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Monday, November 17, 2008

NOVEMBER 17TH

Today is Monday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2008.
There are 44 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

  • On Nov. 17, 1968, the NBC television network outraged football fans by cutting away from the closing minutes of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game to begin a special presentation of "Heidi" on schedule. (Home viewers were prevented from seeing the Raiders come from behind to beat the Jets, 43-32.)

On this date:

  • In 1558, Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.
  • In 1800, Congress held its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.
  • In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.
  • In 1917, sculptor Auguste Rodin died in Meudon, France, at age 77.
  • In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird," in San Antonio, Texas.
  • In 1962, Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by President Kennedy.
  • In 1970, the Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1.
  • In 1973, President Nixon told Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla.: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
  • In 1987, a federal jury in Denver convicted two neo-Nazis and acquitted two others of civil rights violations in the 1984 slaying of radio talk show host Alan Berg.
  • In 1997, 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed when six militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers were killed by police.

Ten years ago:
  • The public got to hear Monica Lewinsky's voice for the first time as the House Judiciary Committee released 22 hours of tape recordings secretly made by Linda Tripp.
  • Israel's parliament overwhelmingly approved the Wye River land-for-peace accord with the Palestinians.
  • Actress Esther Rolle died in Culver City, Calif., at age 78.

Five years ago:
  • John Allen Muhammad was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.
  • Rush Limbaugh returned to radio after five weeks of rehabilitation for a painkiller addiction.
  • Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez won the American League Most Valuable Player award.

One year ago:
  • U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte delivered a blunt message to Pakistan's military ruler, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, telling him emergency rule had to be lifted and his opponents freed ahead of elections.
  • A Nobel-winning U.N. scientific panel said in a landmark report that the Earth was hurtling toward a warmer climate at a quickening pace.

Today's Birthdays:
  • Rock musician Gerry McGee (The Ventures) is 71.
  • Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 70.
  • Movie director Martin Scorsese is 66.
  • Actress Lauren Hutton is 65.
  • Actor-director Danny DeVito is 64.
  • "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels is 64.
  • Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver is 64.
  • Movie director Roland Joffe is 63.
  • Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 60.
  • Actor Stephen Root is 57.
  • Rock musician Jim Babjak (The Smithereens) is 51.
  • Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 50.
  • Actor William Moses is 49.
  • Entertainer RuPaul is 48.
  • Actor Dylan Walsh is 45.
  • Actress Sophie Marceau is 42.
  • Actress-model Daisy Fuentes is 42.
  • Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 41.
  • Rock musician Ben Wilson (Blues Traveler) is 41.
  • Actress Leslie Bibb is 35.
  • Actor Brandon Call is 32.
  • Country singer Aaron Lines is 31.
  • Actress Rachel McAdams is 30.
  • Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 28.
  • Actor Justin Cooper is 20.
  • Actress Raquel Castro is 14.

Thought for Today:
"There's one thing that keeps surprising you about stormy old friends after they die — their silence."
Ben Hecht, American author and screenwriter (1893-1964).



"Let's all be careful out there!"