Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 21, the 326th day of 2020. There are 40 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 21, 1980, 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On this date:

In 1920, the Irish Republican Army killed 12 British intelligence officers and two auxiliary policemen in the Dublin area; British forces responded by raiding a soccer match, killing 14 civilians.

In 1922, Rebecca L. Felton, a Georgia Democrat, was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate; her term, the result of an interim appointment, ended the following day as Walter F. George, the winner of a special election, took office.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Air Quality Act.

In 1969, the Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, 55-45, the first such rejection since 1930.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt (buh-ZAHRDT'), revealed the existence of an 18-1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1979, a mob attacked the U-S Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing two Americans.

In 1985, U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested accused of spying for Israel. (Pollard later pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to life in prison; he was released on parole on Nov. 20, 2015.)

In 1995, Balkan leaders meeting in Dayton, Ohio, initialed a peace plan to end three and a-half years of ethnic fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BAHZ'-nee-ah HEHR'-tsuh-goh-vee-nah).

In 2001, Ottilie (AH'-tih-lee) Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax; she was the apparent last victim of a series of anthrax attacks carried out through the mail system.

In 2018, President Donald Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts publicly clashed over the independence of America's judiciary, with Roberts rebuking the president for denouncing a judge hearing a migrant asylum challenge as an "Obama judge."

Ten years ago: Debt-struck Ireland formally applied for a massive EU-IMF loan to stem the flight of capital from its banks, joining Greece in a step unthinkable only a few years earlier when Ireland was a booming Celtic Tiger and the economic envy of Europe. Justin Bieber received four American Music Awards, becoming at age 16 the youngest performer to win artist of the year.

Five years ago: Belgian authorities closed down Brussels' subway system and flooded the streets with armed police and soldiers in response to what they said was a threat of Paris-style attacks. Louisiana Democrats reclaimed the governor's mansion for the first time in eight years as John Bel Edwards defeated Republican David Vitter in a runoff election.