November 2
1895. The first gasoline powered race in US history. Prize? $2,000.
1917. The controversial Balfour Declaration is issued by Great Britain, supporting the concept of the return of Jews to Palestine.
1920. KDKA, in Pittsburgh, begins broadcasting results of the Presidential election. It is the first commercial radio broadcast in the world.
1936. Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin "Axis", in describing a recent agreement signed by Italy and Germany, marking the first public use of the phrase in relation to what will become formally known as the "Axis Powers". In May 1939 the two countries will sign an alliance, which Mussolini will call the Pact of Steel. In 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan will sign the Tripartite Pact.
1947. Designer and eccentric Howard Hughes flies the Spruce Goose, the largest fixed wing aircraft ever built, on its maiden and only flight. It is the largest flying boat ever built, and has the largest wingspan of any plane. Despite its nickname, it was actually built mostly of birch, not spruce, due to wartime raw material restrictions on the use of aluminum. It wasn't finished, however, until the war was over.
1959. Twenty-One contestant Charles van Doren admits in Congressional testimony that he'd been given questions and answers in advance.
1963. South Vietnamese President, and former CIA toady, Ngo Diem is assassinated in a military coup. Unquestionably corrupt, Diem had stopped being sufficiently toadying, if you will, and so the CIA didn't thwart his removal, and he was ruthlessly executed by the military. North Vietnam, however, had a much keener insight on the ramifications of this decision, given that Diem was a strident anti-communist and, though corrupt, able leader.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ho Chi Minh
I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid
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And indeed, South Vietnam never had a truly stable government again, despite persistent US efforts and investments to help the situation. Instead, the North Vietnamese claims that South Vietnam was just another exercise in Western colonial gained traction by the perception that Diem was whacked for being too independent of the US.