November 12: Venice is hit by its worst flooding in fifty years

Today is Tuesday, November 12, the 317th day of 2024. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On November 12, 2019, Venice saw its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with water reaching 1.87 meters above mean sea level; The damage was estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Also on this date:

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union when Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened when President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph button in Washington, DC, giving the green light to traffic.

In 1948, former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and several other Japanese leaders from World War II were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1954, Ellis Island was officially closed as an immigration station and detention center. Between 1892 and 1954, more than twelve million immigrants came to the United States through Ellis Island.

In 1970, the Bhola Cyclone hit East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The deadliest tropical cyclone on record claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, en route to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

In 2021, a judge in Los Angeles ended the conservatorship that controlled the life and money of pop star Britney Spears for almost fourteen years.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 81.
• Rock musician Booker T. Jones is 80.
• Sports reporter Al Michaels is 80.
• Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 79.
• Author Tracy Kidder is 79.
• Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island is 75.
• Actor Megan Mullally is 66.
• Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comăneci (koh-muh-NEECH’) is 63.
• Olympic gold medal swimmer Jason Lezak is 49.
• Golfer Lucas Glover is 45.
• Actor Ryan Gosling is 44.
• Actor Anne Hathaway is 42.
• Golfer Jason Day is 37.
• NBA point guard Russell Westbrook is 36.