Today in History
Today in History
Today is Friday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2021. There are 42 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 19, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon. On this date:
In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay’s Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles (vehrSY’) by a vote of 55 in favor, 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.
In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.
In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.
In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.
In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.
In 1995, Polish President Lech Walesa (vah-wen’-sah) was defeated in his bid for re-election.
In 1997, Iowa seamstress Bobbi Mccaughey (mihk-koy’) gave birth to the world’s first set of surviving septuplets, four boys and three girls.
In 2004, in one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers charged into the stands and fought with Detroit Pistons fans, forcing officials to end the Pacers’ 97-82 win with 45.9 seconds left.
In 2010, President Barack Obama, attending a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, won an agreement to build a missile shield over Europe, a victory that risked further aggravating Russia.
In 2017, Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader behind the gruesome murders of actor Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles in 1969, died in a California hospital at the age of 83 after nearly a half-century in prison.
Ten years ago: Moammar Gadhafi’s son and former heir apparent Seif al-islam was captured by revolutionary fighters in the southern desert just over a month after Gadhafi was killed, setting off joyous celebrations across Libya. (He was released from detention in 2017 and has announced his candidacy for Libya’s presidential election in December 2021.)
Five years ago: President-election Donald Trump met with 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney in Bedminster, New Jersey; both were positive about their sit-down, a marked shift in tone after a year in which Romney attacked Trump as a “con man” and Trump labeled Romney a “loser.” The International Space Station gained three new residents, including NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who at 56 was the oldest and most experienced woman to orbit the world.
One year ago: Georgia’s top elections official released results of a hand tally of ballots that affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow lead over President Donald Trump in the state. The Wisconsin Elections Commission issued an order to recount more than 800,000 ballots cast in two heavily liberal counties; the order was required by law after Trump paid $3 million for the recount. (The recount added slightly to Biden’s 20,600-vote margin in Wisconsin.) California imposed a nighttime curfew as its coronavirus figures soared; sheriffs in some counties said they wouldn’t enforce it. With the coronavirus surging out of control, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pleaded with Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving and not to spend the holiday with people from outside their household. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first top American diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.