December 2nd, 2008

Today in History

1999:
The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to a the Northern Ireland Executive.

1972:
Gough Whitlam becomes the first Australian Labor Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years.

1962:
Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of US President John F. Kennedy, US Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to not make an optimistic public comment on the war's progress.

1859:
Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.

1848:
Franz Josef I becomes Emperor of Austria.