Today in History

A fire at a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, kills over 110 people.

Ireland votes 50.28% to 49.72% to end its 70-year-old ban on divorce.

US Congress passes the Brady Bill requiring a 5-day waiting period for handgun sales; the bill is named for Pres. Ronald Reagan’s press secretary who was left partially paralyzed by a bullet during an assassination attempt on Reagan.

The United States admits that thousands of troops in Vietnam were exposed to the toxic Agent Orange.

Greece announces the discovery of the tomb of King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.

Jack Ruby fatally shoots the accused assassin of President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, in the garage of the Dallas Police Department.

The United Nations adopts bans on nuclear arms over American protests.

UN troops begin an assault into the rest of North Korea, hoping to end the Korean War by Christmas.

Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded Monica Lewinsky’s confidential phone calls about Lewinsky’s affair with then-President Bill Clinton.

Spider Robinson, Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction author (Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon; Melancholy Elephants); received Robert A. Heinlein Award for lifetime achievement in 2008.

Ted Bundy, serial killer; he confessed to 30 murders between 1974-78, but the total could be much higher.

American B-29s flying from Saipan bomb Tokyo.

In Czechoslovakia, the Gestapo execute 120 students who are accused of anti-Nazi plotting.

Mexico seizes oil land adjacent to Texas.