Today in History: Friday, November 09, 2012

On Nov. 9, 1989, Communist East Germany threw open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West. Joyous Germans danced atop the Berlin Wall.

1918 Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II announced that he would abdicate.

1935 United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.

1938 Nazis looted and burned synagogues and Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria on Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass."

1965 Several northeastern states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.

1970 Former French president Charles De Gaulle died at age 79.

1976 The United Nations General Assembly approved 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa.

2004 Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens won his record seventh Cy Young award.

2005 Three suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 victims and wounding hundreds.

2011 Penn State fired longtime head football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier over their handling of child sex abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.