Today is Friday, Nov. 25, the 329th day of 2011. There are 36 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On Nov. 25, 1986, the Iran-contra affair erupted as President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels.
On this date:
In 1783, the British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States during the Revolutionary War.
In 1881, Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli at Sotto il Monte, Italy.
In 1908, the first issue of The Christian Science Monitor was published.
In 1940, the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker made his debut in the animated short, “Knock Knock.”
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a slight stroke.
In 1961, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was commissioned.
In 1963, the body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery; his widow, Jacqueline, lighted an “eternal flame” at the gravesite.
In 1973, Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted in a bloodless military coup.
In 1999, 5-year-old Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida, setting off an international custody battle.
In 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head.
Ten years ago: As the war in Afghanistan entered its eighth week, CIA officer Johnny “Mike” Spann was killed during a prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif, becoming America’s first combat casualty of the conflict. Scientists in Worcester, Mass., claimed to have created the first early human embryo clones, none of which survived.
Five years ago: A police shooting outside a strip club in Queens, N.Y., resulted in the death of Sean Bell hours before his wedding. (Two officers were later indicted for manslaughter while a third faced lesser charges; all three were acquitted at trial.) Israel and the Palestinians agreed to a cease-fire to end a five-month Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants into the Jewish state.
One year ago: Incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki cemented his grip on power, bringing an end to nearly nine months of political deadlock after he was asked to form the next government. South Korea’s defense minister, Kim Tae-young, resigned amid intense criticism two days after a North Korean artillery attack killed four people on a small island near the Koreas’ disputed frontier.
Associated Press
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