TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, NOV. 1, the 306th day of 2020. There are 60 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington, D.C., in a failed attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. (One of the pair was killed, along with a White House police officer.)
In 1478, the Spanish Inquisition was established.
In 1512, Michelangelo’s just-completed paintings on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel were publicly unveiled by the artist’s patron, Pope Julius II.
In 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament, went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.
In 1861, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln named Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan General-in-Chief of the Union armies, succeeding Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott.
In 1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
In 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an “axis” running between Rome and Berlin.
In 1945, Ebony, a magazine geared toward Black readers, was first published.
In 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, code-named “Ivy Mike,” at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
In 1989, East Germany reopened its border with Czechoslovakia, prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the West.
In 1991, Clarence Thomas took his place as the newest justice on the Supreme Court.
In 2003, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean stirred controversy within his party by telling the Des Moines Register he wanted to be “the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.” (The former Vermont governor explained that he intended to encourage the return of Southern voters who had abandoned the Democrats for decades, but were disaffected with the Republicans.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: World Golf Hall-of-Famer Gary Player is 85. Country singer Bill Anderson is 83. Actor Barbara Bosson is 81. Actor Robert Foxworth is
79. Magazine publisher Larry Flynt is 78. Country singer-humorist Kinky Friedman is 76. Country singer-songwriterproducer Keith Stegall is 66. Country singer Lyle Lovett is 63. Actor Rachel Ticotin is 62. Rock musician Eddie MacDonald (Smalltown Glory, The Alarm) is 61. Apple CEO Tim Cook is 60. Actor Helene Udy is 59. Pop singer-musician Mags Furuholmen (a-ha) and rock singer Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) are 58. Rock musician Rick Allen (Def Leppard) and country singer “Big Kenny” Alphin (Big and Rich) are 57. Singer Sophie B. Hawkins is 56. Rapper Willie D (Geto Boys) is 54. Actor Toni Collette, rock musician Andrew Gonzales and actor-talk show host Jenny McCarthy are
48. Actors David Berman and Aishwarya Rai are 47. Actor Natalia Tena is 36. Actor Penn Badgley is 34. Actor Max Burkholder and actor-musician Alex Wolff are 23.