history at a glance

TODAY is Tuesday, November 21, the 325th day of 2017. There are 40 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:

1962 – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army declares a unilateral ceasefire in the Sino-Indian War.

1970 – Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast: A joint United States Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tây prisoner-of-war camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.

1971 – Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.

1972 – Voters in South Korea overwhelmingly approve a new constitution, giving legitimacy to Park Chung-hee and the Fourth Republic.

1980 – A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally’s Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.

1985 – United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

1986 – Iran–Contra affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

1995 – The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement is formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.

1996 – Humberto Vidal explosion: Thirty-three people die when a Humberto Vidal shoe shop explodes.

2004 – The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island sustains the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed. 2004 – The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100

billion) of Iraq’s external debt. 2006 – Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel

is assassinated in suburban Beirut. 2009 – A mine explosion in Heilongjiang province,

northeastern China, kills 108. 2012 – At least 28 are wounded after a bomb is thrown onto a

bus in Tel Aviv.