TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2017

On this day in history:

1718 - English pirate Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him. He was shot and stabbed more than 25 times.

1906 - The International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin adopted the SOS distress signal.

1942 - During World War II, the Battle of Stalingrad began. 1952 - Lang Hancock claims to have discovered the iron ore deposits which change Australia from being an importer of iron ore to an exporter.

1956 - The opening ceremony for the Melbourne Olympics is held.

1963 - US President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Texas Governor John B. Connally was also seriously wounded. Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was inaugurated as the 36th US President.

1974 - The UN General Assembly gave the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.

1975 - Juan Carlos I was proclaimed King of Spain upon the death of Gen Francisco Franco.

1986 - An Iranian surface-to-surface missile hit a residential area in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, wounding 20 civilians.

1986 - Mike Tyson became the youngest to wear the world heavyweight-boxing crown. 1988 - The South African government announced it had joined Cuba and Angola in endorsing a plan to remove Cuban troops from Angola. 1989 - Rene Moawad, the president of Lebanon, was assassinated less than three weeks after taking office by a bomb that exploded next to his motorcade in West Beirut. 1990 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced she would resign.

1993 - Mexico’s Senate overwhelmingly approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

1994 - In northwest Bosnia, Serb fighters set villages on fire in response to a retaliatory air strikes by NATO.

2005 - Angela Merkel was elected as Germany’s first female chancellor.