ELLIS ISLAND CLOSES
Ellis Island
February 24, 1905
Photo by A. Coeffler
Library of Congress Photo
New York City (JFK+50) Ellis Island, the processing center for more than 12 million immigrants to the United States, closed down today.
The facility was named in honor of merchant Samuel Ellis who was the original owner of the island.
Ellis Island opened as the main processing center for immigrants on January 2, 1892.
The 1st to be processed at Ellis was 15 year old Annie Moore of Ireland.
All 3rd class passengers were processed at the facility.
1st & 2nd class passengers were inspected aboard ship & then disembarked in New York or New Jersey where they passed through US customs.
At Ellis, 3rd class passengers were given medical & legal inspections.
After 1924, however, Ellis Island became a detention & deportation center for illegal immigrants.*
*In 1984, Ellis Island was renovated at a cost of $160 million.
Ellis Island
Immigration Museum Hall
Photo by chensiyuan (2009)
November 12, 1979
IRAN OIL IMPORTS STOPPED
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Jimmy Carter has ordered the importation of petroleum by the United States from Iran be stopped.
The order comes in response to the potential threat to national security caused by the seizure of 66 Americans at the US Embassy in Tehran on November 14.
This action by a group of Islamic radicals was a result of the US government giving permission to the former Shah of Iran to come to the United States for cancer treatment.
Iranian Hostage Crisis Protest
Washington, D.C. (1979)
November 12, 1948
JAPANESE WAR CRIMINALS SENTENCED
Tokyo, Japan (JFK+50) Seven Japanese military & government officials were sentenced to death today by an international war crimes tribunal meeting here in Tokyo.
Included in the group is Hideki Tojo, the former General Premier & War Minister of the Imperial Japanese Empire.
The prosecutor in the war crimes trial, which ended 8 days ago, was Joseph B. Keenan, former Assistant U.S. Attorney General.
Joseph P. Keenan
The judge in the trial was William Flood Webb of Australia.*
*Tojo, with Military Police surrounding his home on September 8, 1945, shot himself in the chest. He was taken to surgery, recovered & sent to prison.
Tojo on the Stand
War Crimes Trial
Tokyo, Japan