Today in 1863, President Lincoln officially declared the last Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving Day.
Today in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to start using army troops to work coalmines, which had been on strike since May 12th. This brings the owners to agree to abide by a Commission of Arbitration.
Today in 1913, the US Federal income tax was signed into law (at 1%) by President Woodrow Wilson as the Revenue Act of 1913 was enacted.
Today in 1945, Elvis Presley made his first public performance at the age of ten, in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy show. He sang the song “Old Shep” and came in second place, earning a prize of five dollars.
Today in 1974, Frank Robinson was named major-league baseball's first black manager as he was placed in charge of the Cleveland Indians.
Today in 1989, Art Shell became the first African-American head coach in the modern NFL when he took over the Los Angeles Raiders.
Today in 1995, it was announced that O.J. Simpson was officially acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The verdict drew a record TV audience share of 91% of all TVs in use at that time with 107.7-million people (57% of the population) making a rating of 42.9-watching. The verdict had actually come down the day before, but was withheld.
Today in 1997, Attorney General Janet Reno said she had found no evidence that President Clinton had broken the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors.
Today in 2008, the $700-billion bailout bill for the US financial system was signed by President George W. Bush.
Today in 2008,J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room. (Simpson was later sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was granted parole in July 2017 and released from prison in October of that year.)
Today in 2014, 83-million accounts were compromised after a cyber attack on JP Morgan Chase & 9 other financial institutions. It was later revealed that a neglected server provided access for hackers.
Today in 2015, American airstrikes hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 42. It was later deemed to be the result of human error.
Today in 2017, President Trump visited Puerto Rico, which had been devastated by Hurricane Maria…infamously lobbing paper towels at survivors.
Today in 2018, the first exomoon, moon outside the solar system, was discovered eight-thousand years away (size of Neptune) by astronomers at Columbia University.
Today in 2021, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady became NFL's all-time leader in career passing yardage in a 19-17 win vs NE Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Brady’s 22-43 for 269 yards passed Drew Brees' high of 80,358.