TODAY IN HISTORY

NOVEMBER 24

1971:A man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacks a Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 727, demanding $200,000 and claiming that he has a bomb. Cooper receives his requested loot from FBI officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and allows the flight's passengers and stewardesses to disembark. As the plane flies toward Reno, Nev., Cooper parachutes into southwestern Washington state and — despite widespread rumors — is never heard from again.

1963: Nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shoots Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy two days earlier. The shooting is seen on national television, live from the basement of Dallas police headquarters.

1993: Congress passes the pro-gun control Brady Bill, named after James Brady, the former press secretary paralyzed during the 1981 assassination attempt on former President Ronald Reagan. The Brady Bill, which will be signed into law by President Clinton six days later, requires federal background checks and registration for buyers of handguns. Interestingly, the bill is passed on the 122nd anniversary of the establishment of the National Rifle Association.

Related articles

• 40 years later, D.B. Cooper still a mystery (seattletimes.nwsource.com)