Category: Today

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.”