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Today in History 11/25 (Iran-Contra Affair)

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President Ronald Reagan addressing the nation from The White House Oval Office in 1986 (© Diana Walker/Liaison Agency/Getty Images)(1986) Reagan confirms secret arms sale proceeds funded Contras
The US president reveals that up to $30 million from an Iran weapons deal went to rebel forces in Nicaragua, despite Congress’ ban on military aid to the group. President Reagan says he holds two men responsible — John Poindexter and Oliver North — and appoints a commission to investigate further.
The Iran–Contra affair, also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or the Iran–Contra scandal, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped to fund the Contras in Nicaragua while at the same time negotiating the release of several U.S. hostages. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress.
Start date: Aug 20, 1985
End date: Mar 04, 1987

President Ronald Reagan with Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz, Ed Meese, and Don Regan discussing the President's remarks on the Iran-Contra affair, Oval Office
President Ronald Reagan with Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz, Ed Meese, and Don Regan discussing the President’s remarks on the Iran-Contra affair, Oval Office
wiki/Iran–Contra_affair
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(1986) Reagan confirms secret arms sale proceeds funded Contras.
Also on this day,

1783 | Last Redcoats leave NY as the British troops depart New York
Three months after the Revolutionary War ended, the last contingent of British troops sail away from New York to the jeers and cheers of local residents. General George Washington leads a triumphant march as he retakes the city that the British had occupied since 1776.
1947 | Studio executives agree to blacklist the ‘Hollywood 10’
Hollywood executives fire 10 writers and directors a day after they were held in contempt for refusing to testify before Congress about their alleged involvement with the Communist Party. The ‘Hollywood 10 are just the first of many in the film industry who will be blacklisted through the rest of the 1940s and ’50s.
1963 | John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
President Kennedy is laid to rest three days after his assassination in Dallas. Thousands line the streets of Washington, DC, to watch Kennedy’s casket pass by on a horse-drawn caisson. During the solemn procession, Kennedy’s 3-year-old son John Jr. steps forward and salutes his father a final time.

Today in History 11/25/17

John F. Kennedy, Jr., salutes his father's casket during the funeral procession of President John F. Kennedy in Washington, DC, in 1963 (© Universal History Archive/Getty Images)(1963) John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
President Kennedy is laid to rest three days after his assassination in Dallas. Thousands line the streets of Washington, DC, to watch Kennedy's casket pass by on a horse-drawn caisson. During the solemn procession, Kennedy's 3-year-old son John Jr. steps forward and salutes his father a final time.

The state funeral of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, took place in Washington, D.C., during the three days that followed his assassination on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

The body of President Kennedy was brought back to Washington soon after his death and was placed in the East Room of the White House for 24 hours. On the Sunday after the assassination, his flag-draped coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket.

Representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral on Monday, November 25. After the Requiem Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral, the late president was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.


JFK's family leaves Capitol after his funeral, 1963
Robert Kennedy and Patricia Kennedy Lawford following Jacqueline Kennedy as she leaves the United States Capitol with John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Caroline Kennedy, after viewing John F. Kennedy lying in state.

wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy
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Today in History 11/18 (Jim Jones)

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Jim Jones in 1976 (© AP)(1978) Over 900 die in mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana
Following the murder of a visiting US congressman, American cult leader Jim Jones leads his followers in a mass murder-suicide that claims over 900 victims, a third of whom are children. Some are forced to drink cyanide-laced punch; others do so willingly. Jones shoots himself.
James Warren Jones was an American religious cult leader who, along with his inner circle, initiated and was responsible for a mass suicide and mass murder in Jonestown, Guyana. Jones achieved notoriety as the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple cult.
Lived: May 13, 1931 – Nov 18, 1978 (age 47)
Height: 5′ 8″
Spouse: Marceline Jones (m. 1949 – 1978)
Children: Stephan Jones (Son) · Suzanne O. Jones (Daughter) · Jim Jon Prokes (Son) · Agnes Pauline Jones (Daughter) · Stephanie Jones (Daughter) · Lew Eric Jones (Son) · Timothy Glen Jones (Son) · Jim W. Jones Jr. (Son) · John Moss Jones (Son)
Parents: Lynetta Putnam (Mother) · James Thurman Jones (Father)
Education: Butler University · Richmond High School
Highlights
  • 1949: Jim Jones married Marceline Jones on June 12, 1949.

  • 1971: The Temple repeatedly claimed that Jones fathered the child when, in 1971, Stoen had requested that Jones have sex with Grace to keep her from defecting.

  • 1977: In order to avoid potentially giving up the boy in a custody dispute with Grace, Jones ordered Tim to take John to Guyana in February 1977.

  • 1977: In September 1977, California assemblyman Willie Brown served as master of ceremonies at a large testimonial dinner for Jones attended by Governor Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally.

  • 1978: Stoen traveled to Washington, D.C. in January 1978 to visit with State Department officials and members of Congress, and wrote a white paper detailing his grievances against Jones and the Temple.

  • 1978: Jim Jones died on November 18, 1978 in Port Kaituma, Guyana.

Rev. Jim Jones at an anti-eviction rally Sunday, January 16, 1977 in front of the International Hotel, Kearny and Jackson Streets, San Francisco Photo by Nancy Wong
Rev. Jim Jones at an anti-eviction rally Sunday, January 16, 1977 in front of the International Hotel, Kearny and Jackson Streets, San Francisco Photo by Nancy Wong
wiki/Jim_Jones
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(1978) Over 900 die in mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana.
Also on this day,

1966 | Sandy Koufax, pitcher for Dodgers, retires at 30
After a World Series loss, Dodgers ace Koufax announces his retirement due to a bad elbow. Koufax posted impressive stats in his 12 seasons, including three Cy Young Awards. But he may be best remembered for refusing to pitch in a Series game that fell on Yom Kippur.
1976 | Democracy comes to Spain as Spain’s parliament approves bill to establish a democracy
A year after the death of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco, Spain’s parliament members essentially vote themselves out of office, approving a bill to transition to democracy by allowing elections and the creation of a two-chamber parliament. The bill will later be approved by public referendum.
1991 | After four years, British hostage is released in Lebanon as Terry Waite freed
It’s over, thinks religious envoy Waite after being freed by his Shi’ite Muslim captors. Waite had been kidnapped four years earlier on a trip to secure the release of others held in Lebanon and Iran. He suffered beatings, mock executions, and languished in solitary confinement before his release.

Today in History 11/18/17

Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez and his wife, Ambaro, cast their votes in 1977 in the first free elections in Spain (© Saris/AP)(1976) Spain's parliament approves bill to establish a democracy
A year after the death of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco, Spain's parliament members essentially vote themselves out of office, approving a bill to transition to democracy by allowing elections and the creation of a two-chamber parliament. The bill will later be approved by public referendum.
The Spanish transition to democracy (Spanish: Transición española a la democracia), or simply the Transition (Spanish: La Transición) was the restoration of democracy in Spain after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. The transition began shortly after Franco's death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the failure of an attempted coup on 23 February 1981, or the electoral victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) on 28 October 1982. Though faced with political and economic crises at the time, the transition to democracy was one of the factors that allowed Spain to join the European Economic Community and NATO.
Political posters from the 1970s on a simulated street wall in an exhibition celebrating 20 years of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.
Political posters in an exhibition celebrating 20 years of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

wiki/Spanish_transition_to_democracy
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