Today in History
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was shot to death during a motorcade in Dallas; Texas Gov. John B. Connally, riding in the same car as Kennedy, was seriously wounded; suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.
On this date:
In 1935, a flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, California, carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kaishek (chang ky-shehk) met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan. Lyricist Lorenz Hart died in New York at age 48.
In 1961, Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds was named Most Valuable Player of the National League.
In 1965, the musical “Man of La Mancha” opened on Broadway.
In 1967, the U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it had captured the previous June, and implicitly called on adversaries to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
In 1977, regular passenger service between New York and Europe on the supersonic Concorde began on a trial basis.
In 1980, death claimed film star Mae West at her Hollywood residence at age 87 and former House Speaker John W. McCormack in Dedham, Mass. at age 88.
In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election of the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced she would resign.
In 1995, acting swiftly to boost the Balkan peace accord, the U-N Security Council suspended economic sanctions against Serbia and eased the arms embargo against the states of the former Yugoslavia.
In 2003, thousands of mourners gathered in downtown Dallas along the street where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 40 years earlier.
In 2005, Angela Merkel (AHN’-geh-lah MEHR’kuhl) took power as Germany’s first female chancellor. Ted Koppel hosted his final edition of ABC News’ “Nightline.”
In 2014, A 12-year-old Black boy, Tamir (tuhMEER’) Rice, was shot and mortally wounded by police outside a Cleveland recreation center after brandishing what turned out to be a pellet gun. (A grand jury declined to indict either the patrolman who fired the fatal shot or a training officer.)
Ten years ago: Thousands of people stampeded during a festival in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, leaving some 350 dead and hundreds injured in what the prime minister called the country’s biggest tragedy since the 1970s reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge. Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto was overwhelmingly elected the National League’s Most Valuable Player.
Five years ago: Trying to reassure a nation on edge, President Barack Obama said in Malaysia that the Islamic State group “cannot strike a mortal blow” against the U.S., and he warned that overreacting to the Paris attacks would play into extremists’ hands. Opposition candidate Mauricio Macri won Argentina’s presidential election, marking an end to the left-leaning era of President Cristina Fernandez. Former South Korean President Kim Young-sam, 87, who led the country’s transition to democracy, died in Seoul. Novak Djokovic won his fourth straight title at the season-ending ATP finals by beating six-time champion Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4. Kyle Busch won his first career Sprint Cup title claiming the season finale at HomesteadMiami Speedway. One Direction won artist of the year at the American Music Awards.