There are 27 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
- On Dec. 4, 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va., where they held a service thanking God for their safe arrival. (Some suggest this was the true first Thanksgiving in America, ahead of the Pilgrims' arrival in Massachusetts.)
On this date:
- In 1783, General George Washington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.
- In 1816, James Monroe of Virginia was elected the fifth president of the United States.
- In 1875, William Marcy Tweed, the "Boss" of New York City's Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country.
- In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson left Washington on a trip to France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference.
- In 1942, U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II.
- In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been created to provide jobs during the Depression.
- In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James A. Lovell aboard.
- In 1978, San Francisco got its first female mayor as City Supervisor Dianne Feinstein was named to replace the assassinated George Moscone.
- In 1991, the original Pan American World Airways ceased operations.
- In 1996, the Mars Pathfinder lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and began speeding toward Mars on a 310 million-mile odyssey. (It arrived on Mars in July 1997.)
Ten years ago:
- Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of six blasted off on the first mission to begin assembling the international space station.
Five years ago:
- President George W. Bush scrapped import tariffs he'd imposed earlier to help the battered U.S. steel industry.
- Baltimore-based federal prosecutor Jonathan P. Luna was found dead behind the parking lot of a well-drilling company in Lancaster County, Pa. (The case remains unsolved.)
One year ago:
- Defending his credibility, President George W. Bush said Iran was dangerous and needed to be squeezed by international pressure despite a blockbuster intelligence finding that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program four years earlier. The intelligence report on Iran figured in a Democratic debate on National Public Radio as rivals assailed front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for voting in favor of a Senate resolution designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.
- Pimp C, a rapper with the Texas hip-hop group Underground Kingz, was found dead in a hotel room in Los Angeles; he was 33.
Today's Birthdays:
- Actress-singer Deanna Durbin is 87.
- Game show host Wink Martindale is 74.
- Actor-producer Max Baer Jr. is 71.
- Actress Gemma Jones is 66.
- Rock musician Bob Mosley (Moby Grape) is 66.
- Singer-musician Chris Hillman is 64.
- Musician Terry Woods (The Pogues) is 61.
- Rock singer Southside Johnny Lyon is 60.
- Actor Jeff Bridges is 59.
- Rock musician Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd; the Rossington Collins Band) is 57.
- Actress Patricia Wettig is 57.
- Actor Tony Todd is 54.
- Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson is 53.
- Country musician Brian Prout (Diamond Rio) is 53.
- Rock musician Bob Griffin (The BoDeans) is 49.
- Rock singer Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) is 46.
- Actress Marisa Tomei is 44.
- Actress Chelsea Noble is 44.
- Actor-comedian Fred Armisen is 42.
- Rapper Jay-Z is 39.
- Actor Kevin Sussman is 38.
- Actress-model Tyra Banks is 35.
- Country singer Lila McCann is 27.
- Actress Lindsay Felton is 24.
- Actor Orlando Brown is 21.
Thought for Today:
"There is always room at the top — after the investigation."
Oliver Herford, American author (1863-1935).
"Let's all be careful out there!"