On This Day: Hollywood blacklists communists

Nov. 25 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1783, more than 6,000 British troops evacuated New York City after signing the peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War.

In 1947, film industry executives introduced the first Hollywood blacklist banning people accused of communist sympathies from working in the film industry. The blacklist came about after 10 directors, producers and actors refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

In 1952, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap opened in London. It became the world's longest-running play.

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas three days earlier, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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In 1970, renowned Japanese writer Yukio Mishima killed himself after failing to win public support for his often extreme political beliefs.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the national highway speed limit cut from 70 mph to 55 mph to save lives and gasoline.

In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced the resignation of national security adviser John Poindexter and the firing of Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North in the aftermath of the secret, illegal Iran arms sale.

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In 1987, Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, died in office of a heart attack at age 65.

In 1990, the floating Lacey V. Murrow Bridge sank during a Thanksgiving storm in Washington state. The bridge was under construction at the time and there were no injuries or deaths.

In 1992, the Czechoslovakian Parliament voted to dissolve the country at the end of the year into separate Czech and Slovak states.

In 2001, hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived in Afghanistan near the southern city of Kandahar in the first major entry of U.S. ground troops in the country.

In 2012, military officials in Beijing announced the first successful landing of a Chinese fighter jet on the deck of the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI