Major Mike | 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
wiki/Iran–Contra_affair

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(1986) Reagan confirms secret arms sale proceeds funded Contras.
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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.

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.