NOVEMBER 30th

On this date in:
1782	The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
1804	Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase went on trial, accused of political bias. He was acquitted by the Senate.
1835	Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Mo.
1874	British statesman Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
1900	Author Oscar Wilde died at age 46.
1962	U Thant of Burma was elected secretary-general of the United Nations, succeeding the late Dag Hammarskjold.
1966	The former British colony of Barbados became independent.
1979	The album "The Wall" by Pink Floyd was released.
1981	The United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.
1993	President Bill Clinton signed into law the Brady bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.
1993	Authorities in California arrested Richard Allen Davis, who confessed to abducting and killing 12 year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma.
1999	The opening of a 135-nation trade gathering in Seattle was disrupted by at least 40,000 demonstrators, some of whom clashed with police.
2001	Robert Tools, the first person to receive a fully self-contained artificial heart, died in Louisville, Ky., after living with the device for 151 days.
2007	A man took hostages at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, N.H.; Leeland Eisenberg surrendered about five hours later.

Article of the day

Folies Bergere stage first revue

Once a hall for operettas, pantomime, political meetings, and vaudeville, the Folies Bergère in Paris introduces an elaborate revue featuring women in sensational costumes. The highly popular "Place aux Jeunes" established the Folies as the premier nightspot in Paris. In the 1890s, the Folies followed the Parisian taste for striptease and quickly gained a reputation for its spectacular nude shows. The theater spared no expense, staging revues that featured as many as 40 sets, 1,000 costumes, and an off-stage crew of some 200 people.

The Folies Bergère dates back to 1869, when it opened as one of the first major music halls in Paris. It produced light opera and pantomimes with unknown singers and proved a resounding failure. Greater success came in the 1870s, when the Folies Bergère staged vaudeville. Among other performers, the early vaudeville shows featured acrobats, a snake charmer, a boxing kangaroo, trained elephants, the world's tallest man, and a Greek prince who was covered in tattoos allegedly as punishment for trying to seduce the Shah of Persia's daughter. The public was allowed to drink and socialize in the theater's indoor garden and promenade area, and the Folies Bergère became synonymous with the carnal temptations of the French capital. Famous paintings by Édouard Manet and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were set in the Folies.

In 1886, the Folies Bergère went under new management, which, on November 30, staged the first revue-style music hall show. The "Place aux Jeunes," featuring scantily clad chorus girls, was a tremendous success. The Folies women gradually wore less and less as the 20th century approached, and the show's costumes and sets became more and more outrageous. Among the performers who got their start at the Folies Bergère were Yvette Guilbert, Maurice Chevalier, and Mistinguett. The African American dancer and singer Josephine Baker made her Folies debut in 1926, lowered from the ceiling in a flower-covered sphere that opened onstage to reveal her wearing a G-string ornamented with bananas.

The Folies Bergère remained a success throughout the 20th century and still can be seen in Paris today, although the theater now features many mainstream concerts and performances. Among other traditions that date back more than a century, the show's title always contains 13 letters and includes the word "Folie."

Today Birthdays

Folies Bergere stage first revue

Once a hall for operettas, pantomime, political meetings, and vaudeville, the Folies Bergère in Paris introduces an elaborate revue featuring women in sensational costumes. The highly popular "Place aux Jeunes" established the Folies as the premier nightspot in Paris. In the 1890s, the Folies followed the Parisian taste for striptease and quickly gained a reputation for its spectacular nude shows. The theater spared no expense, staging revues that featured as many as 40 sets, 1,000 costumes, and an off-stage crew of some 200 people.

The Folies Bergère dates back to 1869, when it opened as one of the first major music halls in Paris. It produced light opera and pantomimes with unknown singers and proved a resounding failure. Greater success came in the 1870s, when the Folies Bergère staged vaudeville. Among other performers, the early vaudeville shows featured acrobats, a snake charmer, a boxing kangaroo, trained elephants, the world's tallest man, and a Greek prince who was covered in tattoos allegedly as punishment for trying to seduce the Shah of Persia's daughter. The public was allowed to drink and socialize in the theater's indoor garden and promenade area, and the Folies Bergère became synonymous with the carnal temptations of the French capital. Famous paintings by Édouard Manet and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were set in the Folies.

In 1886, the Folies Bergère went under new management, which, on November 30, staged the first revue-style music hall show. The "Place aux Jeunes," featuring scantily clad chorus girls, was a tremendous success. The Folies women gradually wore less and less as the 20th century approached, and the show's costumes and sets became more and more outrageous. Among the performers who got their start at the Folies Bergère were Yvette Guilbert, Maurice Chevalier, and Mistinguett. The African American dancer and singer Josephine Baker made her Folies debut in 1926, lowered from the ceiling in a flower-covered sphere that opened onstage to reveal her wearing a G-string ornamented with bananas.

The Folies Bergère remained a success throughout the 20th century and still can be seen in Paris today, although the theater now features many mainstream concerts and performances. Among other traditions that date back more than a century, the show's title always contains 13 letters and includes the word "Folie."

NOVEMBER 29th

On this date in:
1890	The first Army-Navy football game was played, with Navy winning 24-0 at West Point, N.Y.
1924	Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels.
1929	Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he'd made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.
1952	President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower kept his campaign promise to visit Korea to assess the ongoing conflict.
1961	Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited Earth twice before returning.
1963	President Lyndon B. Johnson named a commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
1967	Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced he was leaving the Johnson administration to become president of the World Bank.
1981	Actress Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident at age 43.
1986	Actor Cary Grant died at age 82.
1989	In response to a growing pro-democracy movement in Czechoslovakia, the Communist-run parliament ended the party's 40-year monopoly on power.
1990	The U.N. Security Council voted 12-2 to authorize military action if Iraq did not withdraw its troops from Kuwait and release all foreign hostages by Jan. 15, 1991.
1996	A U.N. court sentenced Bosnian Serb army soldier Drazen Erdemovic to 10 years in prison for his role in the massacre of 1,200 Muslims - the first international war crimes sentence since World War II.
1999	Protestant and Catholic adversaries formed a Northern Ireland government.
2001	Rock musician George Harrison of the Beatles died at age 58 following a battle with cancer.

Article of the day

U.N. votes for partition of Palestine

Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state.

The modern conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine dates back to the 1910s, when both groups laid claim to the British-controlled territory. The Jews were Zionists, recent emigrants from Europe and Russia who came to the ancient homeland of the Jews to establish a Jewish national state. The native Palestinian Arabs sought to stem Jewish immigration and set up a secular Palestinian state.

Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews openly fought in Palestine, and Britain attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally entered Palestine during World War II. Radical Jewish groups employed terrorism against British forces in Palestine, which they thought had betrayed the Zionist cause. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain, unable to find a practical solution, referred the problem to the United Nations, which on November 29, 1947, voted to partition Palestine.

The Jews were to possess more than half of Palestine, though they made up less than half of Palestine's population. The Palestinian Arabs, aided by volunteers from other countries, fought the Zionist forces, but the Jews secured full control of their U.N.-allocated share of Palestine and also some Arab territory. On May 14, 1948, Britain withdrew with the expiration of its mandate, and the State of Israel was proclaimed by Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion. The next day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded.

The Israelis, though less well equipped, managed to fight off the Arabs and then seize key territories, such as Galilee, the Palestinian coast, and a strip of territory connecting the coastal region to the western section of Jerusalem. In 1949, U.N.-brokered cease-fires left the State of Israel in permanent control of those conquered areas. The departure of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Israel during the war left the country with a substantial Jewish majority.

Today Birthdays

Don Cheadle turns 44 years old today.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles Actor Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda") turns 44 years old today.

81 Vin Scully Sportscaster 76 Jacques Chirac Former president of France 75 John Mayall Blues singer, musician 73 Diane Ladd Actress 68 Chuck Mangione Musician, composer 67 Jody Miller Country singer 64 Felix Cavaliere Pop singer, musician (The Rascals) 62 Suzy Chaffee Skier 59 Garry Shandling Actor, comedian ("The Larry Sanders Show") 54 Joel Coen Director ("Fargo") 56 Jeff Fahey Actor 53 Howie Mandel Comedian, game show host ("Deal or No Deal") 51 Janet Napolitano Governor of Arizona 48 Cathy Moriarty Actress 47 Kim Delaney Actress ("NYPD Blue") 47 Tom Sizemore Actor 46 Andrew McCarthy Actor 43 Neill Barry Actor, producer 43 Wallis Buchanan Musician (Jamiroquai) 40 Martin Carr Rock musician (Boo Radleys) 40 Jonathan Knight Singer (New Kids on the Block) 39 Mariano Rivera New York Yankees pitcher 38 Larry Joe Campbell Actor ("According to Jim") 37 Gena Lee Nolin Actress 36 Brian Baumgartner Actor ("The Office") 32 Anna Faris Actress 32 Julian Ovenden Actor 29 The Game Rapper 27 Ringo Garza Rock musician (Los Lonely Boys) 26 Lucas Black Actor

NOVEMBER 28th

On this date in:
1520	Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.
1895	The first automobile race took place, between Chicago and Waukegan, Ill.
1925	The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville made its radio debut on station WSM.
1939	James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, died at age 78.
1942	Fire destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing nearly 500 people.
1958	The African nation of Chad became an autonomous republic within the French community.
1975	President Gerald R. Ford nominated federal Judge John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court seat vacated by William O. Douglas.
1990	Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister of Britain. She was succeded by John Major.
1994	Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate.
1995	President Bill Clinton signed a bill that ended the federal 55 mph speed limit.
1999	Hsing-Hsing, a giant panda who arrived at the National Zoo in 1972 as a symbol of U.S.-China detente, was euthanized at age 28 because of deteriorating health.
2000	George W. Bush's lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to bring "legal finality" to the presidential election by ending any further ballot recounts; Al Gore's team countered that the nation's highest court should not interfere in Florida's recount dispute.
2001	Enron Corp., once the world's largest energy trader, collapsed after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion deal to take it over.
2007	O.J. Simpson pleaded not guilty in Las Vegas to charges of kidnapping and armed robbery stemming from a confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers. (Simpson and a co-defendant were convicted last month.)

Article of the day

Magellan reaches the Pacific

After sailing through the dangerous straits below South America that now bear his name, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan enters the Pacific Ocean with three ships, becoming the first European explorer to reach the Pacific from the Atlantic.

On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific. He searched the Rio de la Plata, a large estuary south of Brazil, for a way through; failing, he continued south along the coast of Patagonia. At the end of March 1520, the expedition set up winter quarters at Port St. Julian. On Easter day at midnight, the Spanish captains mutinied against their Portuguese captain, but Magellan crushed the revolt, executing one of the captains and leaving another ashore when his ship left St. Julian in August.

On October 21, he finally discovered the strait he had been seeking. The Strait of Magellan, as it became known, is located near the tip of South America, separating Tierra del Fuego and the continental mainland. Only three ships entered the passage; one had been wrecked and another deserted. It took 38 days to navigate the treacherous strait, and when ocean was sighted at the other end Magellan wept with joy. His fleet accomplished the westward crossing of the ocean in 99 days, crossing waters so strangely calm that the ocean was named "Pacific," from the Latin word pacificus, meaning "tranquil." By the end, the men were out of food and chewed the leather parts of their gear to keep themselves alive. On March 6, 1521, the expedition landed at the island of Guam.

Ten days later, they dropped anchor at the Philippine island of Cebu--they were only about 400 miles from the Spice Islands. Magellan met with the chief of Cebu, who after converting to Christianity persuaded the Europeans to assist him in conquering a rival tribe on the neighboring island of Mactan. In fighting on April 27, Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow and left to die by his retreating comrades.

After Magellan's death, the survivors, in two ships, sailed on to the Moluccas and loaded the hulls with spice. One ship attempted, unsuccessfully, to return across the Pacific. The other ship, the Vittoria, continued west under the command of Basque navigator Juan Sebastian de Elcano. The vessel sailed across the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at the Spanish port of Sanlucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the globe.

Today Birthdays

Jon Stewart turns 46 years old today.

AP Photo/Reed Saxon Comedian Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") turns 46 years old today.

79 Berry Gordy Jr. Motown Records founder 72 Gary Hart Former U.S. senator, D-Colo. 68 Bruce Channel Singer, songwriter 66 Paul Warfield Football Hall of Famer 65 Randy Newman Singer, songwriter 62 Joe Dante Movie director 59 Paul Shaffer Bandleader ("Late Show With David Letterman") 58 Ed Harris Actor 56 S. Epatha Merkerson Actress ("Law and Order") 55 Michael Chertoff Secretary of homeland security 52 Kristine Arnold Country singer (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) 49 Judd Nelson Actor 47 Alfonso Cuaron Director ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") 46 Matt Cameron Rock musician 46 Jane Sibbett Actress 42 Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon Actress 40 Dawn Robinson R&B singer 34 apl.de.ap Hip-hop artist (Black Eyed Peas) 30 Aimee Garcia Actress ("George Lopez") 29 Chamillionaire Rapper 24 Mary Elizabeth Winstead Actress 20 Scarlett Pomers Actress ("Reba")

NOVEMBER 27th

On this date in:
1901	The Army War College was established in Washington, D.C.
1910	New York's Pennsylvania Station opened.
1942	The French navy at Toulon scuttled its ships and submarines to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.
1953	Playwright Eugene O'Neill died at age 65.
1970	Pope Paul VI, visiting the Philippines, was slightly wounded at the Manila airport by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.
1978	San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death inside City Hall by Dan White, a former supervisor.
1985	The British House of Commons approved the Anglo-Irish accord, giving Dublin a consultative role in the governing of British-ruled Northern Ireland.
2002	U.N. specialists began a new round of weapons inspections in Iraq.
2003	President George W. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops.

Article of the day

Pope Urban II orders first Crusade

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II makes perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of "Deus volt!" or "God wills it!"

Born Odo of Lagery in 1042, Urban was a protege of the great reformer Pope Gregory VII. Like Gregory, he made internal reform his main focus, railing against simony (the selling of church offices) and other clerical abuses prevalent during the Middle Ages. Urban showed himself to be an adept and powerful cleric, and when he was elected pope in 1088, he applied his statecraft to weakening support for his rivals, notably Clement III.

By the end of the 11th century, the Holy Land--the area now commonly referred to as the Middle East--had become a point of conflict for European Christians. Since the 6th century, Christians frequently made pilgrimages to the birthplace of their religion, but when the Seljuk Turks took control of Jerusalem, Christians were barred from the Holy City. When the Turks then threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I made a special appeal to Urban for help. This was not the first appeal of its kind, but it came at an important time for Urban. Wanting to reinforce the power of the papacy, Urban seized the opportunity to unite Christian Europe under him as he fought to take back the Holy Land from the Turks.

At the Council of Clermont, in France, at which several hundred clerics and noblemen gathered, Urban delivered a rousing speech summoning rich and poor alike to stop their in-fighting and embark on a righteous war to help their fellow Christians in the East and take back Jerusalem. Urban denigrated the Muslims, exaggerating stories of their anti-Christian acts, and promised absolution and remission of sins for all who died in the service of Christ.

Urban's war cry caught fire, mobilizing clerics to drum up support throughout Europe for the crusade against the Muslims. All told, between 60,000 and 100,000 people responded to Urban's call to march on Jerusalem. Not all who responded did so out of piety: European nobles were tempted by the prospect of increased land holdings and riches to be gained from the conquest. These nobles were responsible for the death of a great many innocents both on the way to and in the Holy Land, absorbing the riches and estates of those they conveniently deemed opponents to their cause. Adding to the death toll was the inexperience and lack of discipline of the Christian peasants against the trained, professional armies of the Muslims. As a result, the Christians were initially beaten back, and only through sheer force of numbers were they eventually able to triumph.

Urban died in 1099, two weeks after the fall of Jerusalem but before news of the Christian victory made it back to Europe. His was the first of seven major military campaigns fought over the next two centuries known as the Crusades, the bloody repercussions of which are still felt today. Urban was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1881.

Today Birthdays

Jimmy Rollins turns 30 years old today.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins turns 30 years old today.

60 James Avery Actor 53 Bill Nye TV personality 52 William Fichtner Actor 51 Caroline Kennedy Daughter of President John F. Kennedy 50 Mike Scioscia Baseball manager 49 Charlie Burchill Rock musician (Simple Minds) 48 Tim Pawlenty Governor of Minnesota 46 Charlie Benante Rock musician (Anthrax) 46 Mike Bordin Rock musician (Faith No More) 45 Fisher Stevens Actor 44 Robin Givens Actress 40 Michael Vartan Actor ("Alias") 38 Skoob Rapper (DAS EFX) 37 Kirk Acevedo Actor 36 Twista Rapper 32 Jaleel White Actor 23 Alison Pill Actress

Wenger: first step to recovery

Arsene Wenger is pleased about yesterday win in Champions league against Dynamo Kiev.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger greeted his side's nervy but ultimately rewarding 1-0 Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev as the first step towards recovery after a week of self-inflicted wounds at the Emirates.

Two successive Premier League defeats sandwiched public indiscretions by William Gallas that cost the experienced Frenchman the club captaincy.

After that unwanted turmoil, a winning goal by substitute Nicklas Bendtner three minutes from full-time at the Emirates Stadium was just what the doctor ordered.

It sent Wenger's side through to the knockout stages of Europe's premier club competition, but just as significantly, it heralded a new beginning.

"This is the first step for us," said Wenger.

"It was what the team needs, reassurance, and this will give us that.

"We left it late. It was more a steady than spectacular performance, but it was important to win the game."

There was some controversy about the only goal, with Dynamo Kiev's players complaining that the ball was rolling when new Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas hit the long pass from which Nicklas Bendtner scored.

They would have had a point if it had been a free-kick - but it was a drop-ball, and Fabregas had merely reacted fastest.

Dynamo also felt that Bendtner controlled the pass with his hand, but Wenger was having none of that.

"The referee had two decisions to make on the goal," said Kiev coach Yuri Semin.

"We can't change anything. I just have to accept it and be very calm. Tomorrow, we can discuss that."

Wenger felt differently. "It was a great goal. It is not hand-ball. Watch it on the replay. He did not take it with his arm like they complained.

"A fantastic ball first from Fabregas, good control and a fine finish.

"I'm very happy for him. He [Bendtner] was a bit disturbed recently with a lack of confidence, but that will help give him confidence."

There were no obvious signs of any residual hostility from the Arsenal fans towards Gallas, and Wenger commented: "I believe his focus was great.

"He wanted to do well and you could see he was completely committed in the game.

"Overall, I feel he did well. The crowd responded well. Somewhere, they acknowledge that he was a committed captain and I was very happy that the crowd reacted in this way to him."

But Wenger was also happy with his new young skipper, Fabregas.

"He was very good for me," he said. "Focused for 90 minutes in the game, worked hard defensively and offensively.

"It was not easy in midfield because they closed us down very well. I expected them to go up a little bit in the second half, but they didn't."

Fabregas added: "We showed we are united and the performance was superb.

"It's fantastic to learn from them [previous Arsenal captains] and maybe do things they used to do. William as well."

New executive officer i Arsenal

If ever there's a time for increased boardroom stability, it's now. Arsenal have been rocked by a form dip and a captaincy row which ended up with Cesc Fabregas taking the armband from William Gallas.

Add to that the shocking current financial climate, persistent rumours of an impending Arsenal takeover and the fast-approaching January transfer window and you understand the need for a new chief executive.

Thus, the club have appointed Ivan Gazidis in the role. Gazidis, 44, is currently the Deputy Commissioner of Major League Soccer, but has agreed to switch to the Emirates Stadium and will arrive in the New Year to belatedly replace departed vice-chairman David Dein, who had a similar role.

Gazidis also has experience of working on a global scale from his time heading up the innovative Soccer United Marketing between 2002 and 2006.

Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood confirmed via the club's official website: "Ivan’s credentials are first class. It is evident that he has a wealth of business acumen, together with a broad knowledge of football that will not only help to maintain Arsenal’s pre-eminent standing, but enhance our reputation within the football community and international commercial markets."

Ivan Gazidis himself stated: "I have been privileged throughout my 14 years with MLS. Now, I am delighted to be offered the opportunity to bring my experience to Arsenal - a club rich in heritage and tradition - that is superbly positioned for success in the modern era. I relish the prospect of working with the key stakeholders to further propel the club forward."

The chief exec saga was in danger of dragging on. The Gunners were rebuffed by Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell in September, with talks reportedly also breaking down with Vodaphone beak Paul Donovan and former Charlton chief executive Peter Varney.

The position is rumoured to be worth in excess of £1 million per year.

NOVEMBER 26th

On this date in:
1789	A day of thanksgiving was set aside by President George Washington to observe the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
1825	The first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
1832	Public streetcar service began in New York City.
1940	The half million Jews of Warsaw, Poland, were forced by the Nazis to live within a walled ghetto.
1942	"Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York.
1949	India adopted a constitution as a republic within the British Commonwealth.
1950	China entered the Korean War, launching a counter-offensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the United States and South Korea.
1965	France launched its first satellite.
1968	Cream, rock's first supergroup, played their farewell concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. (The band reunited for seven shows in 2005.)
1973	President Richard Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.
1975	A federal jury in Sacramento, Calif., found Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, guilty of trying to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford.
1992	The British government announced that Queen Elizabeth II had volunteered to start paying taxes on her personal income, and would take her children off the public payroll.
1998	Tony Blair gave the first speech ever by a British prime minister to an Irish parliament.
2000	Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified Republican George W. Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in the state's presidential balloting by 537 votes.

Article of the day

FDR establishes modern Thanksgiving holiday

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, when post-harvest holidays were celebrated on the weekday regularly set aside as "Lecture Day," a midweek church meeting where topical sermons were presented. A famous Thanksgiving observance occurred in the autumn of 1621, when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival held in gratitude for the bounty of the season.

Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Tuesday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.

With a few deviations, Lincoln's precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president--until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelt's declaration. For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.

Today Birthdays

Natasha Bedingfield turns 27 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer Singer Natasha Bedingfield turns 27 years old today.

90 Ellen Albertini Dow Actress 70 Samuel Bodman Secretary of energy 70 Porter Goss Former CIA director 70 Rich Little Comedian 69 Tina Turner Rock singer 63 John McVie Rock musician (Fleetwood Mac) 62 Art Shell Football Hall of Famer 55 Harry Carson Football Hall of Famer 49 Jamie Rose Actress 46 Linda Davis Country singer 43 Bernard Allison Blues musician 43 Steve Grisaffe Country musician 35 Kristin Bauer Actress 35 Peter Facinelli Actor 32 Maia Campbell Actress 32 Joe Nichols Country singer 28 Jessica Bowman Actress 23 Lil Fizz R&B singer 21 Aubrey Collins Country singer

NOVEMBER 25th

On this date in:
1783	The British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States, during the Revolutionary War.
1835	Industrialist Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland.
1881	Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Roncalli near Bergamo, Italy.
1914	Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, Calif.
1944	Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis died at age 78.
1947	Movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the "Hollywood 10," who were cited a day earlier and jailed for contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.
1957	President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a slight stroke.
1963	The body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
1973	Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted in a bloodless military coup.
1974	Former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant died at age 65.
1987	Chicago Mayor Harold Washington died after suffering a heart attack in his City Hall office.
1999	Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida.
2001	CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed during a prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif, becoming America's first combat casualty of the conflict in Afghanistan.
2002	President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head.
2003	The Senate gave final congressional approval to historic Medicare legislation combining a new prescription drug benefit with measures to control costs before the baby boom generation reaches retirement age.
2003	Yemen arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, a top al-Qaida member suspected of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen's coast.
2006	New York City police officers shot an unarmed man to death outside a bar in Queens in the early morning hours of his wedding day.
2006	Israel and the Palestinians agreed to a cease-fire to end a five-month Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants into the Jewish state.

Article of the day

Mousetrap opens in London

"The Mousetrap," a murder-mystery written by the novelist and playwright Agatha Christie, opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The crowd-pleasing whodunit would go on to become the longest continuously running play in history, with more than 10 million people to date attending its more than 20,000 performances in London's West End.

When "The Mousetrap" premiered in 1952, Winston Churchill was British prime minister, Joseph Stalin was Soviet ruler, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was president-elect. Christie, already a hugely successful English mystery novelist, originally wrote the drama for Queen Mary, wife of the late King George V. Initially called "Three Blind Mice," it debuted as a 30-minute radio play on the queen's 80th birthday in 1947. Christie later extended the play and renamed it "The Mousetrap"--a reference to the play-within-a-play performed in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

On November 25, 1952, 453 people took their seats in the Ambassadors Theatre for the London premiere of Christie's "Mousetrap." The drama is played out at "Monkswell Manor," whose hosts and guests are snowed in among radio reports of a murderer on the loose. Soon a detective shows up on skis with the terrifying news that the murderer, and probably the next victim, are likely both among their number. Soon the clues and false leads pile as high as the snow. At every curtain call, the individual who has been revealed as the murderer steps forward and tells the audience that they are "partners in crime" and should "keep the secret of the whodunit locked in their heart."

Richard Attenborough and his wife, Sheila Sim, were the first stars of "The Mousetrap." To date, more than 300 actors and actresses have appeared in the roles of the eight characters. David Raven, who played "Major Metcalf" for 4,575 performances, is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the world's most durable actor, while Nancy Seabrooke is noted as the world's most patient understudy for 6,240 performances, or 15 years, as the substitute for "Mrs. Boyle."

"The Mousetrap" is not considered Christie's best play, and a prominent stage director once declared that "'The Mousetrap'" should be abolished by an act of Parliament." Nevertheless, the show's popularity has not waned. Asked about its enduring appeal, Christie said, "It is the sort of play you can take anyone to. It is not really frightening. It is not really horrible. It is not really a farce, but it has a little bit of all these things, and perhaps that satisfies a lot of different people." In 1974, after almost 9,000 shows, the play was moved to St. Martin's Theatre, where it remains today. Agatha Christie, who wrote scores of best-selling mystery novels, died in 1976.

Today Birthdays

Christina Applegate turns 37 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini Actress Christina Applegate ("Samantha Who?" "Married ... With Children") turns 37 years old today.

88 Ricardo Montalban Actor ("Fantasy Island") 88 Noel Neill Actress 75 Kathryn Crosby Actress 72 Matt Clark Actor 68 Joe Gibbs Hall of Fame football coach 68 Percy Sledge R&B singer 64 Bob Lind Singer 64 Ben Stein Actor, game show host 61 Jonathan Kaplan Director 61 John Larroquette Actor ("Night Court") 56 John Lynch Governor of New Hampshire 48 Amy Grant Country-gospel singer 44 Eric Grossman Rock musician (K's Choice) 44 Mark Lanegan Rock singer 43 Tim Armstrong Rock musician (Rancid) 42 Stacy Lattisaw R&B singer 42 Rodney Sheppard Rock musician (Sugar Ray) 40 Erick Sermon Rapper, producer 39 Jill Hennessy Actress ("Crossing Jordan," "Law and Order") 35 Eddie Steeples Actor 32 Donovan McNabb Football player 27 Barbara Bush Daughter of President George W. Bush 27 Jenna Bush Daughter of President George W. Bush

NOVEMBER 24th

On this date in:
1784	Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Va.
1859	British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.
1871	The National Rifle Association was incorporated.
1925	Conservative author and editor William F. Buckley Jr. was born in New York.
1947	A group of writers, producers and directors that became known as the "Hollywood 10" was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in the movie industry.
1950	The musical "Guys and Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway.
1969	Apollo 12 returned to Earth after the second manned mission to the moon.
1971	Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. His fate remains unknown.
1985	The hijacking of an Egyptair jetliner parked on the ground in Malta ended with 60 deaths when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane; two of the dead were shot by the hijackers.
1987	The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles in the first superpower treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.
1989	Czechoslovakia's hard-line party leadership resigned after more than a week of protests against its policies.
1991	Rock singer Freddie Mercury of Queen died at age 45 of pneumonia brought on by AIDS.
1992	Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger pleaded innocent to making a false statement in the Iran-Contra affair.
1998	America Online confirmed it was buying Netscape Communications in a deal ultimately worth $10 billion.
2000	The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider George W. Bush's appeal against the hand recounting of presidential ballots in Florida.
2003	A jury in Virginia Beach, Va., sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death for the Washington-area sniper shootings.

Article of the day

Origin of Species is published

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England. Darwin's theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called "natural selection." In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Darwin, who was influenced by the work of French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas Mathus, acquired most of the evidence for his theory during a five-year surveying expedition aboard the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information, along with his studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to England, proved invaluable in the development of his theory of organic evolution.

The idea of organic evolution was not new. It had been suggested earlier by, among others, Darwin's grandfather Erasmus Darwin, a distinguished English scientist, and Lamarck, who in the early 19th century drew the first evolutionary diagram--a ladder leading from one-celled organisms to man. However, it was not until Darwin that science presented a practical explanation for the phenomenon of evolution.

Darwin had formulated his theory of natural selection by 1844, but he was wary to reveal his thesis to the public because it so obviously contradicted the biblical account of creation. In 1858, with Darwin still remaining silent about his findings, the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace independently published a paper that essentially summarized his theory. Darwin and Wallace gave a joint lecture on evolution before the Linnean Society of London in July 1858, and Darwin prepared On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection for publication.

Published on November 24, 1859, Origin of Species sold out immediately. Most scientists quickly embraced the theory that solved so many puzzles of biological science, but orthodox Christians condemned the work as heresy. Controversy over Darwin's ideas deepened with the publication of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), in which he presented evidence of man's evolution from apes.

By the time of Darwin's death in 1882, his theory of evolution was generally accepted. In honor of his scientific work, he was buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and other illustrious figures from British history. Subsequent developments in genetics and molecular biology led to modifications in accepted evolutionary theory, but Darwin's ideas remain central to the field.

Today Birthdays

Katherine Heigl turns 30 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Weeks Actress Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy") turns 30 years old today.

73 Ron Dellums Former U.S. Rep., D-Calif. 70 Oscar Robertson Bsaketball Hall of Famer 68 Johnny Carver Country singer 67 Pete Best Rock musician 67 Donald "Duck" Dunn Rock musician (Booker T. and the MG's) 66 Billy Connolly Actor, comedian 66 Marlin Fitzwater Former White House press secretary 64 Dan Glickman President of the Motion Picture Association of America 63 Lee Michaels Rock singer 61 Dwight Schultz Actor 58 Stanley Livingston Actor ("My Three Sons") 53 Clem Burke Rock musician (Blondie) 52 Terry Lewis Record producer 52 Ruben Santiago-Hudson Actor 51 Denise Crosby Actress 46 Shae D'Lyn Actress 46 John Squire Rock musician (The Stone Roses) 46 Gary Stonadge Rock musician (Big Audio) 44 Garret Dillahunt Actor 38 Chad Taylor Rock musician (Live) 37 Lola Glaudini Actress 31 Colin Hanks Actor

NOVEMBER 23rd

On this date in:
1765	Frederick County, Md., repudiated the British Stamp Act.
1804	Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, was born in Hillsboro, N.H.
1889	The jukebox made its debut, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1903	Singer Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in "Rigoletto."
1936	Life magazine, created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.
1945	Most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.
1954	The Dow Jones industrial average finally surpassed its pre-crash high - 25 years after Black Tuesday - when it closed at 382.74.
1971	The People's Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council.
1980	A series of earthquakes devastated southern Italy, killing some 2,600 people.
2000	In a setback for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade County to resume counting ballots by hand.
2001	An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a van in the West Bank, killing Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a leading member of the Islamic militant Hamas group.
2003	Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as president of Georgia in the face of protests.
2004	Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner of Ukraine's disputed presidential election and took a symbolic oath of office.
2006	Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London from radiation poisoning after making a deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Article of the day

First issue of Life is published

On November 23, 1936, the first issue of the pictorial magazine Life is published, featuring a cover photo of the Fort Peck Dam by Margaret Bourke-White.

Life actually had its start earlier in the 20th century as a different kind of magazine: a weekly humor publication, not unlike today's The New Yorker in its use of tart cartoons, humorous pieces and cultural reporting. When the original Life folded during the Great Depression, the influential American publisher Henry Luce bought the name and re-launched the magazine as a picture-based periodical on this day in 1936. By this time, Luce had already enjoyed great success as the publisher of Time, a weekly news magazine.

From his high school days, Luce was a newsman, serving with his friend Briton Hadden as managing editors of their school newspaper. This partnership continued through their college years at Yale University, where they acted as chairmen and managing editors of the Yale Daily News, as well as after college, when Luce joined Hadden at The Baltimore News in 1921. It was during this time that Luce and Hadden came up with the idea for Time. When it launched in 1923, it was with the intention of delivering the world's news through the eyes of the people who made it.

Whereas the original mission of Time was to tell the news, the mission of Life was to show it. In the words of Luce himself, the magazine was meant to provide a way for the American people "to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events ... to see things thousands of miles away ... to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed ... to see, and to show ..." Luce set the tone of the magazine with Margaret Bourke-White's stunning cover photograph of the Fort Peck Dam, which has since become an icon of the 1930s and the great public works completed under President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

Life was an overwhelming success in its first year of publication. Almost overnight, it changed the way people looked at the world by changing the way people could look at the world. Its flourish of images painted vivid pictures in the public mind, capturing the personal and the public, and putting it on display for the world to take in. At its peak, Life had a circulation of over 8 million and it exerted considerable influence on American life in the beginning and middle of the 20th century.

With picture-heavy content as the driving force behind its popularity,the magazine suffered as television became society's predominant means of communication. Life ceased running as a weekly publication in 1972, when it began losing audience and advertising dollars to television. In 2004, however, it resumed weekly publication as a supplement to U.S. newspapers. At its re-launch, its combined circulation was once again in the millions.

Today Birthdays

Charles Schumer turns 58 years old today.

AP Photo/Brendan Hoffman Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., turns 58 years old today.

80 Jerry Bock Broadway composer ("Fiddler on the Roof") 67 Franco Nero Actor 64 Joe Eszterhas Screenwriter 63 James Doyle Governor of Wisconsin 63 Steve Landesberg Actor ("Barney Miller") 60 Bruce Vilanch Actor, comedy writer 54 Bruce Hornsby Rock musician 53 Mary Landrieu U.S. senator, D-La. 49 Maxwell Caulfield Actor 48 John Henton Actor 48 Robin Roberts TV host ("Good Morning America") 42 Ken Block Rock musician (Sister Hazel) 42 Charlie Grover Rock musician 41 Salli Richardson-Whitfield Actress 38 Oded Fehr Actor 36 Kurupt Rapper (Tha Dogg Pound) 32 Page Kennedy Actor ("Desperate Housewives") 29 Kelly Brook Actress ("Smallville") 28 Jonathan Papelbon Baseball player 24 Lucas Grabeel Actor ("High School Musical") 16 Miley Cyrus Actress, singer ("Hannah Montana") 13 Austin Majors Actor ("NYPD Blue")

NOVEMBER 22nd

On this date in:
1718	English pirate Edward Teach - better known as "Blackbeard" - was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.
1890	Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille, France.
1906	The SOS distress signal was adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.
1928	"Bolero" by Maurice Ravel debuted in Paris.
1943	President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan.
1943	Lyricist Lorenz Hart died at age 48.
1967	The U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it captured in 1967, and implicitly called on adversaries to recognize Israel's right to exist.
1968	The Beatles' "White Album" was released.
1975	Juan Carlos was proclaimed king of Spain.
1977	Regular passenger service between New York and Europe on the supersonic Concorde began on a trial basis.
1980	Actress Mae West died at age 87.
1990	British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election to the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced her resignation.
1998	The CBS News program "60 Minutes" aired videotape of Dr. Jack Kevorkian administering lethal drugs to a terminally ill patient.
2004	Tens of thousands of demonstrators jammed downtown Kiev, denouncing Ukraine's presidential runoff election as fraudulent and chanting the name of their reformist candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.
2005	Jose Padilla, an American once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb," was charged with supporting terrorism. (He was later convicted and sentenced to 17 years, four months in prison.)
2005	Angela Merkel took power as Germany's first female chancellor.
2005	Ted Koppel hosted his final edition of ABC News' "Nightline."

Article of the day

John F. Kennedy assassinated

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible.

First lady Jacqueline Kennedy rarely accompanied her husband on political outings, but she was beside him, along with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, for a 10-mile motorcade through the streets of downtown Dallas on November 22. Sitting in a Lincoln convertible, the Kennedys and Connallys waved at the large and enthusiastic crowds gathered along the parade route. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas' Parkland Hospital. He was 46.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m. He took the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One as it sat on the runway at Dallas Love Field airport. The swearing in was witnessed by some 30 people, including Jacqueline Kennedy, who was still wearing clothes stained with her husband's blood. Seven minutes later, the presidential jet took off for Washington.

The next day, November 23, President Johnson issued his first proclamation, declaring November 25 to be a day of national mourning for the slain president. On that Monday, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Washington to watch a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy's body from the Capitol Rotunda to St. Matthew's Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass. The solemn procession then continued on to Arlington National Cemetery, where leaders of 99 nations gathered for the state funeral. Kennedy was buried with full military honors on a slope below Arlington House, where an eternal flame was lit by his widow to forever mark the grave.

Lee Harvey Oswald, born in New Orleans in 1939, joined the U.S. Marines in 1956. He was discharged in 1959 and nine days later left for the Soviet Union, where he tried unsuccessfully to become a citizen. He worked in Minsk and married a Soviet woman and in 1962 was allowed to return to the United States with his wife and infant daughter. In early 1963, he bought a .38 revolver and rifle with a telescopic sight by mail order, and on April 10 in Dallas he allegedly shot at and missed former U.S. Army general Edwin Walker, a figure known for his extreme right-wing views. Later that month, Oswald went to New Orleans and founded a branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a pro-Castro organization. In September 1963, he went to Mexico City, where investigators allege that he attempted to secure a visa to travel to Cuba or return to the USSR. In October, he returned to Dallas and took a job at the Texas School Book Depository Building.

Less than an hour after Kennedy was shot, Oswald killed a policeman who questioned him on the street near his rooming house in Dallas. Thirty minutes later, Oswald was arrested in a movie theater by police responding to reports of a suspect. He was formally arraigned on November 23 for the murders of President Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippit.

On November 24, Oswald was brought to the basement of the Dallas police headquarters on his way to a more secure county jail. A crowd of police and press with live television cameras rolling gathered to witness his departure. As Oswald came into the room, Jack Ruby emerged from the crowd and fatally wounded him with a single shot from a concealed .38 revolver. Ruby, who was immediately detained, claimed that rage at Kennedy's murder was the motive for his action. Some called him a hero, but he was nonetheless charged with first-degree murder.

Jack Ruby, originally known as Jacob Rubenstein, operated strip joints and dance halls in Dallas and had minor connections to organized crime. He features prominently in Kennedy-assassination theories, and many believe he killed Oswald to keep him from revealing a larger conspiracy. In his trial, Ruby denied the allegation and pleaded innocent on the grounds that his great grief over Kennedy's murder had caused him to suffer "psychomotor epilepsy" and shoot Oswald unconsciously. The jury found Ruby guilty of "murder with malice" and sentenced him to die.

In October 1966, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed the decision on the grounds of improper admission of testimony and the fact that Ruby could not have received a fair trial in Dallas at the time. In January 1967, while awaiting a new trial, to be held in Wichita Falls, Ruby died of lung cancer in a Dallas hospital.

The official Warren Commission report of 1964 concluded that neither Oswald nor Ruby were part of a larger conspiracy, either domestic or international, to assassinate President Kennedy. Despite its seemingly firm conclusions, the report failed to silence conspiracy theories surrounding the event, and in 1978 the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in a preliminary report that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" that may have involved multiple shooters and organized crime. The committee's findings, as with those of the Warren Commission, continue to be widely disputed.

Today Birthdays

Scarlett Johansson turns 24 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer Actress Scarlett Johansson turns 24 years old today.

90 Claiborne Pell Former U.S. senator, D-R.I. 85 Arthur Hiller Director 76 Robert Vaughn Actor 73 Michael Callan Actor 69 Allen Garfield Actor 68 Terry Gilliam Director, animator (Monty Python) 67 Tom Conti Actor 67 Jesse Colin Young Rock singer 66 Guion S. Bluford Astronaut 65 Billie Jean King Tennis Hall of Famer 58 Steve Van Zandt Rock musician, actor (E Street Band, "The Sopranos") 58 Tina Weymouth Rock musician (Talking Heads) 52 Richard Kind Actor ("Spin City," "Mad About You") 50 Jamie Lee Curtis Actress 50 Jason Ringenberg Rock singer (Jason & the Scorchers) 47 Mariel Hemingway Actress 44 Stephen Geoffreys Actor 42 Charlie Colin Rock musician 42 Nicholas Rowe Actor 41 Boris Becker Tennis Hall of Famer 41 Mark Ruffalo Actor 34 Joe Nathan Baseball player 25 Tyler Hilton Actor, singer