Today in History

Today in History Today is Monday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 2021. There are 60 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 1, 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament, went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists. On this date: In 1478, the Spanish Inquisition was established. 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 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an ‘œaxis’� running between Rome and Berlin. In 1949, an Eastern Airlines DC-4 collided in midair with a Lockheed P-38 fighter plane near Washington National Airport, killing all 55 people aboard the DC-4 and seriously injuring the pilot of the P-38. 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 ‘œIvy Mike,’� at Enewetak (en-ih-WEE’-tahk) Atoll in the Marshall Islands. In 1973, following the ‘œSaturday Night Massacre,’� Acting Attorney General Robert H. Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor, succeeding Archibald Cox. 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, Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present. In 2003, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean stirred controversy within his party by telling the Des Moines (duh-MOYN’) Register he wanted to be ‘œthe candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.’� (The former Vermont governor explained that he intended to encourage the return of Southern voters who had abandoned the Democrats for decades but were disaffected with the Republicans.) In 2015, the Kansas City Royals won their first World Series crown since 1985, beating the New York Mets 7-2 in Game 5, which lasted 12 innings, ending after midnight. Ten years ago: Europe’s days-old plan to solve its crippling debt crisis and restore faith in the global economy was thrown into chaos by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s stunning decision to call a referendum on the country’s latest rescue package. (Papandreou dropped the referendum plan two days later.) Dorothy Rodham, 92, mother of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton’s mother-in-law, died in Washington. Five years ago: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fired the commander of the peacekeeping force in South Sudan after an independent investigation sharply criticized the military response to deadly attacks in July on a U.N. compound housing 27,000 displaced people. Most of an African-American church in Greenville, Mississippi, was destroyed by an arson fire; the building was spray-painted with the words ‘œVote Trump.’� (A member of the church later pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.) The Chicago Cubs forced a deciding Game 7 in the World Series as they defeated the Cleveland Indians 9-3. One year ago: Two days before Election Day, the Texas Supreme Court denied a Republican-led petition to toss nearly 127,000 ballots cast at drive-thru voting places in the Houston area. (A federal judge also rejected that effort the following day.)