On This Day: Nuremberg Trials Begin
On Nov. 20, 1945, the International Military Tribunal began proceedings against 22 high-ranking Nazis indicted for war crimes; the Nuremberg Trials set a precedent in international human rights law.
View ArticleOn This Day: Verrazano Narrows Bridge Opened
On Nov. 21, 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn opened, surpassing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge as the world’s largest suspension bridge.
View ArticleOn This Day: Piltdown Man, Supposed “Missing Link,” Exposed as Hoax
On Nov. 21, 1953, British scientists revealed that the fragments from the skull of the Piltdown man, discovered in 1912, were taken from human and orangutan skulls and doctored to look like an early...
View ArticleOn This Day: President Kennedy Assassinated
On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas.
View ArticleOn This Day: Long Island Rail Road Trains Collide, Killing 79
On Nov. 22, 1950, a two-train pileup on the Long Island Rail Road killed 79 and injured hundreds more.
View ArticleUnited States Wins Battle of Tarawa Against Japan
On Nov. 23, 1943, U.S. forces captured the Tarawa atoll from Japan, its first victory in the island-hopping campaign toward Japan.
View ArticleOn This Day: Reagan Endorses CIA Support of Nicaraguan Contras
On Nov. 23, 1981, President Ronald Reagan provided the Central Intelligence Agency with $19 million in military aid to support guerrilla groups fighting Nicaragua’s Sandinista government; the decision...
View ArticleOn This Day: D.B. Cooper Hijacks Plane
On Nov. 24, 1971, a man hijacked a Boeing 727 and, after receiving a $200,000 ransom, parachuted out over Washington state. The identity and the whereabouts of the man, who became known as D.B. Cooper,...
View ArticleOn This Day: “Hollywood Ten” Blacklisted by Movie Studios
On Nov. 25, 1947, studio executives released a statement declaring that they would not employ 10 prominent writers and directors who had been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to confirm or...
View ArticleOn This Day: King Tut’s Tomb Discovered
On Nov. 26, 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter made a small hole in a sealed doorway and, holding up a candle, shed light onto King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Luxor, Egypt, for the first time in more...
View ArticleOn This Day: New York’s Penn Station Opens
On Nov. 27, 1910, Pennsylvania Station opened in New York City, with trains entering Manhattan for the first time by way of tunnels under the Hudson River.
View ArticleOn This Day: Gay Activist Harvey Milk Murdered
On Nov. 27, 1978, openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk was murdered, along with Mayor George Moscone, by former Supervisor Dan White.
View ArticleOn This Day: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin Meet at Tehran Conference
On Nov. 28, 1943, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin met in Tehran, Iran, to discuss Allied strategy during World War II as well as post-war matters.
View ArticleOn This Day: Margaret Thatcher Steps Down as Britain’s Prime Minister
On Nov. 28, 1990, after more than 11 years as the nation’s first female premier, Margaret Thatcher resigned. Although credited with reducing inflation and victory in the Falklands War, she was and...
View ArticleOn This Day: Antarctic Treaty Sets Aside Antarctica as Scientific Preserve
On Dec. 1, 1959, representatives of 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, signed a treaty in Washington setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military...
View ArticleOn This Day: Eurotunnel Connects Britain and France
On Dec. 1, 1990, British and French construction workers joined the two halves of the Eurotunnel, physically linking Britain and France for the first time since the end of the ice age.
View ArticleOn This Day: President Coolidge Delivers First Presidential Address Broadcast...
On Dec. 6, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge’s State of the Union address became the first presidential address to be broadcast on radio.
View ArticleOn This Day: Thomas Edison Successfully Tests Phonograph
On Dec. 6, 1877, Thomas Alva Edison made the first recording in his tinfoil cylinder phonograph, the invention that made him famous.
View ArticleOn This Day: Charles and Diana Announce Separation
On Dec. 9, 1992, Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana revealed that they were separating after 11 years of marriage.
View ArticleOn This Day: Lech Walesa Becomes Poland’s First Popularly Elected Leader
On Dec. 9, 1990, Lech Walesa, the founder of the Solidarity trade union and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, won Poland's presidential election.
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