Today in History: November 21, deadly Las Vegas hotel fire
Nov 20, 2022, 10:00 PM | Updated: 10:30 pm
Today in History
Today is Monday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2022. 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 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
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 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, 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 1980, an estimated 83 million TV viewers tuned in to the CBS prime-time soap opera “Dallas” to find out “who shot J.R.” (The shooter turned out to be J.R. Ewing’s sister-in-law, Kristin Shepard.)
In 1985, U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested and 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, and moved to Israel five years later.)
In 1990, junk-bond financier Michael R. Milken, who had pleaded guilty to six felony counts, was sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 10 years in prison. (Milken served two.)
In 1995, Balkan leaders meeting in Dayton, Ohio, initialed a peace plan to end 3 1/2 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, Connecticut, died of inhalation anthrax; she was the apparent last victim of a series of anthrax attacks carried out through the mail system.
In 2020, a federal judge in Pennsylvania tossed out a Trump campaign lawsuit seeking to prevent certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the state; in a scathing order, the judge said Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani presented only “speculative accusations.” The Trump campaign requested a recount of votes in the Georgia presidential race, a day after state officials certified results showing that Democrat Joe Biden won the state. (After the recount, the state’s top elections official recertified Biden’s victory.)
Ten years ago: Two weeks after he was re-elected to a ninth full term in Congress, Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois quietly resigned in a letter in which he acknowledged an ongoing federal investigation. (Jackson would eventually be sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for illegally spending campaign money.) Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza agreed to a cease-fire to end eight days of the fiercest fighting in nearly four years.
Five years ago: Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old president Robert Mugabe resigned; he was facing impeachment proceedings and had been placed under house arrest by the military. Former teen pop idol David Cassidy, star of the 1970s sitcom “The Partridge Family,” died at the age of 67; he’d announced earlier in the year that he had been diagnosed with dementia.
One year ago: A man drove an SUV into a suburban Milwaukee Christmas parade, leaving six people dead and more than 60 injured. (Darrell Brooks Jr. was convicted of 76 counts, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide; he would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of release.) Sudan’s deposed prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, signed a deal with the military to reinstate him, almost a month after a military coup put him under house arrest. (Hamdok would resign in January 2022 after failing to bridge a gap between the military and pro-democracy protesters.) South Korean superstars BTS were crowned artist of the year at the American Music Awards, brushing aside challenges from Taylor Swift, Drake and The Weeknd.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 88. Actor Marlo Thomas is 85. Actor Rick Lenz is 83. Actor Juliet Mills is 81. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Monroe is 78. Television producer Marcy Carsey is 78. Actor Goldie Hawn is 77. Movie director Andrew Davis is 76. Rock musician Lonnie Jordan (War) is 74. Singer Livingston Taylor is 72. Actor-singer Lorna Luft is 70. Actor Cherry Jones is 66. Rock musician Brian Ritchie (The Violent Femmes) is 62. Gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 60. Actor Nicollette Sheridan is 59. Singer-actor Bjork (byork) is 57. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman is 56. R&B singer Chauncey Hannibal (BLACKstreet) is 54. Rock musician Alex James (Blur) is 54. Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is 53. TV personality Rib Hillis is 52. Football player-turned-TV personality Michael Strahan (STRAY’-han) is 51. Actor Rain Phoenix is 50. Actor Marina de Tavira is 49. Country singer Kelsi Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 48. Actor Jimmi Simpson is 47. Singer-actor Lindsey Haun is 38. Actor Jena Malone is 38. Pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen is 37. Actor-singer Sam Palladio is 36.
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