Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 12, the 317th day of 2024. There are 49 days left in the year. Today in history On Nov. 12, 1954, Ellis Island officially closed as an immigration station and detention center. More than 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States via Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Also on this date In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party. In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., and gave the green light to traffic. In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal. In 1970, the Bhola cyclone struck East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The deadliest tropical cyclone on record claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000-500,000 people. In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, en route to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. In 2019, Venice saw its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with the water reaching 6.14 feet (1.87 meters) above average sea level; damage was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2021, a judge in Los Angeles ended the conservatorship that had controlled the life and money of pop star Britney Spears for nearly 14 years. Today's Birthdays Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 81. Rock musician Booker T. Jones is 80. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 80. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 79. Author Tracy Kidder is 79. Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island is 75. Actor Megan Mullally is 66. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comăneci (koh-muh-NEECH') is 63. Olympic gold medal swimmer Jason Lezak is 49. Golfer Lucas Glover is 45. Actor Ryan Gosling is 44. Actor Anne Hathaway is 42. Golfer Jason Day is 37. NBA point guard Russell Westbrook is 36.