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Sunday, November 30, 2008

NOVEMBER 30TH

Today is Sunday, Nov. 30, the 335th day of 2008.
There are 31 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

  • On Nov. 30, 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.

On this date:

  • In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.
  • In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — was born in Florida, Mo.
  • In 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace.
  • In 1900, Irish writer Oscar Wilde died in Paris at age 46.
  • In 1936, London's famed Crystal Palace, constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was destroyed in a fire.
  • In 1939, the Russo-Finnish War began as Soviet troops invaded Finland.
  • In 1962, U Thant of Burma, who had been acting secretary-general of the United Nations following the death of Dag Hammarskjold the year before, was elected to a four-year term.
  • In 1966, the former British colony of Barbados became independent.
  • In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.
  • In 1988, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. was declared the winner of the corporate free-for-all to take over RJR Nabisco Inc. with a bid of $24.53 billion.

Ten years ago:
  • Quebec's separatist premier, Lucien Bouchard, was returned to power, but with only 43 percent of the vote, setting back the Parti Quebecois' goal of seeking independence from Canada.
  • Deutsche Bank AG officially announced it was acquiring Bankers Trust Corp. for more than $10 billion.

Five years ago:
  • U.S. soldiers in Iraq fought back coordinated attacks throughout the northern city of Samarra.
  • Two South Korean contractors were killed in a roadside ambush.
  • Nathaniel Jones, a black man, died during a fight with Cincinnati police in a case that heightened racial tensions.
  • Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Roy E. Disney stepped down from the board of directors.
  • Mark Philippoussis gave Australia its 28th Davis Cup title, beating Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0.
  • Former U.S. congressman and World Bank chairman Barber B. Conable Jr. died in Sarasota, Fla., at age 81.
  • Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, died in Wyckoff, N.J., at age 98.

One year ago:
  • A man took hostages at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, N.H.; Leeland Eisenberg surrendered about five hours later.
  • An Atlasjet plane crashed in southwest Turkey, killing all 57 people on board.
  • An Amtrak train and a freight train collided on a track on the South Side of Chicago, injuring dozens of people.
  • Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel died in Clearwater, Fla., at age 69.

Today's Birthdays:
  • Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is 91.
  • Actor Robert Guillaume is 81.
  • TV personality and producer Dick Clark is 79.
  • Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy is 78.
  • Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen is 71.
  • Movie director Ridley Scott is 71.
  • Singer Rob Grill (The Grassroots) is 65.
  • Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 65.
  • Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 63.
  • Playwright David Mamet is 61.
  • Actress Margaret Whitton is 58.
  • Actor Mandy Patinkin is 56.
  • Musician Shuggie Otis is 55.
  • Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 54.
  • Singer Billy Idol is 53.
  • Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is 51.
  • Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) is 51.
  • Comedian Colin Mochrie is 51.
  • Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 46.
  • Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 45.
  • Actor-director Ben Stiller is 43.
  • Rock musician Mike Stone is 39.
  • Actress Sandra Oh is 38.
  • Country singer Mindy McCready is 33.
  • Singer Clay Aiken is 30.
  • Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 26.
  • Actress Kaley Cuoco is 23.

Thought for Today:
"A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900).



"Let's all be careful out there!"