What Happened on November 30?

  • US President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law. (1993) The bill was named after President Ronald Reagan's press secretary James Brady. In 1981, John Hinckley, Jr. shot Brady in the head while attempting to assassinate President Reagan. The bill, also called the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, requires a five-day waiting period and a background check of all potential handgun buyers.

  • The Green River Killer was arrested. (2001) Serial murderer, Gary Ridgway, who is believed to have killed about 50 women in Washington state during the 1980s and 1990s, avoided the death penalty because he agreed to provide locations of yet unknown bodies. He was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

  • The preliminary Treaty of Paris was signed, effectively ending the American Revolutionary War. (1782) The peace treaty, which was signed by Britain and the US, was formalized nearly a year later and called the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

  • Operation Desert Storm officially ended. (1995) Operation Desert Storm was a military action during the Gulf War, in which the United Kingdom and the US led a 34-nation coalition force against Iraq. The Gulf War ended in February 1991, but Operation Desert Storm didn't officially end until 1995.

  • The World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle, Washington was disrupted by 40,000 protesters. (1999) The police detail assigned to the meeting was not prepared for the mass of protesters who had come out to protest globalization. The ensuing chaos forced meeting organizers to cancel the opening ceremonies.

  • A steam locomotive traveled at 100 miles per hour (about 160 kilometers per hour) for the first time. (1934) The Flying Scotsman locomotive in London was officially clocked at that speed and set the railed vehicle land speed record.

  • The first city-state abolished the death penalty. (1786) The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Peter Leopold Joseph, banned the death penalty in Tuscany, and it was never restored. Other areas of Italy continued to employ capital punishment until 1948. Countries had abolished the death penalty at times prior to 1786, but the punishment was later reinstated.

  • The first person in modern history was hit by a meteorite. (1954) In Ancient times, there were tales of people being hit by such objects, but Alabama resident Elizabeth Hodges was the first person recorded to be hit in modern day. The meteorite came through her living room roof, bounced around a couple of times and hit her hip while she was napping on the sofa. At the time of impact, the meteorite was 7 inches (about 17.8 cm) long and 8.5 pounds (roughly 3.8 kg). She was bruised, but not seriously injured.

  • English rock band Pink Floyd released its album The Wall. (1979) The album ultimately became one of the best-selling records of all time.

  • Ken Jennings ended his record run on the US TV game show Jeopardy!. (2004) Jennings, a software engineer, won a record of 74 games and raked in $2.5 million US Dollars (USD), setting a record for game show winnings in the US.

Discussion Comments

Chmander

When discussing some of these bullet points, I can't help but notice how often the death penalty is brought up. I'm not saying that I have a problem with this, but on the other hand, it's not hard to see why I see it discussed so often, as it's definitely a serious thing.

With that said, I'm glad that many places have gotten rid of the death penalty. As I said earlier, it's basically a cruel and unusual punishment, and even more so, it can be quite devastating to kill someone, only to find out that they were innocent later on.

In regards to that though, does anyone else feel that the death penalty should still be around, but only used for the most extreme situations? Almost like a last resort, if you will.

I'm going to use one example. Let's say that someone committed manslaughter. Even though it was an accident, it's still considered murder, and should definitely be dealt with a strict sentencing, such as many years in prison.

However, I definitely don't think that they should be on death row, especially considering that they might be remorseful for their actions. Overall, the death penalty should only be reserved for someone who really deserves it, and in some cases, even that's pushing it.

Even though most of this is just my opinion, what do you guys think? What's your stance on this issue? I don't want to be the only one commenting on this.

Viranty

I've never heard of someone being hit by a meteorite, but it was interesting to read anyway. However, I'm actually a bit surprised that the person who was hit wasn't seriously injured, as I've heard that those things can be rather dangerous, especially with one of the more recent stories I heard from a few years ago.

In spite of that, it was very interesting to read. Especially considering that meteorites are very interesting to study and do research on. I mean, what exactly are the factors that depend on how large a meteor is, and even more so, how close do they need to get to Earth before entering the atmosphere and crashing in our location?

Euroxati

While reading some of these bullet points can be very interesting, on the other, I find some of them to be rather disturbing as well, especially when it talks about the killers and what they did to their victims.

In this case, it seems to be even more horrific than other cases I've heard about, that's for sure.

Still, I've always been interested in crimes and mysteries, so I guess you could say that this stuff really intrigues me.

On other hand, does anyone else wonder how criminals are able to get away with murders for so long without even being caught?

That makes little sense to me. I mean, I can obviously see people getting away with a few murders, but in the case, it was 50 women. How could one go on for that long without even being caught? It's interesting and terrifying stuff.

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