Today in History: November 27, President George W. Bush spends Thanksgiving with U.S. troops in Iraq
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 27, the 332nd day of 2024. There are 34 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Nov. 27, 2003, President George W. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops and thank them for “defending the American people from danger.”
Also on this date:
In 1924, Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day parade — billed as a “Christmas Parade” — took place in New York.
In 1934, bank robber and “Public Enemy No. 1” Lester Joseph Gillis, better known as George “Baby Face” Nelson, was killed in a gun battle with FBI agents in Barrington, Illinois.
In 1970, Pope Paul VI, visiting the Philippines, was slightly wounded at the Manila airport by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.
In 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (mah-SKOH’-nee) and city Supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk were fatally shot inside City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White.
In 2015, a gunman attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing three people and injuring nine. (The prosecution of suspect Robert Dear stalled in state court, and then federal court, after he was repeatedly found mentally incompetent to stand trial.)
Today’s Birthdays:
- Fashion designer Manolo Blahnik is 82.
- Film director Kathryn Bigelow is 73.
- Political strategist Steve Bannon is 71.
- Science educator and TV host Bill Nye is 69.
- Author and diplomat Caroline Kennedy is 67.
- Actor Robin Givens is 60.
- Actor Michael Vartan is 56.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez is 53.
- Rapper Twista is 51.
- Actor Jaleel White is 48.