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!"