Today in History

Today is Friday, Nov. 9, the 313th day of 2018. There are 52 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 9, 1938, Nazis looted and burned synagogues as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria in a pogrom or deliberate persecution that became known as "Kristallnacht."

On this date:

In 1620, the passengers and crew of the Mayflower sighted Cape Cod.

In 1918, it was announced that Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II would abdicate; he then fled to the Netherlands.

In 1961, U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert M. White became the first pilot to fly an X-15 rocket plane at six times the speed of sound. The Beatles' future manager, Brian Epstein, first saw the group perform at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England.

In 1965, the great Northeast blackout began as a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours left 30 million people in seven states and part of Canada without electricity.

In 1967, a Saturn V rocket carrying an unmanned Apollo spacecraft blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a successful test flight.

In 1970, former French President Charles de Gaulle died at age 79.

In 1976, the U.N. General Assembly approved resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one characterizing the white-ruled government as "illegitimate."

In 1986, Israel revealed it was holding Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician who'd vanished after providing information to a British newspaper about Israel's nuclear weapons program. (Vanunu was convicted of treason and served 18 years in prison.)

In 1989, communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West; joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.

In 1999, with fireworks, concerts and a huge party at the landmark Brandenburg Gate, Germany celebrated the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In 2000, George W. Bush's lead over Al Gore in all-or-nothing Florida slipped beneath 300 votes in a suspense-filled recount, as Democrats threw the presidential election to the courts, claiming "an injustice unparalleled in our history."

In 2007, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest for a day, and rounded up thousands of her supporters to block a mass rally against his emergency rule.

Ten years ago: Barack Obama's transition chief, John Podesta, told Fox News Sunday the president-elect planned to review President George W. Bush's executive orders on such things as stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas. China unveiled a $586 billion stimulus package aimed at inoculating the world's fourth-largest economy against the global financial crisis.

Five years ago: A house party shooting in suburban Houston left two teens dead. Three of the four surviving Doolittle Raiders who attacked Tokyo in 1942, all in their 90's, offered a final toast to their fallen comrades in a ceremony at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.

One year ago: During a visit to Beijing, President Donald Trump criticized what he called a "very one-sided and unfair" trade relationship between the U.S. and China, but said he doesn't blame China for having taken advantage of the U.S. The Washington Post quoted an Alabama woman as saying that Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama had sexual contact with her when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney; three other women told the Post that Moore had approached them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s. Actor John Hillerman, best known for his supporting role on the TV series "Magnum, P.I.," died at the age of 84 at his home in Houston.

Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog is 87. Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson is 83. Actor Charlie Robinson is 73. Movie director Bille August is 70. Actor Robert David Hall is 70. Actor Lou Ferrigno is 67. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is 66. Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin is 59. Rock musician Dee Plakas (L7) is 58. Actress Ion Overman is 49. Rapper Pepa (Salt-N-Pepa) is 49. Rapper Scarface (Geto Boys) is 48. Blues singer Susan Tedeschi is 48. Actor Jason Antoon is 47. Actor Eric Dane is 46. Singer Nick Lachey (98 Degrees) is 45. Country musician Barry Knox (Parmalee) is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sisqo (Dru Hill) is 40. Country singer Corey Smith is 39. Country singer Chris Lane is 34. Actress Emily Tyra is 31. Actress Nikki Blonsky is 30. Actress-model Analeigh Tipton is 30.

Thought for Today: "Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." -- Robert Frost, American poet (1874-1963).