DECEMBER 1ST

Today is Monday, Dec. 1, the 336th day of 2008.
There are 30 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a yearlong boycott of the buses by blacks.

On this date:

• In 1824, the presidential election was turned over to the U.S. House of Representatives when a deadlock developed between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. (Adams ended up the winner.)
• In 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis closed after seven months and some 20 million visitors.
• In 1913, the first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Company opened in Pittsburgh.
• In 1921, the Navy flew the first nonrigid dirigible to use helium; the C-7 traveled from Hampton Roads, Va., to Washington, D.C.
• In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin concluded their Tehran conference.
• In 1958, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Flower Drum Song" opened on Broadway.
• In 1969, the U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.
• In 1973, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, died in Tel Aviv at age 87.
• In 1992, in Mineola, N.Y., Amy Fisher was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for shooting and seriously wounding Mary Jo Buttafuoco. (Fisher served seven years.)
• In 2000, Vicente Fox was sworn in as president of Mexico, ending 71 years of ruling-party domination.

Ten years ago:

• Exxon agreed to buy Mobil for $73.7 billion.
• Cuba's Communist Party recommended that Dec. 25 be re-established as a permanent holiday.

Five years ago:

• India and Pakistan agreed to restore airline overflight and landing rights by Jan. 1, 2004.
• Boeing Co. chairman and chief executive Phil Condit resigned unexpectedly.
• U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow went on trial in Flandreau, S.D., charged with manslaughter in the death of a motorcyclist who'd collided with his automobile. (Janklow was convicted and served 100 days in jail.)

One year ago:

• Police in Wichita, Kan., identified a body found days earlier as that of Emily Sander, a missing college student whose disappearance drew nationwide attention after the discovery she was also an Internet pornography model named Zoey Zane. (A suspect, Israel Mireles, is fighting extradition from Mexico.)
• Four suspects were charged in Miami in the shooting death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor. (One ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder; a fifth suspect was also charged.)

Today's Birthdays:

• Actor Paul Picerni is 86.
• Former CIA director Stansfield Turner is 85.
• Singer Billy Paul is 74.
• Actor-director Woody Allen is 73.
• Golfer Lee Trevino is 69.
• Singer Dianne Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 69.
• Country musician Casey Van Beek (The Tractors) is 66.
• Television producer David Salzman is 65.
• Rock singer-musician Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult) is 64.
• Rock musician John Densmore (The Doors) is 64.
• Actress-singer Bette Midler is 63.
• Singer Gilbert O'Sullivan is 62.
• Actor Treat Williams is 57.
• Country singer Kim Richey is 52.
• Actress Charlene Tilton is 50.
• Actress-model Carol Alt is 48.
• Actor Jeremy Northam is 47.
• Actor Nestor Carbonell is 41.
• Actress Golden Brooks is 38.
• Actress-comedian Sarah Silverman is 38.
• Actor Ron Melendez is 36.
• Contemporary Christian singer Bart Millard is 36.
• Singer Sarah Masen is 33.
• Rock musician Brad Delson (Linkin Park) is 31.
• Actress Ashley Monique Clark is 20.

Thought for Today:

"Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end."
Marcelene Cox, American writer.

"Let's all be careful out there!"