On Nov. 30, 1967, Democratic Senator Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota declared he would challenge Lyndon Johnson, the incumbent president of his own party, over the Vietnam War. McCarthy’s strong showing in the 1968 New Hampshire primary drove Johnson from the race.
On this date in 1835, writer Samuel Clemens, known as Mark Twain, was born. On this date in 1874, Winston Churchill was born.
On Nov. 29, 1775, in the hope of winning aid for the American war effort, the Second Continental Congress established a Committee of Secret Correspondence to provide European nations with the Patriots’ interpretation of events in the North American colonies.
On Nov. 28, 1989, with communist regimes in neighboring countries collapsing and growing protests at home, Czechoslovakian Communist Party officials announced they would give up their monopoly on political power. Elections were held the following month ushering in the first non-communist government in over 40 years.
On Nov. 27, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson was informed by the Pentagon that success in Vietnam would require increasing American troop strength there from 120,000 to 400,000. In 1968, the number of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam reached 543,000 – the highest level of the war.
On Nov. 26, 1916, T.E. Lawrence, a junior member of the Britain’s Arab Bureau during World War I, published a detailed report praising Arab leader Sherif Hussein, while criticizing the effectiveness of his revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Within weeks, Lawrence joined Arab troops in the field and spent the rest of the war organizing various groups of tribesmen to fight the Turks, earning the name “Lawrence of Arabia.”
On Nov. 25, 1783, three months after the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the American Revolution, the last British soldiers left New York City, the last British military position in the United States. The city had been in British hands since its capture in September 1776.
On Nov. 24, 1947, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 346 to 17 to approve citations of contempt against the “Hollywood 10” for refusing to answer questions before the House Un-American Activities Committee about their alleged Communist Party ties. These ten writers, directors, and movie producers were sentenced to a year in jail. In a joint statement, the Hollywood 10 argued, “The United States can keep its constitutional liberties or it can keep the Thomas committee. It can’t keep both.”
On Nov. 23, 1876, “Boss” Tweed, the leader of New York City’s corrupt Tammany Hall political organization during the 1860s and early 1870s, was delivered to New York City authorities after his capture in Spain. Tweed had escaped from prison in 1875, where he was serving time for forgery, larceny and other charges. He died in prison in 1878.
On Nov. 22, 2004, in what became known as the Orange Revolution, massive protests erupted across the Ukraine after charges that the Nov. 21 presidential run-off election between candidates Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych was rigged by the authorities in favor of the latter. Ultimately, Ukraine’s highest court annulled the election and a new vote reversed the result.
On Nov. 21, 1911, British suffragettes stormed Parliament in London. Two hundred and twenty women and three men were arrested and received prison sentences.