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On This Day: Romania joins Axis powers in WWII

On Nov. 23, 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II.

By UPI Archives
Romanian head of state, Gen. Ian Antonescu (2nd-L) meets with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (2nd-R) on June 10, 1941. On November 23, 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II. File Photo courtesy the Germany Federal Archive
1 of 4 | Romanian head of state, Gen. Ian Antonescu (2nd-L) meets with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (2nd-R) on June 10, 1941. On November 23, 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II. File Photo courtesy the Germany Federal Archive

Nov. 23 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1889, the first jukebox was placed in service in the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco.

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In 1890, the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was separated from the Netherlands.

In 1919, the first play-by-play football game broadcast by radio in the United States described Texas A&M's 7-0 shutout of the University of Texas.

In 1936, a revamped Life magazine made its debut with a focus on photojournalism.

In 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II.

In 1943, the U.S. Marines took control of the Gilbert Islands from Japanese forces following a fierce 76-hour battle.

File Photo by USMC/UPI

In 1945, evidence presented during the Nuremberg Trials detailed a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka where they discussed German-Japanese co-operation in a war against the United States eight months before Pearl Harbor.

In 1963, in a radio and TV broadcast the day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, President Lyndon Johnson said: "John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th president of the United States, has been taken from us by an act which outrages decent men everywhere. He upheld the faith of our fathers, which is freedom for all men. He broadened the frontiers of that faith, and backed it with the energy and the courage which are the mark of the nation he led. A man of wisdom, strength and peace, he molded and moved the power of our nation in the service of a world of growing liberty and order. All who love freedom will mourn his death."

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In 1980, an earthquake in the Naples, Italy region killed more than 3,000 people.

In 1996, a hijacker forced an Ethiopian jetliner to fly until it ran out of fuel. The aircraft crashed into the sea, killing 125 of the 175 people on board.

In 2004, in a disputed Ukraine election, the day after opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner, officials determined that Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was the real winner.

File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

In 2008, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama nominated Timothy Geithner to be treasury secretary and selected former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as the head of the White House Economic Council.

In 2010, South Korean officials said North Korea bombarded the South's Yeonpyeong Island, killing two civilians and two marines and injuring 18 other people in an apparent effort to discourage upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises.

In 2012, a day after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a decree stating his decisions weren't subject to review or appeal, police in Cairo used tear gas on thousands of protesters accusing him of making a despotic power grab.

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In 2015, Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket took its unmanned capsule some 62 miles above Earth's surface, before successfully landing the reusable rocket booster after a trip to the edge of space.

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