The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald…..
November 10, 1975…..
The ore carrier sinks during a storm on Lake Superior. None of the 29 crew members survived. Gordon Lightfoot‘s song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1976, #2 hit) was based on this tragedy. When the ship was christened in 1958 it took three attempts to break the champagne bottle. This is considered a bad omen in shipping lore. During the ceremony a spectator had a heart attack and later died.
When launched, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and remains the largest to have sunk there.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial…..
November 11, 1982…..
The Vietnam Memorial is dedicated. Engraved on a black granite wall are the names of more than 58,000 Americans killed or missing in action during the Vietnam War.
Ellis Island Closes……
November 12, 1954…..
Ellis Island in upper New York closes. It had processed 12 million immigrants since its opening in 1892.
In 1897, the wooden building caught fire and burned to ground, losing most of the immigration records dating back to 1855. A new fireproof building was then built to take its place.