November 28

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Magellan reaches the Pacific, 1520
American Revolution
John Adams replaces Silas Deane, 1777
Automotive
Duryea Motor Wagon wins first car race in U.S., 1895
Civil War
North and South skirmish at the Battle of Cane Hill, 1862
Cold War
Czechoslovakian Communist Party gives up monopoly on political power, 1989
Crime
A media controversy ignites over the case of Tawana Brawley, 1987
Disaster
Plane crashes over Antarctica, 1979
General Interest
Lady Astor becomes MP, 1919
Jeffrey Dahmer murdered in prison, 1994
Hollywood
Talk-show host and comedian Jon Stewart born, 1962
Literary
William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway, 1582
Music
The Shangri-Las score a #1 hit with "Leader Of The Pack", 1964
Old West
The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting, 1925
Presidential
FDR attends Tehran Conference, 1943
Sports
Frank Duryea wins first U.S. horseless-carriage race, 1895
Vietnam War
Johnson advised to bomb North Vietnam, 1964
The Philippines agrees to send troops to South Vietnam, 1965
World War I
New York Stock Exchange resumes bond trading , 1914
World War II
Enrico Fermi, architect of the nuclear age, dies, 1954

Cold War

Nov 28, 1989:

Czechoslovakian Communist Party gives up monopoly on political power

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Confronted by the collapse of communist regimes in neighboring countries and growing protests in the streets, officials of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party announce that they will give up their monopoly on political power. Elections held the following month brought the first noncommunist government to office in over 40 years.
Czechoslovakia, led by the communist hard-liner Gustav Husak, tried to ignore the signs that the political winds were shifting in east Europe. Mikhail Gorbachev was in power in the Soviet Union, calling for political and economic reforms. Old-line communist officials, such as Erich Honecker in East Germany, were falling from power. Husak and his supporters tried to retain their base of power in Czechoslovakia by bringing new communist faces into the government, but these cosmetic changes did not quell the growing demands from the nation's people for dramatic political restructuring. In November 1989, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Prague and other Czech cities calling for the removal of the Husak regime. Though police responded with vicious beatings, this violence only hardened the resolve of the protesters. Husak, with no hope of receiving assistance from the Soviet Union, announced on November 28 that the Communist Party would agree to eliminate the nation's one-party political system. A few days later, Husak resigned. A coalition government was established, with the communists a distinct minority. On December 29, Vaclav Havel was elected president, becoming the first noncommunist leader of Czechoslovakia in more than 40 years.
The success of the "Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia (so-called because of its relatively peaceful nature) was another sign of the ebbing fortunes of communism in eastern Europe. The fact that the Soviet Union refrained from action (unlike 1968, when Soviet tanks crushed protesters in Prague) signaled the waning power of the communist giant, as well as Gorbachev's commitment to economic and political reform in the eastern bloc.

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This Week in History, Nov 28 - Dec 4

Nov 28, 1989
Czechoslovakian Communist Party gives up monopoly on political power
Nov 29, 1952
Eisenhower goes to Korea
Nov 30, 1981
The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces
Dec 01, 1959
Antarctica made a military-free continent
Dec 02, 1961
Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist
Dec 03, 1989
Bush and Gorbachev suggest Cold War is coming to an end
Dec 04, 1945
Senate approves U.S. participation in United Nations

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