Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, Nov. 9, the 314th day of 2020. There are 52 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 9, 1989, communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West; joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.

On this date:

In 1620, the passengers and crew of the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod.

In 1938, Nazis looted and burned synagogues as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria in a pogrom or deliberate persecution that became known as "Kristallnacht."

In 1965, the great Northeast blackout began as a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours, leaving 30 million people in seven states and part of Canada without electricity.

In 1967, a Saturn V rocket carrying an unmanned Apollo spacecraft blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a successful test flight.

In 1976, the U.N. General Assembly approved resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one characterizing the white-ruled government as "illegitimate."

In 2000, George W. Bush's lead over Al Gore in all-or-nothing Florida slipped beneath 300 votes in a suspense-filled recount, as Democrats threw the presidential election to the courts, claiming "an injustice unparalleled in our history."

In 2005, three suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 victims and wounding hundreds.

In 2011, after 46 seasons as Penn State's head football coach and a record 409 victories, Joe Paterno was fired along with the university president, Graham Spanier, over their handling of child sex abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

In 2012, retired four-star Army Gen. David Petraeus abruptly resigned as CIA director after an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was revealed by an FBI investigation.

In 2018, President Donald Trump issued an order to deny asylum to migrants who enter the country illegally; the measure would be blocked by court challenges.

Ten years ago: Continuing his Asia tour, President Barack Obama flew from India to Indonesia, his home for four years of his youth. Former President George W. Bush officially kicked off the release of his memoir, "Decision Points," with a book-signing in Dallas. A special prosecutor cleared the CIA's former top clandestine officer and others of any charges for destroying agency videotapes showing waterboarding of terror suspects, but continued an investigation into whether the harsh questioning went beyond legal boundaries. Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki won his 10th straight Gold Glove, tying the AL record for Gold Gloves by an outfielder shared by Ken Griffey Jr. and Al Kaline.

Five years ago: Minimizing sharp differences, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed their commitment to seeking elusive Middle East peace during a White House meeting. The president of the University of Missouri system and the head of its flagship campus resigned with the football team and others on campus in open revolt over what they saw as indifference to racial tensions at the school. President Obama launched his own personal Facebook page. Andy White, 85, a top session drummer in England during the 1960s who stepped in for newcomer Ringo Starr as the Beatles recorded their debut single "Love Me Do," died in Caldwell, New Jersey.