assassination

Today in History 11/27 (Moscone-Milk Assassinations)

San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk in April 1977 in the mayor's office during the signing of the city's gay rights bill (© AP)(1978) Assassinations at San Francisco City Hall
Ex-Supervisor Dan White requests a meeting with Mayor George Moscone and then shoots and his kills his old boss in his office. White then guns down Harvey Milk, an openly gay politician and well-respected gay-rights activist. Later on the steps of City Hall, Supervisor Dianne Feinstein will confirm both men are dead.
The Moscone–Milk assassinations were the killings of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White on November 27, 1978. White was angry that Moscone had refused to reappoint him to his seat on the Board of Supervisors, from which he had just resigned, and that Milk had lobbied heavily against his reappointment. These events helped bring national notice to then–Board President Dianne Feinstein, who became the first female mayor of San Francisco and eventually U.S. Senator for California.
Date: Nov 27, 1978
Location: City Hall, San Francisco, California, United States
Target: George Moscone, Harvey Milk
Attack type: Assassination, spree shooting
Deaths: 2
Non-fatal injuries: 0
Weapons: .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 36 Chief’s Special

Upper part of the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle on November 28, 1978 - the morning after the double assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk
Upper part of the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle on November 28, 1978 – the morning after the double assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
wiki/Moscone–Milk_assassinations
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(1978) Assassinations at San Francisco City Hall.
Also on this day,

1924 | Macy’s puts on its first Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy’s kicks off what will be a beloved annual tradition. The parade contains floats, employees dressed as clowns, cowboys, and animals from the Central Park Zoo. The parade isn’t to celebrate Thanksgiving as much as to put Christmas – and shopping for presents – in the minds of spectators lining the streets.
1973 | US Senate confirms Gerald R. Ford as vice president
The US Senate votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Richard Nixon’s vice president. He succeeds Spiro Agnew, who had resigned after pleading no contest to tax evasion. Ford will serve as vice president for less than a year before succeeding Nixon as president, after he resigns in the fallout from the Watergate scandal.
2013 | ‘Let it go!’ as ‘Frozen’ is hot at the box office
The animated sensation with voices by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel his theaters, and kids everywhere can’t stop singing (plenty of parents, too). ‘Frozen’ will go on to set a $1.2 billion box-office record for an animated film.

Today in History 11/27/17

Gerald Ford is sworn in as the nation’s 40th vice president in the House Chamber in the Capitol in Washington, December 6, 1973 (© AP)(1973) US Senate confirms Gerald R. Ford as vice president
The US Senate votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Richard Nixon's vice president. He succeeds Spiro Agnew, who had resigned after pleading no contest to tax evasion. Ford will serve as vice president for less than a year before succeeding Nixon as president, after he resigns in the fallout from the Watergate scandal.
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was an American politician who served as the 38th President of the United States from August 1974 to January 1977, following the resignation of Richard Nixon. Prior to this he served eight months as the 40th Vice President of the United States, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and consequently the only person to have served as both vice president and president without being elected to either office. He is the most recent vice president to become president as a result of an intra-term vacancy in the office; and his 895 day-long presidency is the shortest in American history for any president who did not die in office. Before his appointment to the vice presidency, Ford served 25 years as U.S. Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, the final nine of them as the House Minority Leader.
Lived: Jul 14, 1913 - Dec 26, 2006 (age 93)
Height: 6' 0" (1.83 m)
Spouse: Betty Ford (m. 1948 - 2006)
Successor: Jimmy Carter (President)
Party: Republican Party
Vice President: Nelson Rockefeller
Highlights
  • 1948: On October 15, 1948, at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Ford married Elizabeth Bloomer Warren (1918–2011), a department store fashion consultant.

  • 1980: Had Ford won the election, the provisions of the 22nd Amendment would have disqualified him from running in 1980, because he had served more than two years of Nixon's remaining term.

  • 1981: In April 1981, he opened the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the north campus of his alma mater, the University of Michigan, followed in September by the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids.

  • 2006: After his death in December 2006, the University of Michigan Marching Band played the school's fight song for him one final time, for his last ride from the Gerald R. Ford Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

  • 2006: After experiencing health problems, he died at home on December 26, 2006.

  • 2006: Ford died on December 26, 2006, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, of arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.


Gerald Ford - NARA
Gerald Ford - NARA - 530680

wiki/Gerald_Ford
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Today in History 11/22 (Margaret Thatcher)

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher leaves her 10 Downing Street residence in London, November 22, 1990 for Buckingham Palace to inform Queen Elizabeth II of her decision to resign (© Gillian Allen/AP)(1990) Margaret Thatcher resigns as prime minister of Britain
Having served 11 years as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher quits after losing the support of her cabinet in a run-off election for the leadership of the Conservative Party. The ‘Iron Lady,’ so nicknamed for her tough demeanor, was Britain’s first female prime minister.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, FRIC was a British stateswoman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to have been appointed. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the “Iron Lady”, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Lived: Oct 13, 1925 – Apr 08, 2013 (age 87)
Height: 5′ 5″ (1.66 m)
Spouse: Denis Thatcher (m. 1951 – 2003)
Children: Mark Thatcher (Son) · Carol Thatcher (Daughter)
Related movies: The Iron Lady
Party: Conservative Party
Highlights
  • 1951: During the campaigns, she was supported by her parents and by Denis Thatcher, whom she married in December 1951.

  • 1979: Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979.

  • 1989: Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP Sir Anthony Meyer in the 1989 leadership election.

  • 1990: On 1 November 1990, Geoffrey Howe, the last remaining member of Thatcher’s original 1979 cabinet, resigned from his position as Deputy Prime Minister over her refusal to agree to a timetable for Britain to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

  • 2005: Upon leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher became the first former Prime Minister to set up a foundation; the British wing of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation was dissolved in 2005 because of financial difficulties.

  • 2013: In 2013, she died of another stroke in London, at the age of 87.

Thatcher reviews troops
Thatcher reviews Royal Bermuda Regiment troops, 1990
wiki/Margaret_Thatcher
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(1990) Margaret Thatcher resigns as prime minister of Britain.
Also on this day,

1718 | Notorious English pirate dies in battle as Blackbeard is killed
The fearsome English pirate known as Blackbeard is killed in a fight with a small naval force off the coast of the North Carolina colony. Blackbeard, whose real name may have been Edward Teach, sailed a 40-gun warship and built a notorious reputation for plunder. Rumors of his buried treasure will persist for centuries.
1945 | Rams receiver sets a record on Thanksgiving
Cleveland Rams receiver Jim Benton catches 10 passes for 303 yards in the team’s 28-21 victory over the Detroit Lions, setting an NFL single-game record that would stand for 40 years. Benton and the Rams would move to Los Angeles the following year.
1963 | JFK assassinated as president John F. Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas
A sniper kills John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, as his motorcade wends through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy’s wife, Jacqueline, and the Texas governor are traveling with him. Lee Harvey Oswald will soon be arrested for the shooting, but will be shot and killed himself shortly thereafter.
1986 | Mike Tyson is boxing’s youngest heavyweight champ
At just 20 years old, Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick to win his first heavyweight title fight. Tyson will go on to be one of the most successful boxers in history, but his career will be marred by bankruptcy, prison stints, and biting boxer Evander Holyfield’s ear.

Today in History 11/22/17

President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy smile at the crowds lining their motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963 (© Corbis)(1963) President John F. Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas
A sniper kills John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, as his motorcade wends through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy's wife, Jacqueline, and the Texas governor are traveling with him. Lee Harvey Oswald will soon be arrested for the shooting, but will be shot and killed himself shortly thereafter.
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was riding with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, and was fatally shot by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. A ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission from November 1963 to September 1964 concluded that Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. Kennedy's death marked the fourth and most recent assassination of an American President. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson automatically became President upon Kennedy's death.
Date: Nov 22, 1963

JFK limousine
Picture of President Kennedy in the limousine in Dallas, Texas, on Main Street, minutes before the assassination. Also in the presidential limousine are Jackie Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and his wife, Nellie.
wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy
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