On this date in history:

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On this date in history:

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 14, the 318th day of 2006 with 47 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include (Tony G- ts4ms.com, Biography: reptile psychologist formerly interested in ichthyology, Location: East Canaan, CT, Interests:. timesharing, gardening, fishing, Occupation: Big Frank's Goomba). Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, in 1765; French Impressionist painter Claude Monet, in 1840; Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru in 1889; Mamie Doud Eisenhower, wife of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1896; U.S. composer Aaron Copland in 1900; singers Morton Downey in 1901 and Johnny Desmond in 1920; actor Dick Powell in 1904; U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, D-Wis., in 1908; actress Veronica Lake in 1919; former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1922 (age 84); actors Brian Keith in 1921 and McLean Stevenson in 1927; astronaut Edward White, killed in the 1967 Apollo I launch pad fire, in 1930; King Hussein of Jordan in 1935; Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, in 1948 (age 58); New Age singer/songwriter Yanni in 1954 (age 52); and actress Laura San Giacomo ("Just Shoot Me") in 1962 (age 44).

On this date in history:

In 1666, the first blood transfusion took place in London. Blood from one dog was transfused into another.

In 1832, the first horse-drawn streetcar made its appearance in New York City.

In 1889, newspaper reporter Nellie Bly set off to break the fictional record of voyaging around the world in 80 days set by Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg. She made the trip in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds.

In 1926, the NBC radio network made its debut.

In 1940, German planes bombed Coventry, England, destroying or damaging 69,000 buildings.

In 1972, for the first time in its 76-year history, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 1,000.

In 1984, former Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon went to court in New York with a $50 million libel suit against Time magazine. He lost after a 2-month trial.

In 1986, the White House acknowledged the CIA role in secretly shipping weapons to Iran.

In 1988, the PLO proclaimed an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, endorsing a renunciation of terrorism and an implicit recognition of Israel.

In 1989, the U.S. Navy ordered a 48-hour "stand-down" for a safety review following 10 unrelated accidents resulting in 10 deaths during a 3-week period.

In 1990, a gunman in Dunedin, New Zealand, killed 11 neighbors, then was killed by police in the nation's worst mass slaying at that time. A 12th victim died later.

In 1991, U.S. and British officials accused two Libyan agents in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in which 270 people died.

In 1993, in a referendum, residents of Puerto Rico voted in favor of continuing their U.S. commonwealth status.

In 1994, the 31-mile Chunnel Tunnel under the English Channel opened to passenger traffic between England and France.

In 2001, House and Senate negotiators working on ways to beef up airport security voted to have federal workers screen luggage.

In 2002, Iraq told the United Nations it accepted -- without condition or special requests -- the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad.

In 2003, an Alabama jury ordered Exxon Mobil to pay the state $11.8 billion in damages relating to gas royalties for offshore drilling projects. The jury also awarded compensatory damages of $63.6 million.

In 2004, Iraqi authorities were reported to have fired thousands of police officers and taken over the recruiting of new policemen.

In 2005, private U.S. donations to victims of Hurricane Katrina were reported to be near the $2.7 billion mark in 11 weeks, close to the record $2.8 billion said to have gone to Sept. 11, 2001, charities.

Also in 2005, North Korea reportedly has proposed a five-step plan to give up its nuclear weapons program, but officials said the plan appeared to depend on certain aid demands.


A thought for the day: Russian author Boris Pasternak wrote, "Life itself, the phenomenon of life, the gift of life, is so breathtakingly serious."

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On this date in history:

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 15, the 319th day of 2006 with 46 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British statesman William Pitt ("the elder") in 1708; British astronomer William Herschel, discoverer of the planet Uranus, in 1738; Nobel Prize-winning physiologist August Krogh of Denmark in 1874; artist Georgia O'Keeffe in 1887; jurist Felix Frankfurter in 1882; diplomat W. Averell Harriman and World War II German Gen. Erwin Rommel, both in 1891; Annunzio Mantovani, orchestra leader, in 1905; U.S. Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay in 1906; TV personality and retired Judge Joseph Wapner in 1919 (age 87); actor Edward Asner in 1929 (age 77); pop singer Petula Clark in 1932 (age 74); actors Yaphet Kotto in 1937 (age 69) and Sam Waterston in 1940 (age 66); conductor Daniel Barenboim in 1942 (age 64); actress Beverly D'Angelo in 1951 (age 55); and "Tonight Show" band leader Kevin Eubanks in 1957 (age 48).


On this date in history:

In 1864, Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman began his Civil War march from Atlanta to the sea.

In 1920, the first assembly of the League of Nations was called to order in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1943, Heinrich Himmler ordered gypsies and part-gypsies to be placed in Nazi concentration camps.

In 1960, Hollywood king Clark Gable, best remembered as Rhett Butler in "Gone With The Wind," died of a heart attack at the age of 59.

In 1969, 250,000 people demonstrated in Washington against the Vietnam War.

In 1984, 5-week-old Baby Fae died after her body rejected the baboon heart she had lived with for 20 days at California's Loma Linda University Medical Center.

In 1987, 27 people were killed when a Continental Airlines DC-9 jet crashed in a snowstorm during takeoff from Denver.

In 1989, tornadoes struck six Southern states, killing 17 people and injuring 463, causing at least $100 million in damage in Huntsville, Ala.

In 1990, the so-called "Keating Five" -- Sens. Alan Cranston, D-Calif.; Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz.; John Glenn, D-Ohio; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Donald Riegle, D-Mich. -- were accused of influence peddling on behalf of savings and loan kingpin Charles Keating.

In 1992, Newsweek quoted Elizabeth Tamposi saying a U.S. State Department colleague acting on behest of the White House asked her to dig up information on Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton.

In 2001, U.S. commandos were on the ground in southern Afghanistan in the search for al-Qaida leaders and more than 250 U.S. and British special-force troops landed north of Kabul.

In 2002, the White House and the FBI backed off from a warning that al-Qaida was plotting "spectacular" attacks against the United States after critics latched onto it to show progress in the war on terror was faltering.

In 2003, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a Democrat, was elected Louisiana's first female chief executive in a runoff.

In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell submitted his resignation to U.S. President George Bush.

Also in 2004, facing the possibility of U.N. sanctions, Iran announced it would suspend its uranium enrichment program.

In 2005, the official death toll from Hurricane Katrina stood at 972 with more bodies found as Louisiana residents returned home more than a month after the search for victims officially ended.

Also in 2005, the U.S. Senate voted to require regular reports on the war in Iraq with steps taken to get the United States closer to a military withdrawal.


A thought for the day: Nobel Prize-winning poet George Seferis said, "We have many monsters to destroy."

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On this date in history:

Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2006 with 45 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Tiberius, emperor of Rome, in 42 B.C.; composer W.C. Handy, known as the "Father of the Blues," in 1873; Broadway director and playwright George S. Kaufman in 1889; jazz guitarist and bandleader Eddie Condon in 1905; actors Burgess Meredith in 1909, Marg Helgenberger in 1958 (age 48), and Lisa Bonet in 1967 (age 39); and Olympic figure skater Oksana Baiul in 1977 (age 29).


On this date in history:

In 1892, the University of Chicago, a founding member of the Big 10 Conference, won its first football game, beating Illinois, 10-4.

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state admitted to the union.

In 1933, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

In 1984, the space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth with the first two satellites ever plucked from space.

In 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter were shot to death at their residence in San Salvador. Three years later, in 1991, House Democrats reported that Salvadoran Defense Minister Gen. Rene Ponce had planned the killings.

In 1989, seven children were killed when a tornado struck an elementary school near Newburgh, N.Y.

In 1990, the Soviet Union indicated its approval of the use of military force to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

In 1992, a U.S. federal judge in Los Angeles refused to reconsider the Navy's appeal of an injunction forcing reinstatement of sailor Keith Meinhold, the first openly homosexual person on active duty in the U.S. military.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council voted to end the manhunt for Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed.

In 1997, 85 percent of citizens of Hungary voted in favor of joining NATO.

In 2001, a letter containing anthrax was found at the Capitol in Washington, addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

Also in 2001, U.S. officials said a bomb had killed Muhammad Atef, one of Osama bin Laden's oldest and closest strategists who was believed to have helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks.

In 2002, top U.S. national security advisers were reported discussing creation of a domestic intelligence organization that would take over the FBI's responsibility for counter-terrorism spying and analysis.

In 2003, powerful explosions rocked Baghdad, Iraq, while electric power went out in broad sections of the city as U.S. troops attacked suspected insurgent hideouts.

In 2004, Condoleezza Rice was reported in line to succeed Colin Powell as U.S. secretary of State.

Also in 2004, Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped Iraqi CARE director, was believed to have been killed after Al-Jazeera television received a video of a woman's slaying. The act drew widespread condemnation from world leaders.

In 2005, a heretofore secret White House document is said to confirm reports that oil company executives met with White House officials when the Bush administration was fashioning its 2001 energy policy.


A thought for the day: it was Henry Kissinger who said, "History knows no resting places and no plateaus."

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On this date in history:


Today is Friday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2006 with 44 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include King Louis XVIII of France in 1755; German astronomer and mathematician August Mobius in 1790; social reformer Grace Abbott in 1878; British Army Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in 1887; drama teacher Lee Strasberg in 1901; actor Rock Hudson in 1925; balladeer Gordon Lightfoot in 1938 (age 68); film director Martin Scorsese in 1942 (age 64); model/actress Lauren Hutton in 1943 (age 63); actor/director Danny DeVito and "Saturday Night Live" producer Loren Michaels in 1944 (age 62); actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in 1958 (age 48); model/actor RuPaul in 1960 (age 46); and MTV veejay Daisy Fuentes in 1966 (age 40).


On this date in history:

In 1734, John Peter Zenger, who founded America's first regularly published newspaper, was arrested for allegedly libeling the colonial governor of New York.

In 1800, Congress convened in Washington for the first time.

In 1869, the Suez Canal in Egypt was opened, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

In 1881, Samuel Gompers organized the forerunner of the American Federation of Labor.

In 1969, strategic arms limitation talks, also known as SALT, began between the United States and the Soviet Union in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1989, riot police in Prague, Czechoslovakia, stormed into a crowd of more than 20,000 pro-democracy demonstrators, beating people with truncheons and firing tear gas.

In 1992, an appeals court in Washington ruled the Watergate tapes and Nixon presidential papers rightfully belonged to the disgraced president when he left office in 1974.

In 1993, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Also in 1993, Nigeria Defense Minister Sani Abacha announced he had dissolved the government and declared himself the nation's ruler.

In 1996, debris from a failed Russian Mars probe fell into the sea.

In 1997, 60 people were killed when six Islamic militants opened fire on a group of tourists at Luxor, Egypt.

In 2002, Abba Eban, a long-time government official who argued before the United Nations for the formation of the state of Israel and was later the country's ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, died at the age of 87.

Also in 2002, the first thorough examination of many of President John F. Kennedy's medical records found he was in far greater pain and taking many more medications than the public knew at the time.

In 2003, accused Washington sniper John Muhammad was convicted of capital murder by a jury in Virginia Beach, Va. The state sought the death penalty.

In 2004, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia was developing a new missile system.

Also in 2004, Pakistani authorities announced an Islamic militant wanted in connection with the killing of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl had been killed in a shootout with police.

And, Kmart and Sears, Roebuck announced they planned a merger to create Sears Holding Corp. in an $11 billion deal.

In 2005, U.S. Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Vietnam veteran and ranking Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Committee who supported the 2003 invasion, called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.


A thought for the day: As Jane Ace put it, "Time wounds all heels."

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On this date in history:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today is Saturday, Nov. 18, the 322nd day of 2006 with 43 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include (Retailman-ts4ms.com) (Reddiablosv-ts4ms.com) (Debooss-ts4ms.com) French philosopher and writer Pierre Bayle in 1647; German composer Carl von Weber and English composer Henry Bishop ("Home Sweet Home"), both in 1786; French physicist Louis Daguerre, inventor of daguerreotype photography, in 1787; English playwright W.S. Gilbert, libretto writer for the comic operas of composer Arthur Sullivan, in 1836; Polish composer Ignace Paderewski in 1860; conductor Eugene Ormandy in 1899; pollster George Gallup in 1901; comedic actress Imogene Coca in 1908; songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1909; astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, in 1923; and actors Brenda Vaccaro in 1939 (age 67), Linda Evans in 1942 (age 64), Jameson Parker in 1947 (age 59), Kevin Nealon in 1953 (age 53) and Elizabeth Perkins in 1960 (age 46).


On this date in history:

In 1477, "The Sayings of the Philosophers" was published, the earliest known book printed in England to carry a date.

In 1883, the United States adopted Standard Time and set up four zones -- Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific.

In 1928, Mickey Mouse made his screen debut in the landmark "Steamboat Willie" at the Colony Theater in New York City. The Walt Disney cartoon was the first with synchronized sound.

In 1963, push-button telephones made their debut. Touch-tone service was available as an option for an extra charge.

In 1978, more than 900 people died in a mass suicide-murder led by the Rev. Jim Jones at the People's Temple commune in Guyana, following the slaying of Rep. Leo Ryan, R-Calif. It was the largest mass suicide in modern history.

In 1991, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim faction the Islamic Jihad freed Church of England envoy Terry Waite and U.S. professor Thomas Sutherland.

In 1993, South Africa's ruling National Party and leaders of 20 other parties representing blacks and whites approved a new national constitution that provides fundamental rights to blacks.

In 1994, Palestinian police opened fire on Islamic militants outside a mosque in the Gaza Strip, sparking riots that killed at least 14 people and injured 200.

In 1996, Harold Nicholson, a 16-year CIA veteran, was arrested for spying as he tried to board a plane at Washington's Dulles International Airport.

In 2002, international schools in Jakarta were closed following warnings from the United States and Australia they could be targets of terrorist attacks.

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the state's prohibition against same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said a cow had tested positive for mad cow disease, which, if confirmed, would be the second U.S. case.

Also in 2004, Britain outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales.

In 2005, suicide bombings killed more than 50 people in Iraq, most of them in or near two Shiite mosques near the Iranian border. Debate, meanwhile, raged on in Washington over the U.S. military presence.


A thought for the day: Ogden Nash said,

"Maybe I couldn't be dafter,

"But I keep wondering if this time we couldn't settle our differences before a war instead of after."

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On this date in history:


Today is Sunday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2006 with 42 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include English King Charles I in 1600; frontier military leader George Rogers Clark in 1752; James Abram Garfield, 20th president of the United States, in 1831; religious revivalist Billy Sunday in 1862; explorer Hiram Bingham, discoverer of the Inca city of Machu Picchu, in 1875; bandleader Tommy Dorsey in 1905; Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1917; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick in 1926 (age 80); talk show host Larry King in 1933 (age 73); entertainer Dick Cavett in 1936 (age 70); entrepreneur Ted Turner in 1938 (age 68); fashion designer Calvin Klein in 1942 (age 64); sportscaster Ahmad Rashad in 1949 (age 57); actress Kathleen Quinlan in 1954 (age 52); Eileen Collins, first female space shuttle commander, in 1956 (age 50); actress Meg Ryan in 1961 (age 45); actress/director Jodie Foster in 1962 (age 44); actress Terry Farrell ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") in 1963 (age 43); and Olympic gymnast Kerri Strung in 1977 (age 29).


On this date in history:

In 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on a Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

In 1919, the U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles drawn up by the Paris peace conference at the end of World War I.

In 1939, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for his presidential library at Hyde Park, N.Y.

In 1954, the first automatic toll collection machine went into service -- at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway.

In 1985, a Houston jury ruled Texaco must pay $10.5 billion, the largest damage award in United States history, to Pennzoil Co. or Texaco's 1984 acquisition of Getty Oil Co.

In 1986, at the beginning of what became the Iran-Contra scandal, U.S. President Ronald Reagan said the United States would send no more arms to Iran.

In 1990, NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations signed a massive conventional arms treaty in Paris to end the 40-year Cold War.

In 1991, a cargo train derailment in central Mexico killed 70 people and injured 40 more when the boxcars crushed automobiles on a highway below the tracks.

In 1994, Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano and his party claimed victory in the country's first multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections.

In 1995, in a close presidential runoff election in Poland, former communist party leader Aleksander Kwasniewski defeated incumbent Lech Walesa.

In 1997, Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to septuplets in Des Moines, Iowa, the first time seven babies had been born and survived.

In 2001, the U.S. government offered a $25 million award for information leading to the location or capture of Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

In 2002, 13 months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to create a Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department, kicking into motion the largest government reorganization in more than 50 years.

Also in 2002, The World Wildlife Fund warned that an oil tanker that broke in half and was sinking off the coast of Spain could trigger an ecological disaster far worse than the one Exxon Valdez caused in Alaska 13 years ago.

In 2003, Saudi Arabia braced for expected al-Qaida suicide strikes to coincide with the end of the Islamic fast month of Ramadan.

In 2004, the chief of U.S. forces in South Korea said he is concerned that North Korea may sell its weapons-grade plutonium to international terrorists.

Also in 2004, an Islamic group long active in Iraq warned citizens to skip the coming election and told candidates to drop out of the running.

In 2005, Ford Motor Co. said it would eliminate 4,000 white-collar jobs next year as part of a major cost-cutting plan.

Also in 2005, health experts in the United States and Japan investigated the deaths of 12 Japanese children who took Roche's anti-viral Tamiflu medication.

And, in 2005, Prince Albert II formally became ruler of Monaco when he assumed the throne of his late father Prince Rainier.


A thought for the day: Milan Kundera said, "The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past."

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On this date in history:

Today is Monday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2006 with 41 to follow.

The moon is new. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include (StressCadet- ts4ms.com), (Temerson- ts4ms.com), botanist John Merle Coulter in 1851; Norman Thomas, six times the Socialist Party candidate for U.S. president, in 1884; "Dick Tracy" creator Chester Gould in 1900; TV commentator Alistair Cooke, in 1908; singer/actress Judy Canova in 1916; actress Gene Tierney in 1920; U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1925; actresses Kaye Ballard in 1926 (age 80) and Estelle Parsons in 1927 (age 79); actor/TV game show host Richard Dawson in 1932 (age 74); comedian Dick Smothers in 1939 (age 67); and actors Veronica Hamel in 1943 (age 63); Richard Masur in 1948 (age 58), Bo Derek in 1956 (age 50), Sean Young in 1959 (age 47), and Ming-Na ("ER") in 1963 (age 43).



On this date in history:

In 1272, Edward I was proclaimed king of England.

In 1780, Britain declared war on Holland.

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1943, the Battle of Tarawa-Makin, marking the beginning of the U.S. World War II offensive against Japan in the Central Pacific, began.

In 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Philip Mountbatten.

In 1975, Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination. He lost to incumbent Gerald Ford, who was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Also in 1975, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain died.

In 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced U.S. Marines would go to Lebanon to assist in the evacuation of PLO fighters.

In 1986, former national security adviser Robert McFarlane called the secret arms deal he arranged in Iran a "mistake" that failed to gauge public disapproval.

In 1991, the United States provided $1.5 billion in food and technical assistance to the Soviet Union, about half of what was requested.

In 1992, fire erupted at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's official residence west of London, causing much damage. The queen and Prince Andrew pitched in to help save priceless artworks and other valuables housed in the castle.

In 1993, the U.S. Senate approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In 2002, on the eve of the NATO summit, U.S. President George W. Bush called for a "coalition of the willing," to help the United States disarm Iraq if necessary.

Also in 2002, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, awaiting trial for war crimes, was rebuffed in his effort to gain temporary freedom on health grounds.

In 2003, 27 people were reported killed in Istanbul in two blasts that targeted a U.K. bank and the British consulate. Another 400 were wounded.

In 2004, House Republicans blocked a deal on a bill that would create a Cabinet-level director of National Intelligence to oversee non-military agencies, including the CIA.

Also in 2004, Palestinians began a formal search for a successor to Yasser Arafat. The next president of the Palestinian Authority was scheduled to be chosen in a Jan. 9 election.

In 2005, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ruled out an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, saying such a move would further endanger the United States.

Also in 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez led a protest of thousands in Caracas against U.S. President George Bush's proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.


A thought for the day: Raymond Carver said, "Maybe I just don't understand poetry. I admit it's not the first thing I reach for when I pick up something to read."

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On this date in history:


Today is Tuesday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2006 with 40 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Jupiter, Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include French author Francois Voltaire in 1694; William Beaumont, pioneer U.S. Army surgeon, in 1785; British steamship company founder Samuel Cunard in 1787; jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins in 1904; dancer/actress Eleanor Powell in 1912; St. Louis Cardinals batting champion Stan Musial in 1920 (age 86); actor Lawrence Luckinbill in 1934 (age 72); actresses Juliet Mills in 1941 (age 65) and Marlo Thomas in 1937 (age 69); TV producer Marcy Carsey and filmmaker/actor Harold Ramis, both in 1944 (age 62); actresses Goldie Hawn in 1945 (age 61), Lorna Luft in 1952 (age 54), and Nicollette Sheridan ("Desperate Housewives") in 1963 (age 43); and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman in 1966 (age 40).


On this date in history:

In 1783, in Paris, Jean de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes made the first free-flight ascent in a balloon.

In 1877, Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph.

In 1938, Nazi forces occupied western Czechoslovakia and declared its people German citizens.

In 1974, the U.S. Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act over U.S. President Gerald Ford's veto.

In 1985, Jonathan Jay Pollard, a civilian U.S. Navy intelligence analyst and Jewish-American, was arrested on charges of illegally passing classified U.S. security information about Arab nations to Israel.

Also in 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended a summit in Switzerland. They promised acceleration of arms-reduction talks.

In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, making it easier for workers to sue in job discrimination cases.

In 1995, China jailed well-known dissident Wei Jing-sheng and charged him with trying to overthrow the government.

In 2001, a 94-year-old Connecticut woman became the nation's fifth anthrax victim, a death that mystified authorities since she rarely left home. Later it was discovered a family living a mile away had received a letter with anthrax residue on it.

In 2002, a new NATO was born as alliance leaders began the most radical transformation of the military bloc in its 53-year history.

Also in 2002, authorities questioned a senior leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network, a man believed to be the mastermind of the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in the Yemen harbor.

And, in 2002, an earthquake with a 5.8 reading struck northern Pakistan, killing at least 25 people.

In 2003, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate conferees finished the final version of the approximately $400 billion, 1,000-page bill that would create prescription drug coverage for 42 million Americans on Medicare.

In 2004, Iraqi authorities set Jan. 30, 2005, as the date for the nation's first election since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.

Also in 2004, Chinese authorities sought the cause of a China Eastern Airlines commuter jet crash seconds after takeoff, killing all 53 people on board.

In 2005, General Motors Corp., the world's biggest carmaker, announced it was cutting its payroll by 30,000 and shutting nine major plants to stop a financial hemorrhage. So far that year GM reported losing nearly $4 billion.

Also in 2005, a group of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders in Iraq demanded a timetable for the pullout of foreign troops.

And, in 2005, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon resigned as head of the Likud Party he founded to start a new organization called Kadima.


A thought for the day: it was Voltaire who said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

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On this date in history:

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 22, the 326th day of 2006 with 39 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include French explorer of North America Rene Robert de la Salle in 1643; English novelist George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) in 1819; French statesman and military leader Charles de Gaulle in 1890; Wiley Post, the first pilot to fly solo around the world, in 1898; composers Hoagy Carmichael in 1899 and Benjamin Britten in 1913; comedian Rodney Dangerfield in 1921; actress Geraldine Page in 1924; actors Robert Vaughn in 1932 (age 74) and Tom Conti in 1941 (age 65); writer/director and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam in 1940 (age 66); Guion S. Bluford, Jr., the first black U.S. astronaut in space, in 1942 (age 64); tennis player Billie Jean King in 1943 (age 63); actors Richard Kind in 1956 (age 50), Jamie Lee Curtis in 1958 (age 48) and Mariel Hemingway in 1961 (age 45); tennis player Boris Becker in 1967 (age 39); actress Scarlett Johansson in 1984 (age 22).


On this date in history:

In 1718, Edward Teach, also known as the pirate Blackbeard, was killed off North Carolina's Outer Banks during a battle with a British navy force.

In 1935, a Pan American Martin 130 "flying boat" called the China Clipper began regular trans-Pacific mail service. The flight from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines, took 59 hours and 48 minutes.

In 1950, a train wreck in New York City killed 79 people.

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, 46 and in the third year of his first term, was assassinated during a motorcade in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with Kennedy's murder but was slain before he could go to trial. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the nation's 36th chief executive.

In 1972, the State Department ended a 22-year ban on U.S. travel to China.

In 1977, the Anglo-French supersonic Concorde jetliner began scheduled flights to New York from London and Paris.

In 1980, actress Mae West died at the age of 88.

In 1989, newly elected Lebanese President Rene Moawad died in bomb blast that also killed 17 other people in Syrian-patrolled Muslim West Beirut.

Also in 1989, 12 U.S. Green Berets were evacuated from the San Salvador Sheraton. They were the last of nearly 100 people trapped when leftist rebels seized the hotel.

In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in office as England's longest-serving leader of the 20th century.

In 1991, the U.S. State Department invited Israel and Arab negotiators to begin bilateral peace talks in Washington.

In 1992, at least 27 people died when tornadoes carved a path of destruction through the U.S. South and Midwest.

Also in 1992, 10 women who had worked for or with U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood reportedly accused the Oregon Republican of unwelcome sexual advances.

And in 1992, Woody Allen told "60 Minutes" that Mia Farrow vowed to do something "very nasty" to him before she charged him with sexually abusing their adopted 7-year-old daughter.

In 1993, Mexico's Senate approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Also in 1993, striking American Airline flight attendants agreed to return to work after U.S. President Bill Clinton urged both sides in the labor dispute to seek arbitration.

In 1995, OPEC agreed to maintain its 1994 oil production quotas.

In 1996, Washington announced a review of airbag safety following reports of deaths caused by air bags during deployment.

In 1997, New Zealanders Robert Hamill and Phil Stubbs arrived in Barbados from the Canary Islands in their boat, Kiwi Challenger, after 41 days, 1 hour and 55 minutes -- a record for rowing across the Atlantic.

In 2000, while the nation waited to see who would be the next president, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that hand count of the state's presidential ballots could continue despite Republican objections. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled against any further recounting, a move that propelled George W. Bush to the presidency.

In 2002, Red Cross officials reported at least 100 people died in riots in northern Nigeria sparked by a religious controversy over the Miss World beauty pageant.

Also in 2002, Indonesian police reported the capture of the prime suspect in last month's Bali bombings in which around 200 people were killed.

In 2003, the U.S. Senate began debating the $395 billion Medicare prescription drug bill passed earlier in the day by the House. The measure eventually passed and was signed into law.

In 2004, according to insiders, U.S. President George Bush planned to embark on his second term with an accent on remaking the Middle East and overhauling Social Security to allow workers to set up private accounts.

Also in 2004, an African Union helicopter rescued 45 aid workers, 30 of them from the Save the Children organization, amid renewed fighting at Al-Fashir in Sudan's Darfur region.

In 2005, an Arab-American student, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was convicted in Alexandria, Va., of conspiring with al-Qaida to assassinate U.S. President George Bush and hijack airplanes.

Also in 2005, Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany's chancellor. She was the first woman and first person from East Germany to lead the country.

And, in 2005, Italian police rounded up more than 30 million quarts of Nestle baby formula as a precaution against possible contamination from a chemical used in packaging.


A thought for the day: U.S. President John Kennedy said, "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

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On this date in history:

Today is Thursday, Nov. 23, the 327th day of 2006 with 38 to follow.

This is Thanksgiving Day.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include(Stan- ts4ms.com),(Ficox1111-ts4ms.com) Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States, in 1804; notorious outlaw Billy "The Kid" Bonney in 1859; Mexican artist Jose Clemente Orozco in 1883; actor Boris Karloff in 1887; Romain de Tirtoff, the fashion designer and artist known as Erte, in 1892; comic Harpo (Adolph Arthur) Marx in 1888; and actress Susan Anspach in 1942 (age 64).

On this date in history:

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

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

In 1919, the first play-by-play football game radio broadcast in the United States took place with Texas A&M blanking the University of Texas, 7-0.

In 1936, Life magazine made its debut.

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

In 1945, World War II rationing ended in the United States on all foods except sugar.

In 1954, China announced it had convicted 11 U.S. airmen and two civilians of espionage.

In 1980, an earthquake in Naples, Italy, killed 4,800 people.

In 1991, Serbian, Croatian and Yugoslav leaders signed a U.N.-mediated cease-fire accord. It didn't last.

In 1992, the United States lowered its flag over the last U.S. base in the Philippines, ending nearly a century of military presence in its former colony.

Also in 1992, country music legend Roy Acuff, who rode the "Wabash Cannonball" to fame and fortune, died of congestive heart failure at age 89.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed legislation repealing U.S. sanctions against South Africa.

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

In 1997, Prince Charles appointed former British Prime Minister John Major as the legal and financial protector of Princes William and Harry. The boys' mother, Diana, had been killed in a car accident almost three months earlier.

In 2001, Israelis killed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abu Hudnud, head of the extremist group Hamas, in a helicopter attack in Jerusalem.

In 2002, the Bush administration eased anti-pollution regulations that required older coal-fired refineries to upgrade facilities with modern clean air equipment in an effort to spur expanded construction of power plants.

In 2003, an early morning dormitory fire at a Moscow university killed at least 18 students and injured 80 others.

In 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office agreed to investigate allegations of irregularities in the Nov. 2 presidential election. The House Judiciary Committee reportedly received 57,000 election complaints.

Also in 2004, in the disputed Ukraine election, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner and took the symbolic oath of office. But, the following day, Ukraine's election officials declared that the Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was the winner.

In 2005, John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned the United Nations that unless steps were taken to stay relevant and rid itself of corruption and incompetence, the United States is likely to begin bypassing the organization.

Also in 2005, a prominent Sunni Muslim tribal chief, his three sons and a son-in-law were reported gunned down by men wearing Iraqi army uniforms.


A thought for the day: there's a proverb that says, "Before you trust a man, eat a peck of salt with him."

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On this date in history:

Today is Friday, Nov. 24, the 328th day of 2006 with 37 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include (Zendala-ts4ms.com) Dutch philosopher Baruch "Benedict" de Spinoza in 1632; British novelist and clergyman Laurence Sterne in 1713; Zachary Taylor, 12th president of the United States, in 1784; gambler, frontier lawman and sports writer William "Bat" Masterson in 1853; painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec in 1864; ragtime composer Scott Joplin in 1868; lecturer and author Dale Carnegie in 1888; pianist Teddy Wilson in 1912; actress Geraldine Fitzgerald in 1913; columnist William F. Buckley, in 1925 (age 81); and actors Dwight Schultz in 1947 (age 59) and Stanley Livingston in 1950 (age 56).


On this date in history:

In 1863, Union Gen. U.S. Grant launched the U.S. Civil War Battle of Chattanooga in Tennessee.

In 1869, women from 21 states met in Cleveland to organize the American Women Suffrage Association.

In 1874, Joseph Glidden received a patent for barbed wire, which made the farming of the Great Plains possible.

In 1963, accused Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was fatally shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby in a Dallas jail building.

In 1971, a middle-aged man whose ticket was made out to "D.B. Cooper" hijacked a Northwest Airlines flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle. Somewhere south of Seattle, he parachuted from the plane with the $200,000 in ransom he'd collected from the airline and was never heard from again.

In 1985, Arab commandos forced an Egypt Air jetliner to Malta and began shooting passengers, killing two. Fifty-seven other people died when Egyptian commandos stormed the jet.

In 1989, Czech reform politician Alexander Dubcek made his first public appearance in Prague since the Soviet invasion of 1968.

In 1993, the Brady Bill handgun-control legislation cleared the U.S. Congress. U.S. President Bill Clinton signed it into law on Nov. 30, 1993.

In 1995, Irish voters passed a referendum removing the constitutional ban on divorce.

In 2001, the successful cloning of 24 cows was reported by a team of scientists in Worcester, Mass.

In 2002, suspected Islamic terrorists stormed a famous Hindu temple in Kashmir, India, killing seven people and wounding 30 others.

In 2003, jurors in Virginia Beach, Va., recommended John Allen Muhammad be put to death for the 2002 Washington-area sniper slayings.

Also in 2003, Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn, the winningest left-hander in major league baseball history, died at the age of 82.

In 2004, Iraqis who escaped the recent U.S.-led offensive against insurgents in Fallujah reportedly claimed to have witnessed the killing of unarmed civilians.

Also in 2004, Brazilian energy officials said the South American country will begin enriching uranium with the full consent of the United Nations.

In 2005, a suicide car bomber struck at an Iraqi hospital where U.S. soldiers were giving away toys, killing at least 31 people, mostly women and children. Nearly two dozen others died in further violence during the day in Iraq.


A thought for the day: Dutch philosopher Baruch "Benedict" de Spinoza said, "Peace is not an absence of war. It is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."

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On this date in history:


Today is Saturday, Nov. 25, the 329th day of 2006 with 36 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius They include (Tazmindog- ts4ms.com), industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1835; pioneer German automobile designer Karl Benz in 1844; social reformer Carry Nation in 1846; German mathematician; Pope John XXIII in 1881; New York Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio in 1914; actors Ricardo Montalban in 1920 (age 86); Kathryn Crosby in 1933 (age 73) and John Larroquette in 1947 (age 59); John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1960; singer Amy Grant, also in 1960 (age 46); and actresses Jill Hennessy in 1969 (age 37) and Christina Applegate in 1971 (age 35).


On this date in history:

In 1783, more than 6,000 British troops evacuated New York City after signing the peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War.

In 1947, film industry executives announced that 10 directors, producers and actors who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee would be fired or suspended.

In 1952, Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap," listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest running play, opened in London.

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas three days earlier, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1970, world-renowned Japanese writer Yukio Mishima committed suicide after failing to win public support for his often extreme political beliefs.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the national highway speed limit cut from 70 mph to 55 mph to save lives and gasoline.

In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced the resignation of national security adviser John Poindexter and the firing of Poindexter aide Lt. Col. Oliver North in the aftermath of the secret, illegal Iran arms sale.

In 1987, Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, died in office of a heart attack at age 65.

In 1992, the Czechoslovakian Parliament voted to dissolve the country at the end of the year into separate Czech and Slovak states.

Also in 1992, a blizzard dumped up to 19 inches of snow in the U.S. plains states, stranding motorists and snarling Thanksgiving travel plans.

In 1996, a federal task force was sent to St. Petersburg, Fla., following riots triggered by a white police officer shooting a black car theft suspect.

In 2001, hundreds of Marines arrived in Afghanistan near the southern city of Kandahar in the first major entry of U.S. ground troops in that country in the war on terrorism.

Meanwhile, around 400 Taliban captives revolted at a prison near Mazar-e-Sharif, overpowered their guards and put up a fierce battle. U.S. planes were called in to bomb the prison.

Also in 2001, a Massachusetts biotechnology company announced it had created the first human embryos by cloning. President George W. Bush said later he considered the work on human cloning to be immoral.

In 2002, warrants were issued in Los Angeles for the arrest of two former Roman Catholic priests on molestation charges, some dating to the 1950s.

In 2003, a report by the United Nations and the World Health Organization said the infection and death rates of HIV/AIDS had reached an all-time high.

In 2004, nine people, including three federal agents, were found dead at two locations near Mexico's resort town of Cancun, all believed slain by drug traffickers.

Also in 2004, prolific thriller author Arthur Hailey died at his home in the Bahamas at age 84.

In 2005, a British poll said public confidence in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has plunged over concerns of shortages of flu vaccines and gas this winter.


A thought for the day: Andrew Carnegie wrote, "Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. The man who dies rich dies disgraced."

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On this date in history:

Today is Sunday, Nov. 26, the 330th day of 2006 with 35 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include English poet William Cowper in 1731; air conditioning engineer Willis Carrier in 1876; surgeon and women's rights leader Mary Walker Edwards in 1832; French playwright Eugene Ionesco in 1909; TV journalist Eric Sevareid in 1912; cartoonist Charles Schulz ("Peanuts") in 1922; singer Robert Goulet in 1933 (age 73); impressionist Rich Little in 1938 (age 68); and singer Tina Turner in 1939 (age 67).


On this date in history:

In 1789, U.S. President George Washington declared Nov. 26, 1789, to be Thanksgiving Day. It was the first U.S. holiday by presidential proclamation.

In 1832, the first streetcar railway in America started public service in New York City from City Hall to 14th Street. The car was pulled by a horse and the fare was 12 1/2 cents.

In 1922, In Egypt's Valley of the Kings, British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon became the first to enter King Tutankhamen's treasure-laden tomb in more than 3,000 years.

In 1940, German Nazis forced 500,000 Jews in Warsaw to live in a ghetto surrounded by an eight-foot concrete wall.

In 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull submitted U.S. proposals to the Japanese peace envoys in Washington.

In 1956, bandleader Tommy Dorsey died at age 51. His records sold more than 110 million records.

In 1965, France launched a satellite into space, becoming the world's third space power after the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1984, the United States and Iraq restored diplomatic relations, ending a 17-year break.

In 1992, the United States offered to send up to 20,000 U.S. ground troops to civil war-torn Somalia as part of a U.N. force to get relief supplies to the starving populace.

In 1997, the international price of gold in New York City fell to $298 per ounce, the lowest level in 12 years.

In 2001, the Afghanistan prison revolt, which was crushed the third day, claimed the life of a CIA operative, Johnny Michael Spann, 32, a former Marine captain. He was the first U.S. combat casualty of the war. Five other Americans were injured.

In 2002, Iran rejected a recent report that Tehran and Washington have agreed to cooperate in the event the United States attacks Iraq, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

In 2003, the U.N. nuclear watchdog passed a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program but stopped short of recommending sanctions.

In 2004, violence continued in Iraq with four private contractors killed in an explosion in Baghdad and six more bodies discovered in Mosul, bringing that grim 2-day toll to 21. It reached 35 a day later.

Also in 2004, a man broke into a high school dormitory in central China and killed eight students with a knife as they were sleeping. The killer got away.

In 2005, police officials said at least 30 people were killed and injured in a series of bombings and armed attacks in Iraq.

Also in 2005, an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi killed at least 14 people and injured hundreds of others.

And, in 2005, a 67-year-old textile tycoon in India, Vijaypat Singhaniaset, set a world's altitude record of 69,852 feet in a hot air balloon over Mumbai.


A thought for the day: Richard Bentley said, "No man was ever written out of reputation but by himself."

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Today is Monday, Nov. 27, the 331st day of 2006 with 34 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include (Sharon - ts4ms.com), (Beantown- ts4ms.com), Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and inventor of the centigrade thermometer, in 1701; American historian Charles Beard and Israeli statesman Chaim Weizmann, both in 1874; theatrical producer David Merrick in 1911; "Buffalo Bob" Smith ("The Howdy Dowdy Show") in 1917; actor and martial arts star Bruce Lee in 1940; rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix in 1942; singer Eddie Rabbitt in 1941; and actors Fisher Stevens in 1963 (age 43), Robin Givens in 1964 (age 42), and Jaleel White in 1976 (age 30).


On this date in history:

In 1759, town officials in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, evicted the Rev. Francis Gastrell from William Shakespeare's home after he cut down a 150-year-old tree that had been planted by the famed writer.

In 1901, the U.S. War Department authorized creation of the Army War College to instruct commissioned officers. It was built in Leavenworth, Kan.

In 1940, two months after Gen. Ion Antonescu seized power in Romania and forced King Carol II to abdicate, more than 60 aides of the exiled king, including Nicolae Iorga, a former minister and acclaimed historian, were executed.

In 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman named U.S. Army Gen. George Marshall his special representative to China.

In 1970, a man with a knife attempted to injure Pope Paul VI at Manila Airport in the Philippines.

In 1989, University of Chicago doctors implanted part of a woman's liver in her 21-month-old daughter in the nation's first living donor liver transplant.

Also in 1989, Virginia certified Douglas Wilder as the nation's first elected black governor by a margin of 0.38 percent.

In 1990, British Treasury chief John Major was elected Conservative Party leader, succeeding Margaret Thatcher as prime minister.

In 1992, military dissidents attempted to overthrow Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez.

In 1994, Bosnian Serbs took 150 U.N. peacekeepers hostage to prevent NATO airstrikes.

In 1997, tens of thousands of German students took to the streets of Bonn to protest the decline of Germany's higher education system.

In 2001, nearly half the 1,200 people detained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, mostly of Middle Eastern descent, were still in custody more than two months later.

In 2002, U.S. President George Bush created a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to glean lessons to help thwart future attacks.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush swooped into Iraq under the cover of darkness in a surprise visit to U.S. forces in Baghdad to help serve them Thanksgiving dinner.

In 2004, the U.N. Committee on Torture asked Britain to review its policy of detaining foreign terror suspects without trial.

Also in 2004, Venezuela reportedly planned to continue to strengthen its army with the help of Russian weaponry.

In 2005, earthquakes struck China and Iran. At least 17 people died in the quake that rattled eastern China and at least 10 were killed when another tremor hit southern Iran.

Also in 2005, former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said human rights abuses by the Baghdad government are as bad as they were under Saddam Hussein.


A thought for the day: King Louis XVIII of France had a favorite saying, "Punctuality is the politeness of kings."

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On this date in history:

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 28, the 332nd day of 2006 with 33 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Pluto, Venus, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include English poet William Blake in 1757; John Hyatt, inventor of celluloid, in 1837; architect Henry Bacon, designer of the Lincoln Memorial, in 1866; Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in 1929 (age 77); actress Hope Lange in 1931; singer/composer Randy Newman in 1943 (age 63); ballet dancer Alexander Godunov and band leader Paul Shaffer ("The Late Show With David Letterman"), both in 1949 (age 57); actors Ed Harris in 1950 (age 56), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order") in 1952 (age 54), and Judd Nelson in 1959 (age 47); and comedian Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") in 1962 (age 44).



On this date in history:

In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east.

In 1919, Virginia-born Nancy Astor became the first woman member of the British Parliament.

In 1925, "The Grand Ole Opry," the famed country music show, made its radio debut.

In 1942, a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston killed 491 people. Most victims suffocated or were trampled to death.

In 1958, the United States fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time.

In 1963, Cape Canaveral, the space center in Florida, was renamed Cape Kennedy to honor the assassinated president. Area residents later voted to revert to the original name.

In 1989, Czechoslovak Premier Ladislav Adamec agreed to a coalition government. The next day, the Czech Parliament revoked the Communist Party's monopoly.

In 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions.

In 1993, British officials confirmed they have made secret contacts with the outlawed Irish Republican Army in an effort to end the violence in Northern Ireland.

Also in 1993, Carlos Roberto Reina was elected president of Honduras.

In 1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and a second inmate were beaten to death by another inmate at the Columbia Correctional Center in Portage, Wis.

In 2002, an explosion hit an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa in Kenya, killing at least 15 people, and two missiles were fired at a departing Israeli passenger plane.

In 2003, an estimated 182 people were killed when two crowded ferries collided during a storm in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2004, a gas explosion in a central China mine killed a reported 166 people. About 123 miners escaped.

Also in 2004, more than 1 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were reported registered to vote in the Jan. 9 election.

In 2005, at least 150 miners were killed in a northeast China coal mine explosion. Seventy-one were reported missing.

Also in 2005, the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein resumed in Baghdad after a 40-day recess but was adjourned for a week to find replacement defense lawyers.

And, in 2005, U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy charges involving bribes from military contractors.


A thought for the day: Thomas Carlyle said, "... speech is of time, silence is of eternity."