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Highlights for November 1
1765 Parliament Enacts the Stamp Act
In the face of widespread opposition in the American colonies, Parliament enacts the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenue for a standing British army in America. The controversial act forces colonists to buy a British stamp for every official document that they obtain. The stamp itself displays an image of a Tudor rose framed by the word "America" and the French phrase Honi soit qui mal y pense--"Shame to him who thinks evil of it."
The colonists, who had convened the Stamp Act Congress the month before to vocalize their opposition to the impending enactment, greet the arrival of the stamps with outrage and violence. Most colonists call for a boycott of British goods and some organize attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors. After four months of organized protests, and an appeal by Benjamin Franklin before the British House of Commons, Parliament votes to repeal the Stamp Act in a major victory for the colonists.
1943 Operation Goodtime Launched
On this day, the U.S. Marines invaded Bougainville, the largest of the Solomon Islands. The attack, called Operation Goodtime, was part of a larger Allied plan (Operation Cartwheel) to wipe out Rabaul, the mammoth Japanese base on the eastern end of New Britain Island.
Bougainville was 200 miles away from Rabaul, close enough to provide fighter escorts for Rabaul-bound bombers. When the 1st Marine Amphibious Corps, commanded by General Alexander A. Vandegrifft, landed on Bougainville's western coast, they faced heavy Japanese artillery. Resistance dwindled quickly, though, and by nightfall about 14,000 Marines and 6,200 tons of supplies were ashore. The next night, after a day of wading through swamps, U.S. Marines faced Japanese counter-invaders from the then-vacant beachhead. The 475 Japanese soldiers were completely wiped out.
Among the participants in Operation Goodtime was a young John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Lieutenant Kennedy commanded a PT boat sent in to rescue members of a Marine patrol trapped on a Bougainville river bank. Lieutenant Orville Freeman, Kennedy's future secretary of agriculture, was also wounded in a Bougainville battle.
1950; Puerto Rican nationalists tried to assassinate President Truman.
Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman at the Blair House in Washington, D.C. Truman, who had avoided an attempt on his life from the right-wing Israeli Stern Gang a few years earlier, escaped unscathed.
In the autumn of 1950, the White House was being renovated and President Truman and his family were living in the nearby Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue. On the afternoon of November 1, Truman and his wife were upstairs when they heard a commotion on the front steps of the house. Alerted by the sound of gunshots, Bess Truman glanced out the window and exclaimed, "Harry, someone's shooting our policemen!"
Indeed, the pair of would-be assassins had strolled up to the front door of Blair House and opened fire. They never made it past the entry steps, however, due to the quick reaction of police officers and guards. Secret Service Agent Leslie Coffelt was mortally wounded in the ensuing melee, shot in the chest, abdomen, and legs, managed to shoot Torresola in the head before losing consciousness, and the assailant died instantly.
A moment later, the wounded Collazo was subdued, and the shoot-out ended with approximately thirty shots having been fired in less than three minutes. Leslie Coffelt died in a hospital less than four hours later, but the other two wounded officers recovered. Collazo later revealed to police just how poorly planned the assassination attempt was: the assailants were unsure if Truman would even be in the house when they launched their attack at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.Torresola and Collazo were political activists and members of the extremist Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, a group fighting for full independence from the United States. Ironically, Truman had actually contributed to U.S. efforts to grant Puerto Rico greater autonomy, and two years before had approved a measure allowing Puerto Ricans to manage their own internal affairs under a freely elected governor.The "Independistas," as they were commonly called, targeted Truman despite his support of greater Puerto Rican autonomy. Apparently unfazed by the attempt on his life, Truman kept his scheduled appointments for the day. "A President has to expect these things," he remarked dryly.
Oscar Collazo was sentenced to death, but in an admirable act of forgiveness on July 24, 1952, Truman commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. [T] [Q] [Q] [Q]
If you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please E-Mail me.
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