Today in History: November 1, Thomas joins Supreme Court

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 2022. There are 60 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 1, 1991, Clarence Thomas took his place as the newest justice on the Supreme Court.

On this date:

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 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament, went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.

In 1861, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln named Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan General-in-Chief of the Union armies, succeeding Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott.

In 1870, the United States 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 Harry S. 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,” at Enewetak (en-ih-WEE’-tahk) Atoll 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 1995, Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present.

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.

Ten years ago: Israel, lifting a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy, acknowledged it had killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s deputy in a 1988 raid in Tunisia. (Khalil al-Wazir, who was better known by his nom de guerre Abu Jihad, founded Fatah, the dominant faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization.)

Five years ago: Federal prosecutors brought terrorism charges against the man accused in the Manhattan truck rampage a day earlier that left eight people dead; prosecutors said Sayfullo Saipov had asked to display the Islamic State group’s flag in the hospital room where he was recovering from police gunfire. President Donald Trump tweeted that the suspect in the truck attack should get the death penalty. Prompting celebrations in a city still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, the Houston Astros won their first World Series championship, beating the Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7 in Los Angeles.

One year ago: The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 5 million, as tallied by Johns Hopkins University. About 9,000 New York City municipal workers were put on unpaid leave for refusing to comply with a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and thousands of city firefighters called out sick in an apparent protest over the requirement. Real estate scion Robert Durst was indicted on a murder charge in the disappearance of his first wife nearly four decades earlier; he was already serving a life sentence for killing a confidante who helped cover up that slaying. (Durst died in January 2022.) At a U.N. summit in Scotland, President Joe Biden apologized for former President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the Paris climate change agreement, and for the role that the U.S. and other wealthy countries played in contributing to climate change.

Today’s Birthdays: World Golf Hall of Famer Gary Player is 87. Country singer Bill Anderson is 85. Actor Barbara Bosson is 83. Actor Robert Foxworth is 81. Country singer-humorist Kinky Friedman is 78. Actor Jeannie Berlin is 73. Music producer David Foster is 73. Actor Belita Moreno is 73. Country singer-songwriter-producer Keith Stegall is 68. Country singer Lyle Lovett is 65. Actor Rachel Ticotin is 64. Apple CEO Tim Cook is 62. Actor Helene Udy is 61. Pop singer-musician Mags Furuholmen (a-ha) 60. Rock singer Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 60. Rock musician Rick Allen (Def Leppard) is 59. Country singer “Big Kenny” Alphin (Big and Rich) is 59. Singer Sophie B. Hawkins is 58. Rapper Willie D (Geto Boys) is 56. Country musician Dale Wallace (Emerson Drive) is 53. Actor Toni Collette is 50. Actor-talk show host Jenny McCarthy is 50. Actor David Berman is 49. Actor Aishwarya Rai (ash-WAHR’-ee-ah reye) is 49. Rock singer Bo Bice is 47. Actor Matt Jones is 41. Actor Natalia Tena is 38. Actor Penn Badgley is 36. Actor Max Burkholder is 25. Actor-musician Alex Wolff is 25.

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