Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 1, 1991, Clarence Thomas took his place as the newest justice on the Supreme Court.
On this date:
In 1478, the Spanish Inquisition was established.
In 1512, Michelangelo’s just-completed paintings on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel were publicly unveiled by the artist’s patron, Pope Julius II.
In 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello” was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London.
In 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament, went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.
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 1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
In 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an “axis” running between Rome and Berlin.
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 “Ivy Mike,” at Enewetak (en-ih-WEE’-tahk) Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
In 1989, East Germany reopened its border with Czechoslovakia, prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the West.
In 1995, peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present.
In 2007, less than a week after workers ratified a new contract, Chrysler announced 12,000 job cuts, or about 15 percent of its work force.
In 2021, the global death toll from COVID-19 topped 5 million, as tallied by Johns Hopkins University.