This day in history

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 2023. There are 60 days left in the year.

Birthdays: Golf Hall of Famer Gary Player is 88. Country singer Bill Anderson is 86. Actor Robert Foxworth is 82. Country singerhumorist Kinky Friedman is 79. Actor Jeannie Berlin is 74. Music producer David Foster is 74. Country singer Lyle Lovett is 66. Apple CEO Tim Cook is 63. Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis is 61. Rock musician Rick Allen (Def Leppard) is 60. Singer Sophie B. Hawkins is 59. Rapper Willie D of Geto Boys is 57. Actor Toni Collette is 51. Talk show host Jenny McCarthy is 51. Actor Natalia Tena is 39. Actor Actor-musician Alex Wolff is 26.

▶ In 1478, the Spanish Inquisition was established.

▶ In 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.

▶ In 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello” was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London.

▶ In 1623, fire in Plymouth destroyed several buildings, prompting several pilgrims to eventually return to England.

▶ In 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament, went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists, particularly in Boston.

▶ In 1861, during the Civil War, President Lincoln named Major General George B. McClellan general-in-chief of the Union armies, succeeding Lieutenant General Winfield Scott.

▶ In 1870, the US Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.

▶ In 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an “axis” running between Rome and Berlin.

▶ 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 Truman. (One of the pair was killed, along with a White House police officer.)

▶ In 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, code-named “Ivy Mike,” 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.

▶ In 1995, peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia.

▶ In 2007, less than a week after workers ratified a new contract, Chrysler announced 12,000 job cuts, or about 15 percent of its work force.

▶ In 2021, the global death toll from COVID-19 topped 5 million, as tallied by Johns Hopkins University.

▶ Last year, Israeli voters gave former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies a victory with a majority in the country’s parliament.