Today in History
Today is Friday, Nov. 13, the 318th day of 2020. There are 48 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
On this date:
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, Jean-Baptiste Leroy: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
In 1927, the Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between lower Manhattan and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure lowering the minimum draft age from 21 to 18.
In 1956, the Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.
In 1969, speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accused network television news departments of bias and distortion, and urged viewers to lodge complaints.
In 1971, the U.S. space probe Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars.
In 1974, Karen Silkwood, 28-year-old technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter.
In 1985, some 23,000 residents of Armero, Colombia, died when a volcanic mudslide buried the city.
In 2000, lawyers for George W. Bush failed to win a court order barring manual recounts of ballots in Florida. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced she would end the recounting at 5 p.m. Eastern time the next day -- prompting an immediate appeal by lawyers for Al Gore.
In 2001, President George W. Bush approved the use of a special military tribunal that could put accused terrorists on trial faster and in greater secrecy than an ordinary criminal court. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the White House, where they pledged to slash Cold War-era nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.
In 2014, Clayton Kershaw became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP award since Bob Gibson in 1968; Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout was a unanimous pick for the AL MVP.
In 2016, President-elect Donald Trump named Republican Party chief Reince Priebus (ryns PREE’bus) as White House chief of staff and conservative media executive Stephen
Bannon as his top presidential strategist.
Ten years ago: Prodemocracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi (soo chee) walked free in Myanmar after more than seven years under house arrest. Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel officially announced his ultimately successful candidacy for mayor of Chicago.
Five years ago: Islamic State militants carried out a set of coordinated attacks in Paris on the national stadium, restaurants and streets, and a crowded concert hall, killing 130 people in the worst attack on French soil since World War II.
One year ago: The House Intelligence Committee opened two weeks of public impeachment hearings with a dozen current and former career foreign service officials and political appointees scheduled to testify about efforts by President Donald Trump and others to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals. The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor, offered new evidence that Trump was overheard asking about political “investigations” that he later demanded from Ukraine in exchange for military aid. Justin Verlander won a second American League Cy Young Award, beating fellow Houston Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole; New York Mets ace Jacob DeGrom won the National League prize for the second straight year.