Today’s highlight in history
On Nov. 1, 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.
On this date In 1478,
the Spanish Inquisition was established.
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 generalin-chief of the Union armies, succeeding Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott.
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 1952,
the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed “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.
Ten years ago:
Less than a week after workers ratified a new contract, Chrysler announced 12,000 job cuts, or about 15% of its work force.
Five years ago:
Israel, lifting a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy, acknowledged it had killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s deputy, Khalil al-Wazir, in a 1988 raid in Tunisia.
One year ago:
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fired the commander of the peacekeeping force in South Sudan after an independent investigation criticized the military response to deadly attacks in July on a U.N. compound housing 27,000 displaced people.