Clinton Visits Ulster: Terrorists Are Yesterday's Men
President Bill Clinton stood before a crowd of thousands at Belfast City Hall on November 30, 1995, and delivered a speech calling on Northern Ireland to embrace peace. He switched on the city's Christmas lights, a symbolic gesture that delighted the crowd. Clinton was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Northern Ireland. Earlier that day, he had walked down the Shankill Road in the Protestant Loyalist heartland and the Falls Road in the Catholic Republican neighborhood, shaking hands on both sides of the divide. His visit came 14 months after the IRA ceasefire and gave crucial international momentum to the peace process. Clinton told the crowd that 'the men of violence' were 'yesterday's men.' The Good Friday Agreement was signed two and a half years later. Clinton's engagement was widely credited as one of the factors that made it possible.
November 30, 1995
31 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 30
Ancient scribes in what is now Ireland recorded what is believed to be the earliest documented eclipse in human history. The observation reveals that even prehi…
Abu al Abbas paraded through Baghdad to celebrate crushing the Zanj Rebellion, the largest slave revolt in the Arab world. This brutal suppression ended a decad…
Holy Roman Emperor Otto II abandoned his siege of Paris after failing to secure a decisive victory against King Lothair of France. This retreat ended the immedi…
An outnumbered Swedish army of 8,500 soldiers under Charles XII exploited a sudden blizzard to overwhelm a Russian siege force of nearly 40,000 at Narva, shatte…
British forces abandoned their month-long siege of Pensacola, failing to dislodge the Spanish from their strategic foothold in Florida. This retreat solidified …
A stray bullet struck King Charles XII in the head while he inspected trenches at the siege of Fredriksten, ending his life and Sweden’s status as a dominant Ba…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.