Today in History: November 10

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On November 10, 1898, the multiracial fusionist (republican and populist) city government of Wilmington, North Carolina, was violently overthrown, and as many as 60 black Americans were killed in a premeditated murder spree that was the culmination of an organized months-long statewide campaign by white supremacists.

Then two film and television classics made their premieres on this day.

The first was in 1969 when the American children’s TV series Sesame Street, featuring a cast of puppet characters that included Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster, debuted on the National Educational Television Network (later called PBS).

In 1990 the American comedy Home Alone, written by John Hughes and starring Macaulay Culkin, had its world premiere; a huge hit, that spawned a number of sequels and became a TV staple during the Christmas holidays.