November 20 ...

In 1789 New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights. In 1889 astronomer Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, MO; he was raised in Wheaton, IL. In 1910 revolution broke out in Mexico, led by Francisco I. Madero. In 1925 Robert F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, MA. In 1943 during World War II, US Marines began landing on Tarawa and Makin atolls in the Gilbert Islands, encountering fierce resistance from Japanese forces but emerging victorious three days later. In 1945 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. In 1947 Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in a ceremony broadcast worldwide from Westminster Abbey. In 1967 the population of the US passed 200 million. In 1975 after nearly four decades of absolute rule, Spain's General Francisco Franco died, two weeks before his 83rd birthday. In 1983 an estimated 100 million people watched the controversial ABC-TV movie The Day After, which depicted the outbreak of nuclear war. In 1998 46 states agreed to a $206 billion settlement of health claims against the tobacco industry; many people consider this settlement one of the biggest legal scams in US history. In 2000 lawyers for Al Gore and George W. Bush battled before the Florida Supreme Court over whether the presidential election recount should be allowed to continue; also on this day, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori resigned, ending a 10-year reign.