Today:
52 BC: Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrendered to Julius Caesar after the Battle of Alesia. This marked a decisive victory for the Romans in the Gallic Wars.
1226: Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order, died. He is a revered saint in the Catholic Church, known for his love of nature and all living creatures.
1863: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
1929: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was officially renamed Yugoslavia.
1932: Iraq gained independence from Great Britain and was admitted to the League of Nations.
1952: The United Kingdom successfully tested its first atomic bomb, becoming the world’s third nuclear power.
1961: “The Dick Van Dyke Show” premiered on CBS television. The sitcom, starring Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, became a classic and won numerous awards.
1990: East and West Germany were formally reunified after more than four decades of division following World War II.
1995: O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in a highly publicized and controversial criminal trial.
2008: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was signed into law in the United States. This legislation authorized the Treasury Department to purchase distressed assets from financial institutions in an effort to address the subprime mortgage crisis.