TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, NOV. 9, the 313th day of 2019. There are 52 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN 1620, the passengers and crew of the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod.
In 1872, fire destroyed nearly 800 buildings in Boston.
In 1938, Nazis looted and burned synagogues, as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses, in Germany and Austria in a pogrom or deliberate persecution that became known as “Kristallnacht.”
In 1961, U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert M. White became the first pilot to fly an X-15 rocket plane at six times the speed of sound.
In 1965, the great Northeast blackout began as a series of power failures lasting up to 13½ hours, leaving 30 million people in seven states and part of Canada without electricity.
In 1989, communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West; joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.
In 1999, with fireworks, concerts and a huge party at the landmark Brandenburg Gate, Germany celebrated the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In 2000, George W. Bush’s lead over Al Gore in all-or-nothing Florida slipped beneath 300 votes in a recount, as Democrats threw the presidential election to the courts, claiming “an injustice unparalleled in our history.”
In 2005, three suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 victims and wounding hundreds.
In 2007, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for a day, and rounded up thousands of her supporters to block a mass rally against his emergency rule.
In 2011, after 46 seasons as Penn State’s head football coach and a record 409 victories, Joe Paterno was fired, along with the university president, Graham Spanier, over their handling of child sex abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Baseball Hallof-Famer Whitey Herzog is 88. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bob Gibson is 84. Actor Charlie Robinson is 74. Movie director Bille August and actor Robert David Hall are 71. Actor Lou Ferrigno is 68. Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin is 60. Rock musician Dee Plakas (L7) is 59. Actress Ion Overman is 50. Blues singer Susan Tedeschi is 49. Actor Jason Antoon is 48. Actor Eric Dane is 47. Singer Nick Lachey (98 Degrees) is 46. Country musician Barry Knox (Parmalee) is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sisqo (Dru Hill) is 41. Country singer Corey Smith is 40. Country singer Chris Lane is 35. Actress Emily Tyra is 32. Actress Nikki Blonsky and actress-model Analeigh Tipton are 31.