Today in history

On Nov. 1, 1861, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln named Gen. George B. McClellan General-in-Chief of the Union armies, succeeding Winfield Scott.

On this date:

In 1512, Michelangelo finished painting the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.

In 1765, the Stamp Act went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.

In 1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.

In 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an "axis" running between Rome and Berlin.

In 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington, D.C., in a failed attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. (One of the pair was killed, along with a White House police officer.)

In 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, code-named "Ivy Mike," at Enewetak (en-ih-WEE'-tahk) Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

In 1954, Algerian nationalists began their successful rebellion against French rule.

In 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America unveiled its new voluntary film rating system: G for general, M for mature (later changed to GP, then PG), R for restricted and X (later changed to NC-17) for adults only.

In 1989, East Germany reopened its border with Czechoslovakia, prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the West.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush issued an order allowing past presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, to have as much say as incumbent presidents in keeping some of their White House papers private. The New York Yankees took a three-games-to-two lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks as they won Game 5 of the World Series, 3-2, in a contest that ended after midnight.

Five years ago: Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., apologized to "any service member, family member or American" offended by his "botched joke" about how young people might get "stuck in Iraq" if they didn't study hard and do their homework. An Ethiopian immigrant was convicted in Lawrenceville, Ga., of the genital mutilation of his 2-year-old daughter in what's believed to be the first such criminal case in the U.S. (Khalid Adem was sentenced to 10 years in prison.) Author William Styron died in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., at age 81. Actress Adrienne Shelly, 40, was found dead in her Manhattan flat (construction worker Diego Pillco later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 25 years in prison).

One year ago: Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, 61, was convicted by a jury in Erie, Pa., of participating in a bizarre plot in which a pizza delivery driver was forced to rob a bank wearing a metal bomb collar that later exploded, killing him. The San Francisco Giants won the World Series with a 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 5.

 

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