Iran-Contra Affair

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

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 11/03 (Iran-Contra Affair)

Lt. Col. Oliver North reads his opening statement before a congressional committee holding hearings on the Iran-Contra affair in July 1987 (© J. Scott Applewhite/AP)(1986) Lebanese magazine breaks story of US arms sales to Iran
The weekly ‘Ash-Shiraa’ reports that the US is secretly selling weapons to Iran in an attempt to get seven American hostages, held in Lebanon, released. The arms-for-hostages story quickly escalates into the Iran-Contra scandal.
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, thereby, 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
Reagan meets with (left to right) Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of State George Shultz, Attorney General Ed Meese, and Chief of Staff Don Regan in the Oval Office
wiki/Iran–Contra_affair
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(1986) Lebanese magazine breaks story of US arms sales to Iran.
Also on this day,

1954 | Prehistoric sea creature revisits nuclear horror on Japan as ‘Godzilla’ premieres
The horrors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fresh in their minds, Japanese moviegoers confront a new nuclear cataclysm: a prehistoric monster-lizard, resurrected because of nuclear tests in the Pacific, come to ravage Japan yet again. Premiering today in Tokyo, the original film won’t be released in the US until 2004.
1957 | Soviet dog becomes first living creature to orbit Earth
A Moscow stray, named Laika, launches into space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2. The dog is sent into orbit to test the effects of space travel on living animals. Unfortunately, no reentry plan exists and Laika dies during the experiment.
2004 | Hamid Karzai declared winner of Afghanistan’s first presidential election
The son of a prominent Afghan politician, Hamid Karzai had returned from exile after a US-led coalition toppled the Taliban regime. Chosen to lead the transitional government, he is today officially declared the winner of the constitutionally mandated presidential election.

Today in History 11/03/17

Laika, the first dog in space, in the Sputnik 2 capsule (© Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)(1957) Soviet dog becomes first living creature to orbit Earth
A Moscow stray, named Laika, launches into space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2. The dog is sent into orbit to test the effects of space travel on living animals. Unfortunately, no reentry plan exists and Laika dies during the experiment.
Laika was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on November 3, 1957.
Born: 1954
Died: Nov 03, 1957
Weight: 13.23 pound (6 kg)
Birth place: Moscow

Posta Romana - 1959 - Laika
Romanian stamp from 1959 with Laika (the caption reads "Laika, first traveller into Cosmos")

wiki/Laika
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