TODAY IN HISTORY

On Nov. 18, 1936, Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

In 1966, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating

meat on Fridays outside of Lent.

In 1976, Spain’s parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy.

In 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and

suicide resulting in the deaths of more than 900 cult members.

In 1985, the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” created by Bill Watterson, was first published.

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry.