2001

General Interest
- First meteor shower on record, 1799
- Japanese war criminals sentenced, 1948
- Voyager I flies near Saturn, 1980
- Akihito enthroned as emperor of Japan, 1990

Hollywood
- William Holden, star of Sunset Boulevard and Network, dies, 1981

Literary
- DeWitt Wallace, founder of Reader's Digest, is born, 1889

Music
- Toby Keith has his third straight #1 country album with Shock'n Y'all, 2003

Old West
- U.S. reconsiders war with Plains Indians, 1867

Presidential
- Carter shuts down oil imports from Iran, 1979

Sports
- Pudge Heffelfinger becomes first pro football player, 1892

Vietnam War
- Seymour Hersh breaks My Lai story, 1969
- Nixon sets new deadline for next troop withdrawal, 1971

World War I
- Allied fleet enters Dardanelles, 1918

World War II
- Brits sink the battleship Tirpitz, 1944

11/13/1982: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Dedicated
​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/vietnam-veterans-memorial-dedicated

Near the end of a weeklong national salute to Americans who served in the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington after a march to its site by thousands of veterans of the conflict. The long-awaited memorial was a simple V-shaped black-granite wall inscribed with the names of the 57,939 Americans who died in the conflict, arranged in order of death, not rank, as was common in other memorials.

The designer of the memorial was Maya Lin, a Yale University architecture student who entered a nationwide competition to create a design for the monument. Lin, born in Ohio in 1959, was the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Many veterans' groups were opposed to Lin's winning design, which lacked a standard memorial's heroic statues and stirring words. However, a remarkable shift in public opinion occurred in the months after the memorial's dedication. Veterans and families of the dead walked the black reflective wall, seeking the names of their loved ones killed in the conflict. Once the name was located, visitors often made an etching or left a private offering, from notes and flowers to dog tags and cans of beer.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial soon became one of the most visited memorials in the nation's capital. A Smithsonian Institution director called it "a community of feelings, almost a sacred precinct," and a veteran declared that "it's the parade we never got." "The Wall" drew together both those who fought and those who marched against the war and served to promote national healing a decade after the divisive conflict's end.

Other Stories
​

American Revolution
- Patriots take Montreal, 1775

Automotive
- Karen Silkwood dies in mysterious one-car crash, 1974

Civil War
- Union General McClellan snubs President Lincoln, 1861

Cold War
- Indiana Textbook Commission member charges that Robin Hood is communistic, 1953

Crime
- Police search John Graham's home and find bomb-making materials, 1955

Disaster
- Tidal wave ravages East Pakistan, 1970

General Interest
- First presidential tour concludes, 1789
- East Pakistan devastated by cylcone, 1970
- The eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, 1985 Hollywood Whoopi Goldberg born, 1955

Literary
- Robert Louis Stevenson is born, 1850

Music
- "Chris Gaines," Garth Brooks' rock alter ego, performs on Saturday Night Live, 1999

Old West
- Ballinger-Pinchot scandal erupts, 1909

Presidential
- Truman announces inquiry into Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1945

Sports
- Darryl Dawkins breaks his first backboard, 1979

Vietnam War
- President receives optimistic reports, 1967
- "March Against Death" commences in Washington, D.C., 1969

World War I
- British statesman expresses criticism of war effort , 1916

World War II
- Congress revises the Neutrality Act, 1941

 

11/15/1867: First Stock Ticket Debuts
​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-stock-ticker-debuts

The ticker was the brainchild of Edward Calahan, who configured a telegraph machine to print stock quotes on streams of paper tape (the same paper tape later used in ticker-tape parades). The ticker, which caught on quickly with investors, got its name from the sound its type wheel made.

Calahan worked for the Gold & Stock Telegraph Company, which rented its tickers to brokerage houses and regional exchanges for a fee and then transmitted the latest gold and stock prices to all its machines at the same time. In 1869, Thomas Edison, a former telegraph operator, patented an improved, easier-to-use version of Calahan's ticker. Edison's ticker was his first lucrative invention and, through the manufacture and sale of stock tickers and other telegraphic devices, he made enough money to open his own lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he developed the light bulb and phonograph, among other transformative inventions.

The last mechanical stock ticker debuted in 1960 and was eventually replaced by computerized tickers with electronic displays. A ticker shows a stock's symbol, how many shares have traded that day and the price per share. It also tells how much the price has changed from the previous day's closing price and whether it's an up or down change. A common misconception is that there is one ticker used by everyone. In fact, private data companies run a variety of tickers; each provides information about a select mix of stocks.

Other Stories
​

American Revolution
- Articles of Confederation adopted, 1777

Automotive
- Craig Breedlove sets new land-speed record, 1965

Civil War
- Sherman's March to the Sea begins, 1864

Cold War
- Nikita Khrushchev challenges United States to a missile "shooting match", 1957

Crime
- Accused of rape, James Montgomery's struggle for justice begins, 1923

Disaster
- Plane crashes into Sri Lankan plantation, 1978

General Interest
- Brazil's last emperor deposed, 1889
- Erwin Rommel is born, 1891
- Baby Fae dies, 1984

Hollywood
- Elvis makes movie debut in Love Me Tender, 1956

Literary
- Final installment of A Tale of Two Cities is published, 1859

Music
Leonard Bernstein's Philharmonic debut makes front-page news, 1943

Old West
- Zebulon Pike spots an imposing mountain, 1806

Presidential
- President Carter hosts shah of Iran, 1977

Sports
- Craig Breedlove sets new land-speed record, 1965

Vietnam War
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs heckled at university, 1966
- Second moratorium against the war held, 1969

World War I
- Georges Clemenceau named French prime minister, 1917

World War II
- Himmler orders Gypsies to concentration camps, 1943

 

11/17/1558: Elizabethan Age Begins​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/elizabethan-age-begins

Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth.

The two half-sisters, both daughters of King Henry VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary's five-year reign. Mary, who was brought up as a Catholic, enacted pro-Catholic legislation and made efforts to restore the pope to supremacy in England. A Protestant rebellion ensued, and Queen Mary imprisoned Elizabeth, a Protestant, in the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity. After Mary's death, Elizabeth survived several Catholic plots against her; though her ascension was greeted with approval by most of England's lords, who were largely Protestant and hoped for greater religious tolerance under a Protestant queen. Under the early guidance of Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's pro-Catholic legislation, established a permanent Protestant Church of England, and encouraged the Calvinist reformers in Scotland.

In foreign affairs, Elizabeth practiced a policy of strengthening England's Protestant allies and dividing her foes. Elizabeth was opposed by the pope, who refused to recognize her legitimacy, and by Spain, a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power. In 1588, English-Spanish rivalry led to an abortive Spanish invasion of England in which the Spanish Armada, the greatest naval force in the world at the time, was destroyed by storms and a determined English navy.

With increasing English domination at sea, Elizabeth encouraged voyages of discovery, such as Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the world and Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the North American coast.

The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the "Virgin Queen" for her reluctance to endanger her authority through marriage, coincided with the flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with such renowned authors as William Shakespeare. By her death in 1603, England had become a major world power in every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England's greatest monarchs.

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American Revolution
- Articles of Confederation submitted to the states, 1777

Automotive
- "Day One" for DaimlerChrysler on NYSE, 1998

Civil War
- The Siege of Knoxville begins, 1863

Cold War
- SALT I negotiations begin, 1969

Crime
- A wealthy heiress is murdered by her son, 1972
- Washington, D.C., sniper John Muhammad convicted, 2003

Disaster
- Thousands die in massive flood, 1421

General Interest
- Verdi's first opera opens, 1839
- Suez Canal opens, 1869

Hollywood
- “The Terminator†becomes “The Governator†of California, 2003

Literary
- The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx, wins the National Book Award, 1993

Music
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Old West
- U.S. establishes Fort Buchanan, 1856

Presidential
- Nixon insists that he is not a crook, 1973

Sports
- The Heidi Bowl, 1968

Vietnam War
- 1st Cavalry unit ambushed in the Ia Drang Valley, 1965
- My Lai trial begins, 1970

World War I
- Germans make last stab at Ypres , 1914

World War II
- Monty is born, 1887

 

11/18/1991: Terry Waite Released​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/terry-waite-released

Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon free Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite after more than four years of captivity. Waite, looking thinner and his hair grayer, was freed along with American educator Thomas M. Sutherland after intense negotiations by the United Nations.

Waite, special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, had secured the release of missionaries detained in Iran after the Islamic revolution. He also extracted British hostages from Libya and even succeeded in releasing American hostages from Lebanon in 1986.

A total of 10 captives were released through Waite's efforts before Shiite Muslims seized him during a return mission to Beirut on January 20, 1987. He was held captive for more than four years before he was finally released.

During captivity, Waite said he was frequently blindfolded, beaten and subjected to mock executions. He spent much of the time chained to a radiator, suffered from asthma and was transported in a giant refrigerator as his captors moved him about.

Waite, 52, made an impromptu, chaotic appearance before reporters in Damascus after his release to Syrian officials. He said one of his captors expressed regret as he informed Waite he was about to be released.

"He also said to me: 'We apologize for having captured you. We recognize that now this was a wrong thing to do, that holding hostages achieves no useful, constructive purpose,'" Waite said.

The release of Waite and Sutherland left five Western hostages left in Beirut—three Americans, including Terry Anderson, and two Germans. The Americans would be released by December 1991, the Germans in June 1992.

Some 96 foreign hostages were taken and held during the Lebanon hostage crisis between 1982 and 1992. The victims were mostly from Western countries, and mostly journalists, diplomats or teachers. Twenty-five of them were Americans. At least 10 hostages died in captivity. Some were murdered and others died from lack of adequate medical attention to illnesses.

The hostages were originally taken to serve as insurance against retaliation against Hezbollah, which was thought to be responsible for the killing of over 300 Americans in the Marine barracks and embassy bombings in Beirut. It was widely believed that Iran and Syria also played a role in the kidnappings.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Fort Washington becomes Fort Knyphausen, 1776

Automotive
- Volkswagen's "Dream Factory" opens in Resende, Brazil, 1996

Civil War
- President Lincoln travels to Gettysburg, 1863

Cold War
- Congress issues final report on Iran-Contra scandal, 1987

Crime
- High-profile expert on exotic birds is sentenced for smuggling parrots, 1996

Disaster
- Commuters die in subway fire, 1987

General Interest
- Haig ends Battle of Somme, 1916
- Mass suicide at Jonestown, 1978

Hollywood
- Tom Cruise weds, again, 2006

Literary
- Alice McDermott wins the National Book Award, 1998

Music
- Billy Joel earns his first #1 album when 52nd Street tops the Billboard pop chart, 1978

Old West
- Railroads create the first time zones, 1883

Presidential
- Chester Arthur dies in New York, 1886

Sports
- Sandy Koufax retires, 1966

Vietnam War
- South Vietnamese conduct largest air assault to date, 1964
- South Vietnamese fight first major battle after U.S. troops are withdrawn, 1969
- Nixon appeals to Congress for funds for Cambodia, 1970

World War I
- Battle of the Somme ends , 1916

World War II
- Hitler furious over Italy's debacle in Greece, 1940

11/19/1863: Lincoln Delivers Gettysburg Address​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-delivers-gettysburg-address

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over the course of three days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war: General Robert E. Lee's defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of the Southern army's ultimate decline.

Charged by Pennsylvania's governor, Andrew Curtin, to care for the Gettysburg dead, an attorney named David Wills bought 17 acres of pasture to turn into a cemetery for the more than 7,500 who fell in battle. Wills invited Edward Everett, one of the most famous orators of the day, to deliver a speech at the cemetery's dedication. Almost as an afterthought, Wills also sent a letter to Lincoln—just two weeks before the ceremony—requesting "a few appropriate remarks" to consecrate the grounds.

At the dedication, the crowd listened for two hours to Everett before Lincoln spoke. Lincoln's address lasted just two or three minutes. The speech reflected his redefined belief that the Civil War was not just a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the war. This was his stirring conclusion: "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Reception of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was initially mixed, divided strictly along partisan lines. Nevertheless, the "little speech," as he later called it, is thought by many today to be the most eloquent articulation of the democratic vision ever written.

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American Revolution
- Congress pleads for soldiers, 1776

Automotive
- Chevy Cavalier heads to Japan, 1993

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- President Lincoln gives his Gettysburg Address, 1863

Cold War
- Reagan and Gorbachev hold their first summit meeting, 1985

Crime
- Patty Hearst out on bail, 1976

Disaster
- Thousands perish in St. Petersburg flood, 1824

General Interest
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- Pele scores 1,000th goal, 1969
- Sadat visits Israel, 1977

Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
- Chaplain Charles Watters receives Medal of Honor, 1967
- Cambodians appeal for help, 1971

World War I
- British pilot makes heroic rescue , 1915

World War II
- Hitler urges Spain to grab Gibraltar, 1940

 

11/20/1945: Nuremberg Trials Begin​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nuremberg-trials-begin

Twenty-four high-ranking Nazis go on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, for atrocities committed during World War II.

The Nuremberg Trials were conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war, to crimes against humanity. Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, the British member, presided over the proceedings, which lasted 10 months and consisted of 216 court sessions.

On October 1, 1946, 12 architects of Nazi policy were sentenced to death. Seven others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life, and three were acquitted. Of the original 24 defendants, one, Robert Ley, committed suicide while in prison, and another, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, was deemed mentally and physically incompetent to stand trial. Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, leader of the Gestapo and the Luftwaffe; Alfred Jodl, head of the German armed forces staff; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior.

On October 16, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged. Goering, who at sentencing was called the "leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews," committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia (but is now believed to have died in May 1945). Trials of lesser German and Axis war criminals continued in Germany into the 1950s and resulted in the conviction of 5,025 other defendants and the execution of 806.

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Civil War
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Crime
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
- Nuremberg war-crimes trials begin, 1945

11/21/1980: Millions Tune in to Find out Who Shot J.R.​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/millions-tune-in-to-find-out-who-shot-jr

On this day in 1980, 350 million people around the world tune in to television's popular primetime drama "Dallas" to find out who shot J.R. Ewing, the character fans loved to hate. J.R. had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous March 21, which now stands as one of television's most famous cliffhangers. The plot twist inspired widespread media coverage and left America wondering "Who shot J.R.?" for the next eight months. The November 21 episode solved the mystery, identifying Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s wife's sister and his former mistress, as the culprit.

The CBS television network debuted the first five-episode pilot season of "Dallas" in 1978; it went on to run for another 12 full-length seasons. The first show of its kind, "Dallas" was dubbed a "primetime soap opera" for its serial plots and dramatic tales of moral excess. The show revolved around the relations of two Texas oil families: the wealthy, successful Ewing family and the perpetually down-on-their-luck Barnes family. The families' patriarchs, Jock Ewing and Digger Barnes, were former partners locked in a years-long feud over oil fields Barnes claimed had been stolen by Ewing. Ewing's youngest son Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Barnes' daughter Pam (Victoria Principal) had married, linking the battling clans even more closely. The character of J.R. Ewing, Bobby's oldest brother and a greedy, conniving, womanizing scoundrel, was played by Larry Hagman.

As J.R. had many enemies, audiences were hard-pressed to guess who was responsible for his attempted murder. That summer, the question "Who Shot J.R.?" entered the national lexicon, becoming a popular t-shirt slogan, and heightening anticipation of the soap's third season, which was to air in the fall. After a much-talked-about contract dispute with Hagman was finally settled, the season was delayed because of a Screen Actors Guild strike, much to the dismay of "Dallas" fans. When it finally aired, the episode revealing J.R.'s shooter became one of television's most watched shows, with an audience of 83 million people in the U.S. alone—a full 76 percent of all U.S. televisions on that night were tuned in—and helped put "Dallas" into greater worldwide circulation. It also popularized the use of the cliffhanger by television writers.

The shooting of J.R. wasn't "Dallas'" only notorious plot twist. In September 1986, fans learned that the entire previous season, in which main character Bobby Ewing had died, was merely a dream of Pam's. The show's writers had killed the Bobby character off because Duffy had decided to leave the show. When he agreed to return, they featured him stepping out of the shower on the season-ending cliffhanger, and then were forced the next season to explain his sudden reappearance.

The last premiere episode of "Dallas" aired on May 3, 1991. A spin-off, "Knots Landing," aired from December 27, 1979 until May 13, 1993. "Dallas" remains in syndication around the world.

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Automotive
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Cold War
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Crime
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
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11/22/1963: John F. Kennedy Assassinated​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-f-kennedy-assassinated

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible.

First lady Jacqueline Kennedy rarely accompanied her husband on political outings, but she was beside him, along with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, for a 10-mile motorcade through the streets of downtown Dallas on November 22. Sitting in a Lincoln convertible, the Kennedys and Connallys waved at the large and enthusiastic crowds gathered along the parade route. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas' Parkland Hospital. He was 46.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m. He took the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One as it sat on the runway at Dallas Love Field airport. The swearing in was witnessed by some 30 people, including Jacqueline Kennedy, who was still wearing clothes stained with her husband's blood. Seven minutes later, the presidential jet took off for Washington.

The next day, November 23, President Johnson issued his first proclamation, declaring November 25 to be a day of national mourning for the slain president. On that Monday, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Washington to watch a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy's body from the Capitol Rotunda to St. Matthew's Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass. The solemn procession then continued on to Arlington National Cemetery, where leaders of 99 nations gathered for the state funeral. Kennedy was buried with full military honors on a slope below Arlington House, where an eternal flame was lit by his widow to forever mark the grave.

Lee Harvey Oswald, born in New Orleans in 1939, joined the U.S. Marines in 1956. He was discharged in 1959 and nine days later left for the Soviet Union, where he tried unsuccessfully to become a citizen. He worked in Minsk and married a Soviet woman and in 1962 was allowed to return to the United States with his wife and infant daughter. In early 1963, he bought a .38 revolver and rifle with a telescopic sight by mail order, and on April 10 in Dallas he allegedly shot at and missed former U.S. Army general Edwin Walker, a figure known for his extreme right-wing views. Later that month, Oswald went to New Orleans and founded a branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a pro-Castro organization. In September 1963, he went to Mexico City, where investigators allege that he attempted to secure a visa to travel to Cuba or return to the USSR. In October, he returned to Dallas and took a job at the Texas School Book Depository Building.

Less than an hour after Kennedy was shot, Oswald killed a policeman who questioned him on the street near his rooming house in Dallas. Thirty minutes later, Oswald was arrested in a movie theater by police responding to reports of a suspect. He was formally arraigned on November 23 for the murders of President Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippit.

On November 24, Oswald was brought to the basement of the Dallas police headquarters on his way to a more secure county jail. A crowd of police and press with live television cameras rolling gathered to witness his departure. As Oswald came into the room, Jack Ruby emerged from the crowd and fatally wounded him with a single shot from a concealed .38 revolver. Ruby, who was immediately detained, claimed that rage at Kennedy's murder was the motive for his action. Some called him a hero, but he was nonetheless charged with first-degree murder.

Jack Ruby, originally known as Jacob Rubenstein, operated strip joints and dance halls in Dallas and had minor connections to organized crime. He features prominently in Kennedy-assassination theories, and many believe he killed Oswald to keep him from revealing a larger conspiracy. In his trial, Ruby denied the allegation and pleaded innocent on the grounds that his great grief over Kennedy's murder had caused him to suffer "psychomotor epilepsy" and shoot Oswald unconsciously. The jury found Ruby guilty of "murder with malice" and sentenced him to die.

In October 1966, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed the decision on the grounds of improper admission of testimony and the fact that Ruby could not have received a fair trial in Dallas at the time. In January 1967, while awaiting a new trial, to be held in Wichita Falls, Ruby died of lung cancer in a Dallas hospital.

The official Warren Commission report of 1964 concluded that neither Oswald nor Ruby were part of a larger conspiracy, either domestic or international, to assassinate President Kennedy. Despite its seemingly firm conclusions, the report failed to silence conspiracy theories surrounding the event, and in 1978 the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in a preliminary report that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" that may have involved multiple shooters and organized crime. The committee's findings, as with those of the Warren Commission, continue to be widely disputed.

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American Revolution
- John Hanson, so-called first president, dies, 1783

Automotive
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Civil War
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Cold War
- Kennedy assassinated, 1963

Crime
- President Kennedy is assassinated, 1963

Disaster
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General Interest
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- Stealth bomber unveiled, 1988
- Margaret Thatcher resigns, 1990

Hollywood
- Die Another Day released 40 years after first Bond film, 2002

Literary
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Music
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Old West
- Jack London dies of kidney disease, 1916

Presidential
- Kennedy becomes fourth president to be assassinated, 1963

Sports
- Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champ in history, 1986

Vietnam War
- JFK assassinated in Dallas, 1963
- Westmoreland claims U.S. victory at Dak To, 1967
- First B-52 shot down over North Vietnam, 1972

World War I
- Fighting suspended in Ypres Salient, 1914

World War II
- Soviets encircle Germans at Stalingrad, 1942

 

On this day of 11-23-11, The first all-women expedition to the South Pole sets off from Antartica. (1990)