Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2021. There are 41 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 20, 1945, 22 former Nazi officials went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. (Almost a year later, the International Military Tribune sentenced 12 of the defendants to death; seven received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life; three were acquitted.)

On this date:

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1947, Britain’s future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey.

In 1952, President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower announced his selection of John Foster Dulles to be his secretary of state.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference in which he announced the end of the naval quarantine of Cuba imposed during the missile crisis, and the signing of an executive order prohibiting discrimination in federal housing facilities.

In 1967, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Clock at the Commerce Department ticked past 200 million.

In 1976, the boxing drama “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone, premiered in New York.

In 1984, pop star Michael Jackson was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the unveiling of his star in front of a horde of screaming fans.

In 1985, the first version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, was officially released.

In 2000, lawyers for Al Gore and George W. Bush battled before the Florida Supreme Court over whether the presidential election recount should be allowed to continue.

In 2003, Michael Jackson was booked on suspicion of child molestation in Santa Barbara, California. (Jackson was later acquitted at trial.) Record producer Phil Spector was charged with murder in the shooting death of an actor, Lana Clarkson, at his home in Alhambra (al-HAM’-bruh), California. (Spector’s first trial ended with a hung jury in 2007; he was convicted of second-degree murder in 2009 and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. He died in January 2021.)

In 2012, former boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho was shot while sitting in a car in his hometown of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. (Camacho died four days later after doctors removed him from life support.)

In 2015, Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, was released from prison after 30 years behind bars for spying for Israel. (After five years of parole, Pollard moved to Israel in December 2020.)

Ten years ago: Spain’s opposition conservatives were swept into power as voters dumped the Socialists — the third time in as many weeks Europe’s debt crisis had claimed a government.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama, concluding his final official world tour in Peru, told a news conference in Lima he didn’t intend to become his successor’s constant critic — but reserved the right to speak out if President-elect Donald Trump or his policies breached certain “values or ideals.” At the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Ariana Grande was named artist of the year; Zayn was named new artist of the year.

One year ago: Georgia’s Republican governor and its top elections official certified results showing Democrat Joe Biden won the state’s presidential vote over President Donald Trump; the margin was less than 0.5%, allowing the Trump campaign to ask for a recount. A recount of the presidential election in Wisconsin’s two most heavily Democratic counties began with the Trump campaign seeking unsuccessfully to discard tens of thousands of absentee ballots. The daily number of coronavirus deaths in the United States was at a six-month high of 1,335, amid a record number of new infections. The development of a vaccine took another step forward when Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine. Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Illinois who was charged with killing two people during a demonstration that followed a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, posted $2 million bail and was released from custody.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Estelle Parsons is 94. Comedian Dick Smothers is 83. President Joe Biden is 79. Singer Norman Greenbaum is 79. Actor Veronica Hamel is 78. Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff is 75. Singer Joe Walsh is 74. Actor Richard Masur is 73. Opera singer Barbara Hendricks is 73. Former national security adviser John Bolton is 73. Actor Bo Derek is 65. Former NFL player Mark Gastineau is 65. Reggae musician Jimmy Brown (UB40) is 64. Actor Sean Young is 62. Pianist Jim Brickman is 60. Actor Ming-Na is 58. Actor Ned Vaughn is 57. Rapper Mike D (The Beastie Boys) is 56. Rapper Sen Dog (Cypress Hill) is 56. Actor Callie Thorne is 52. Actor Sabrina Lloyd is 51. Actor Joel McHale is 50. Actor Marisa Ryan is 47. Country singer Dierks (duhkrs) Bentley is 46. Actor Joshua Gomez is 46. Actor Laura Harris is 45. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Dawes is 45. Country singer Josh Turner is 44. Actor Nadine Velazquez (veh-LAHZ’-kehz) is 43. Actor Jacob Pitts is 42. Actor Andrea Riseborough is 40. Actor Jeremy Jordan is 37. Actor Dan Byrd is 36. Actor Ashley Fink is 35. Rock musician Jared Followill (Kings of Leon) is 35. Actor Jaina Lee Ortiz is 35. Actor Cody Linley is 32. Pop musician Michael Clifford (5 Seconds to Summer) is 26.