Today in History: November 12, Ellis Island closes its doors

"On Nov. 12, 1954, Ellis Island officially closed as an immigration station and detention center. More than 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States via Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Also on this date: In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party. In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., and gave the green light to traffic."

"In 1936, American playwright Eugene O'Neill received the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1948, Japanese general and former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal; he was executed in December 1948. In 1970, the Bhola cyclone struck East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The deadliest tropical cyclone on record claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000-500,000 people."

Ellis Island officially closed as an immigration station and detention center on Nov. 12, 1954, after processing more than 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union in 1927 when Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936 as President Franklin D. Roosevelt signaled traffic to begin, and Eugene O'Neill received the Nobel Prize the same year. In 1948 Hideki Tojo and other Japanese leaders were sentenced to death; Tojo was executed in December 1948. The Bhola cyclone in 1970 struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 300,000–500,000 people. American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in 2001 after takeoff from JFK, killing all aboard and five on the ground. Venice experienced severe flooding in 2019, and a Los Angeles judge ended Britney Spears’ conservatorship in 2021. In 2024 Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years for leaking classified military documents related to the war in Ukraine.

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