NOVEMBER 21st

On this date in:
1789	North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1877	Inventor Thomas A. Edison unveiled the phonograph.
1922	Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.
1969	The Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth.
1973	President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
1980	A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas killed 87 people.
1985	Former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (He later pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence.)
1989	The proceedings of Britain's House of Commons were televised live for the first time.
1991	The U.N. Security Council chose Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt to be secretary-general.
1995	The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 5,000 for the first time.
2000	The Florida Supreme Court granted Democrat Al Gore's request to keep the presidential election recount going.
2001	Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax. The source of the anthrax has never been determined.
2002	NATO sought to expand its membership into the borders of the former Soviet Union as it invited seven former communist countries to join the alliance: Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria.
2004	Donald Trump's casino empire filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
2004	The NBA suspended Indiana's Ron Artest for the rest of the season following a brawl in the stands during a game against the Detroit Pistons.
2005	Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke away from the hardline Likud with the intention of forming a new party.
2007	Officials announced the recall of more than a half-million pieces of Chinese-made children's jewelry contaminated with lead.

Article of the day

Millions tune in to find out who shot J.R.

On this day in 1980, 350 million people around the world tune in to television's popular primetime drama "Dallas" to find out who shot J.R. Ewing, the character fans loved to hate. J.R. had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous March 21, which now stands as one of television's most famous cliffhangers. The plot twist inspired widespread media coverage and left America wondering "Who shot J.R.?" for the next eight months. The November 21 episode solved the mystery, identifying Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s wife's sister and his former mistress, as the culprit.

The CBS television network debuted the first five-episode pilot season of "Dallas" in 1978; it went on to run for another 12 full-length seasons. The first show of its kind, "Dallas" was dubbed a "primetime soap opera" for its serial plots and dramatic tales of moral excess. The show revolved around the relations of two Texas oil families: the wealthy, successful Ewing family and the perpetually down-on-their-luck Barnes family. The families' patriarchs, Jock Ewing and Digger Barnes, were former partners locked in a years-long feud over oil fields Barnes claimed had been stolen by Ewing. Ewing's youngest son Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Barnes' daughter Pam (Victoria Principal) had married, linking the battling clans even more closely. The character of J.R. Ewing, Bobby's oldest brother and a greedy, conniving, womanizing scoundrel, was played by Larry Hagman.

As J.R. had many enemies, audiences were hard-pressed to guess who was responsible for his attempted murder. That summer, the question "Who Shot J.R.?" entered the national lexicon, becoming a popular t-shirt slogan, and heightening anticipation of the soap's third season, which was to air in the fall. After a much-talked-about contract dispute with Hagman was finally settled, the season was delayed because of a Screen Actors Guild strike, much to the dismay of "Dallas" fans. When it finally aired, the episode revealing J.R.'s shooter became one of television's most watched shows, with an audience of 83 million people in the U.S. alone--a full 76 percent of all U.S. televisions on that night were tuned in--and helped put "Dallas" into greater worldwide circulation. It also popularized the use of the cliffhanger by television writers.

The shooting of J.R. wasn't "Dallas'" only notorious plot twist. In September 1986, fans learned that the entire previous season, in which main character Bobby Ewing had died, was merely a dream of Pam's. The show's writers had killed the Bobby character off because Duffy had decided to leave the show. When he agreed to return, they featured him stepping out of the shower on the season-ending cliffhanger, and then were forced the next season to explain his sudden reappearance.

The last premiere episode of "Dallas" aired on May 3, 1991. A spin-off, "Knots Landing," aired from December 27, 1979 until May 13, 1993. "Dallas" remains in syndication around the world.

Today Birthdays

Dr. John turns 68 years old today.

AP Photo/Dave Martin Musician Dr. John turns 68 years old today.

88 Stan Musial Baseball Hall of Famer 81 Joseph Campanella Actor 75 Jean Shepard Country singer 74 Laurence Luckinbill Actor 71 Marlo Thomas Actress ("That Girl") 69 Rick Lenz Actor 68 Natalia Makarova Ballet dancer 67 Juliet Mills Actress 65 Phil Bredesen Governor of Tennessee 64 Marcy Carsey TV producer 64 Richard Durbin U.S. senator, D-Ill. 64 Earl Monroe Basketball Hall of Famer 64 Harold Ramis Writer, actor 63 Goldie Hawn Actress 62 Andrew Davis Director 60 Lonnie Jordan Rock musician (War) 58 Livingston Taylor Singer 56 Lorna Luft Actress 52 Cherry Jones Actress 48 Brian Ritchie Rock musician (Violent Femmes) 46 Steven Curtis Chapman Gospel singer 45 Nicollette Sheridan Actress ("Desperate Housewives") 43 Bjork Rock singer, actress 42 Troy Aikman Football Hall of Famer, sportscaster 40 Chauncey Hannibal R&B singer (BLACKstreet) 40 Alex James Rock musician (Blur) 39 Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball player 37 Pretty Lou Rapper (Lost Boyz) 37 Michael Strahan Football player, sportscaster 34 Kelsi Osborn Country singer (SHeDAISY) 24 Jena Malone Actress

NOVEMBER 20th

On this date in:
1620	Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay - the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.
1789	New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1889	Astronomer Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, Mo.
1910	Revolution broke out in Mexico.
1925	Robert F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.
1947	Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey in London.
1966	The musical "Cabaret," with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, opened on Broadway.
1969	The Nixon administration announced a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phase-out.
1975	Spain's Gen. Francisco Franco died after nearly four decades of absolute rule.
1977	Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to address Israel's parliament.
1995	Princess Diana admitted during an interview broadcast on BBC TV that she had been unfaithful to Prince Charles.
1996	House Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be speaker for a second term.
2000	Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori resigned, ending a 10-year reign.
2001	Federal health officials approved sale of the world's first contraceptive patch, Ortho-Evra.
2003	Singer Michael Jackson was booked on suspicion of child molestation in Santa Barbara, Calif. (He was later acquited.)
2006	Director Robert Altman died at age 81.

Article of the day

Nuremberg trials begin

Twenty-four high-ranking Nazis go on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, for atrocities committed during World War II.

The Nuremberg Trials were conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war, to crimes against humanity. Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, the British member, presided over the proceedings, which lasted 10 months and consisted of 216 court sessions.

On October 1, 1946, 12 architects of Nazi policy were sentenced to death. Seven others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life, and three were acquitted. Of the original 24 defendants, one, Robert Ley, committed suicide while in prison, and another, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, was deemed mentally and physically incompetent to stand trial. Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, leader of the Gestapo and the Luftwaffe; Alfred Jodl, head of the German armed forces staff; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior.

On October 16, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged. Goering, who at sentencing was called the "leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews," committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia (but is now believed to have died in May 1945). Trials of lesser German and Axis war criminals continued in Germany into the 1950s and resulted in the conviction of 5,025 other defendants and the execution of 806.

Today Birthdays

Joe Biden turns 66 years old today.

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds Vice President-elect Joe Biden turns 66 years old today.

91 Robert Byrd U.S. senator, D-W.Va. 85 Nadine Gordimer Nobel Prize-winning author 83 Kaye Ballard Actress 81 Estelle Parsons Actress 76 Richard Dawson Actor, game show host ("Hogan's Heroes," "Family Feud") 70 Dick Smothers Comedian (The Smothers Brothers) 66 Norman Greenbaum Singer 65 Veronica Hamel Actress ("Hill Street Blues") 62 Judy Woodruff Broadcast journalist (PBS, CNN) 62 Samuel E. Wright Actor 61 Joe Walsh Rock singer (The Eagles) 60 Richard Masur Actor ("One Day at a Time") 52 Bo Derek Actress ("10") 51 Jim Brown Reggae musician (UB40) 49 Sean Young Actress 47 Jim Brickman Pianist 46 Todd Nance Rock musician (Widespread Panic) 45 Ming-Na Actress 43 Mike D Rapper (The Beastie Boys) 43 Sen Dog Rapper (Cypress Hill) 38 Matt Blunt Governor of Missouri 39 Callie Thorne Actress 38 Sabrina Lloyd Actress ("Sports Night") 34 Marisa Ryan Actress 33 Joshua Gomez Actor ("Chuck") 33 Dierks Bentley Country singer 32 Laura Harris Actress 31 Josh Turner Country singer 30 Nadine Velazquez Actress ("My Name is Earl") 19 Cody Linley Actor ("Hannah Montana'' ''Dancing with the Stars")

NOVEMBER 19th

On this date in:
1794	The United States and Britain signed the Jay Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.
1831	James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was born in Orange, Ohio.
1917	Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was born in Allahabad.
1919	The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles.
1942	Russian forces launched a winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front during World War II.
1959	Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.
1969	Apollo 12 astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean made man's second landing on the moon.
1977	Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.
1985	President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began a summit in Geneva.
1990	The pop duo Milli Vanilli was stripped of its Grammy Award after it was revealed that neither performer sang on the group's records.
1998	Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr laid out his evidence against President Bill Clinton during a daylong appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.
2001	President George W. Bush signed legislation to put airport baggage screeners on the federal payroll.
2001	Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants became the first baseball player to win four Most Valuable Player awards.
2004	Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers charged into the stands and fought with fans during an NBA game in Detroit. (Artest was suspended for the rest of the season and Jackson for 30 games. A fan was sentenced to 30 days in jail for assaulting Artest.)
2006	British authorities said they were investigating the apparent poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who had been critical of the Russian government. (Litvinenko died in London four days later of polonium poisoning.)

Article of the day

Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address

On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In just 272 words, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War.

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over the course of three days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war: General Robert E. Lee's defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of the Southern army's ultimate decline.

Charged by Pennsylvania's governor, Andrew Curtin, to care for the Gettysburg dead, an attorney named David Wills bought 17 acres of pasture to turn into a cemetery for the more than 7,500 who fell in battle. Wills invited Edward Everett, one of the most famous orators of the day, to deliver a speech at the cemetery's dedication. Almost as an afterthought, Wills also sent a letter to Lincoln--just two weeks before the ceremony--requesting "a few appropriate remarks" to consecrate the grounds.

At the dedication, the crowd listened for two hours to Everett before Lincoln spoke. Lincoln's address lasted just two or three minutes. The speech reflected his redefined belief that the Civil War was not just a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the war. This was his stirring conclusion: "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Reception of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was initially mixed, divided strictly along partisan lines. Nevertheless, the "little speech," as he later called it, is thought by many today to be the most eloquent articulation of the democratic vision ever written.

Today Birthdays

Ryan Howard turns 29 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard turns 29 years old today.

89 Alan Young Actor ("Mister Ed") 75 Larry King Talk show host 72 Dick Cavett Talk show host 70 Ted Turner Broadcasting and sports mogul 69 Tom Harkin U.S. senator, D-Iowa 69 Pete Moore R&B singer (The Miracles) 69 Garrick Utley Broadcast journalist 67 Dan Haggerty Actor 67 Tommy Thompson Former cabinet member, Wisconsin governor 66 Calvin Klein Fashion designer 59 Ahmad Rashad Sportscaster 55 Robert Beltran Actor 54 Kathleen Quinlan Actress 53 Glynnis O'Connor Actress 52 Ann Curry Broadcast journalist ("Today") 48 Allison Janney Actress ("The West Wing") 48 Matt Sorum Rock musician 47 Meg Ryan Actress 46 Jodie Foster Actress 45 Terry Farrell Actress 42 Jason Scott Lee Actor 39 Travis McNabb Rock musician (Better Than Ezra) 37 Tony Rich R&B singer 35 Jason Albert Country singer (Heartland) 35 Billy Currington Country singer 35 Savion Glover Dancer, choreographer 33 Chad Jeffers Country musician 33 Tamika Scott R&B singer (Xscape) 31 Lil' Mo R&B singer 29 Larry Johnson Football player 25 DeAngelo Hall Football player

NOVEMBER 18th

On this date in:
1883	The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones.
1886	Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, died in New York at age 56.
1899	Conductor Eugene Ormandy was born in Budapest, Hungary.
1923	Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was born in East Derry, N.H.
1928	The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon, Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.
1936	Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.
1966	U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays.
1969	Financier and diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy died in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 81.
1969	Apollo 12 astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean landed on the lunar sufrace during the second manned mission to the moon.
1978	More than 900 people died in Jonestown, Guyana, after Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones urged them to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced grape punch. Jones died of a bullet wound to the head; whether it was self-inflicted is unknown.
1987	The congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.
1988	President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.
1991	Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and educator Thomas Sutherland.
1999	A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted Shawn Allen Berry of murder for his role in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., but spared him the death penalty.
2002	U.N. arms inspectors returned to Iraq after a four-year hiatus, calling on Saddam Hussein's government to cooperate with their search for weapons of mass destruction.
2003	The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry.
2004	Bill Clinton's presidential library opened in Little Rock, Ark.
2004	Britain outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales.
2006	Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes were married in Italy.

Article of the day

Terry Waite released

Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon free Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite after more than four years of captivity. Waite, looking thinner and his hair grayer, was freed along with American educator Thomas M. Sutherland after intense negotiations by the United Nations.

Waite, special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, had secured the release of missionaries detained in Iran after the Islamic revolution. He also extracted British hostages from Libya and even succeeded in releasing American hostages from Lebanon in 1986.

A total of 10 captives were released through Waite's efforts before Shiite Muslims seized him during a return mission to Beirut on January 20, 1987. He was held captive for more than four years before he was finally released.

During captivity, Waite said he was frequently blindfolded, beaten and subjected to mock executions. He spent much of the time chained to a radiator, suffered from asthma and was transported in a giant refrigerator as his captors moved him about.

Waite, 52, made an impromptu, chaotic appearance before reporters in Damascus after his release to Syrian officials. He said one of his captors expressed regret as he informed Waite he was about to be released.

"He also said to me: 'We apologize for having captured you. We recognize that now this was a wrong thing to do, that holding hostages achieves no useful, constructive purpose,'" Waite said.

The release of Waite and Sutherland left five Western hostages left in Beirut--three Americans, including Terry Anderson, and two Germans. The Americans would be released by December 1991, the Germans in June 1992.

Some 96 foreign hostages were taken and held during the Lebanon hostage crisis between 1982 and 1992. The victims were mostly from Western countries, and mostly journalists, diplomats or teachers. Twenty-five of them were Americans. At least 10 hostages died in captivity. Some were murdered and others died from lack of adequate medical attention to illnesses.

The hostages were originally taken to serve as insurance against retaliation against Hezbollah, which was thought to be responsible for the killing of over 300 Americans in the Marine barracks and embassy bombings in Beirut. It was widely believed that Iran and Syria also played a role in the kidnappings.

Today Birthdays

David Ortiz turns 33 years old today.

AP Photo/Steve Nesius Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz turns 33 years old today.

85 Ted Stevens U.S. senator, R-Alaska 77 Brad Sulllivan Actor 69 Brenda Vaccaro Actress 66 Linda Evans Actress ("Dynasty") 62 Jacky Ward Country singer 61 Jameson Parker Actor 60 Andrea Marcovicci Actress, singer 59 Herman Rarebell Rock musician (The Scorpions) 58 Graham Parker Singer 56 Delroy Lindo Actor 55 Kevin Nealon Actor, comedian ("Weeds," "Saturday Night Live") 52 Warren Moon Football Hall of Famer 50 Oscar Nunez Actor ("The Office") 48 Elizabeth Perkins Actress ("Weeds") 48 Kim Wilde Rock singer 46 Kirk Hammett Rock musician (Metallica) 43 Tim DeLaughter Rock singer 40 Gary Sheffield Baseball player 40 Owen Wilson Actor 39 Duncan Sheik Rock singer 38 Peta Wilson Actress 34 Chloe Sevigny Actress 33 Jason Williams Basketball player 32 Jessi Alexander Country singer 32 Steven Pasquale Actor 29 Fabolous Rapper 29 Nate Parker Actor 28 Mike Jones Rapper

NOVEMBER 17th

On this date in:
1558	Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.
1800	Congress held its first session in Washington, D.C., in the partially completed Capitol building.
1869	The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.
1917	French sculptor Auguste Rodin died at age 77.
1934	Lyndon B. Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird."
1962	Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy.
1968	NBC outraged football fans by cutting away from the final minutes of a game to air a TV special, "Heidi," on schedule. Viewers were deprived of seeing the Oakland Raiders come from behind to beat the New York Jets 43-32.
1970	The Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon.
1997	Six militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt, killing 62 people, most of them foreign tourists. The attackers were killed by police.
1998	Israel's parliament overwhelmingly approved the Wye River land-for-peace accord with the Palestinians.
2000	The Florida Supreme Court froze the state's presidential tally, forbidding Secretary of State Katherine Harris to certify results of the marathon vote count in the race between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.
2001	The Taliban confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden's military chief Mohammed Atef in an airstrike three days earlier.
2003	John Allen Muhammad was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings. (He was later sentenced to death.)
2003	Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California.
2005	A jury in Sarasota, Fla., convicted mechanic Joseph Smith of kidnapping, raping and strangling 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose abduction had been captured by a car-wash security camera. (Smith was later sentenced to death.)
2006	Hall of Fame college football coach Bo Schembechler died at age 77.

Article of the day

Elizabethan Age begins

Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth.

The two half-sisters, both daughters of King Henry VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary's five-year reign. Mary, who was brought up as a Catholic, enacted pro-Catholic legislation and made efforts to restore the pope to supremacy in England. A Protestant rebellion ensued, and Queen Mary imprisoned Elizabeth, a Protestant, in the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity. After Mary's death, Elizabeth survived several Catholic plots against her; though her ascension was greeted with approval by most of England's lords, who were largely Protestant and hoped for greater religious tolerance under a Protestant queen. Under the early guidance of Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's pro-Catholic legislation, established a permanent Protestant Church of England, and encouraged the Calvinist reformers in Scotland.

In foreign affairs, Elizabeth practiced a policy of strengthening England's Protestant allies and dividing her foes. Elizabeth was opposed by the pope, who refused to recognize her legitimacy, and by Spain, a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power. In 1588, English-Spanish rivalry led to an abortive Spanish invasion of England in which the Spanish Armada, the greatest naval force in the world at the time, was destroyed by storms and a determined English navy.

With increasing English domination at sea, Elizabeth encouraged voyages of discovery, such as Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the world and Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the North American coast.

The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the "Virgin Queen" for her reluctance to endanger her authority through marriage, coincided with the flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with such renowned authors as William Shakespeare. By her death in 1603, England had become a major world power in every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England's greatest monarchs.

Today Birthdays

Lorne Michaels turns 64 years old today.

AP Photo/Reed Saxon TV producer Lorne Michaels ("Saturday Night Live") turns 64 years old today.

74 James Inhofe U.S. senator, R-Okla. 70 Gordon Lightfoot Singer 66 Martin Scorsese Director 65 Lauren Hutton Actress 64 Jim Boeheim College basketball coach 64 Danny DeVito Actor 64 Tom Seaver Baseball Hall of Famer 63 Elvin Hayes Basketball Hall of Famer 63 Roland Joffe Director 60 Howard Dean Democratic Party chairman 57 Stephen Root Actor 51 Jim Babjak Rock musician (The Smithereens) 50 Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Actress 49 William Moses Actor 48 RuPaul Entertainer 45 Dylan Walsh Actor 42 Daisy Fuentes Actress, model 42 Sophie Marceau Actress 41 Ronnie DeVoe R&B singer (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) 41 Ben Wilson Rock musician (Blues Traveler) 35 Leslie Bib Actress 32 Brandon Call Actor 31 Aaron Lines Country singer 30 Rachel McAdams Actress ("The Notebook," "Mean Girls") 30 Reggie Wayne Football player 28 Isaac Hanson Rock musician (Hanson) 25 Ryan Braun Baseball player 20 Justin Cooper Actor

NOVEMBER 16th

On this date in:
1864	Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the Civil War.
1907	Oklahoma became the 46th state.
1959	The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway.
1961	House Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, died at age 79.
1966	Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.
1973	Skylab 3, carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission.
1973	President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.
1982	An agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.
1988	Estonia's parliament declared the Baltic republic sovereign.
1995	Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed that she had Parkinson's disease.
1997	Chinese pro-democracy campaigner Wei Jingsheng arrived in the United States after being released on medical parole after nearly 18 years in prison.
2001	Congress passed an aviation security bill mandating that airport screeners be federal employees.
2001	Investigators found a letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., containing anthrax.
2004	President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell.
2006	African, Arab, European and U.N. leaders agreed in principle to a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.
2006	Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman died at age 94.

Article of the day

Pizarro traps Incan emperor Atahualpa

On November 16, 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, springs a trap on the Incan emperor, Atahualpa. With fewer than 200 men against several thousand, Pizarro lures Atahualpa to a feast in the emperor's honor and then opens fire on the unarmed Incans. Pizarro's men massacre the Incans and capture Atahualpa, forcing him to convert to Christianity before eventually killing him.

Pizarro's timing for conquest was perfect. By 1532, the Inca Empire was embroiled in a civil war that had decimated the population and divided the people's loyalties. Atahualpa, the younger son of former Incan ruler Huayna Capac, had just deposed his half-brother Huascar and was in the midst of reuniting his kingdom when Pizarro arrived in 1531, with the endorsement of Spain's King Charles V. On his way to the Incan capital, Pizarro learned of the war and began recruiting soldiers still loyal to Huascar.

Pizarro met Atahualpa just outside Cajamarca, a small Incan town tucked into a valley of the Andes. Sending his brother Hernan as an envoy, Pizarro invited Atahualpa back to Cajamarca for a feast in honor of Atahualpa's ascendance to the throne. Though he had nearly 80,000 soldiers with him in the mountains, Atahualpa consented to attend the feast with only 5,000 unarmed men. He was met by Vicente de Valverde, a friar traveling with Pizarro. While Pizarro's men lay in wait, Valverde urged Atahualpa to convert and accept Charles V as sovereign. Atahualpa angrily refused, prompting Valverde to give the signal for Pizarro to open fire. Trapped in tight quarters, the panicking Incan soldiers made easy prey for the Spanish. Pizarro's men slaughtered the 5,000 Incans in just an hour. Pizarro himself suffered the only Spanish injury: a cut on his hand sustained as he saved Atahualpa from death.

Realizing Atahualpa was initially more valuable alive than dead, Pizarro kept the emperor in captivity while he made plans to take over his empire. In response, Atahualpa appealed to his captors' greed, offering them a room full of gold and silver in exchange for his liberation. Pizarro consented, but after receiving the ransom, Pizarro brought Atahualpa up on charges of stirring up rebellion. By that time, Atahualpa had played his part in pacifying the Incans while Pizarro secured his power, and Pizarro considered him disposable. Atahualpa was to be burned at the stake--the Spanish believed this to be a fitting death for a heathen--but at the last moment, Valverde offered the emperor clemency if he would convert. Atahualpa submitted, only to be executed by strangulation. The day was August 29, 1533.

Fighting between the Spanish and the Incas would continue well after Atahualpa's death as Spain consolidated its conquests. Pizarro's bold victory at Cajamarca, however, effectively marked the end of the Inca Empire and the beginning of the European colonization of South America.

Today Birthdays

Maggie Gyllenhaal turns 31 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal turns 31 years old today.

86 Jose Saramago Nobel Prize-winning author 80 Clu Gulager Actor 77 Hubert Sumlin Blues musician 73 Elizabeth Drew Journalist 69 W. C. Clark Blues musician 63 Steve Railsback Actor 58 David Leisure Actor 50 Marg Helgenberger Actress ("C.S.I.") 46 Mani Rock musician 45 Keith Burns Country musician (Trick Pony) 44 Diana Krall Jazz singer 44 Harry Lennix Actor 41 Lisa Bonet Actress ("The Cosby Show") 40 Tammy Lauren Actress 39 Bryan Abrams R&B singer (Color Me Badd) 36 Missi Pyle Actress 28 Osi Umenyiora Football player 24 Kimberly J. Brown Actress 13 Noah Gray-Cabey Actor ("Heroes," "My Wife and Kids")

NOVEMBER 15th

On this date in:
1777	The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, precursor to the U.S. Constitution.
1806	Explorer Zebulon Pike spotted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak.
1889	Brazil's monarchy was overthrown.
1926	The National Broadcasting Co. debuted with a radio network of 24 stations.
1939	President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
1940	The first 75,000 men were called to armed forces duty under peacetime conscription.
1982	Funeral services were held in Moscow for Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev.
1984	Baby Fae, the month-old infant who had received a baboon's heart to replace her own congenitally deformed one, died at a California medical center three weeks after the transplant.
1985	Britain and Ireland signed an accord giving Dublin an official consultative role in governing Northern Ireland.
1986	A government tribunal in Nicaragua convicted American Eugene Hasenfus of delivering arms to Contra rebels and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. He was pardoned a month later.
1988	The Palestine National Council, the legislative body of the PLO, proclaimed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
1993	A judge in Mineola, N.Y., sentenced Joey Buttafuoco to six months in jail for the statutory rape of Amy Fisher, who shot and wounded Buttafuoco's wife, Mary Jo.
2002	Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as China's Communist Party leader.
2005	Baseball players and owners agreed on a tougher steroids-testing policy.
2006	One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family pleaded guilty at Fort Campbell, Ky. (Spec. James P. Barker, who agreed to testify against the others, was later sentenced to 90 years in prison.)
2007	Baseball home run king Barry Bonds was indicted on charges related to grand jury testimony during which he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. (Bonds has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.)

Article of the day

First stock ticker debuts

On this day in 1867, the first stock ticker is unveiled in New York City. The advent of the ticker ultimately revolutionized the stock market by making up-to-the-minute prices available to investors around the country. Prior to this development, information from the New York Stock Exchange, which has been around since 1792, traveled by mail or messenger.

The ticker was the brainchild of Edward Calahan, who configured a telegraph machine to print stock quotes on streams of paper tape (the same paper tape later used in ticker-tape parades). The ticker, which caught on quickly with investors, got its name from the sound its type wheel made.

Calahan worked for the Gold & Stock Telegraph Company, which rented its tickers to brokerage houses and regional exchanges for a fee and then transmitted the latest gold and stock prices to all its machines at the same time. In 1869, Thomas Edison, a former telegraph operator, patented an improved, easier-to-use version of Calahan's ticker. Edison's ticker was his first lucrative invention and, through the manufacture and sale of stock tickers and other telegraphic devices, he made enough money to open his own lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he developed the light bulb and phonograph, among other transformative inventions.

The last mechanical stock ticker debuted in 1960 and was eventually replaced by computerized tickers with electronic displays. A ticker shows a stock's symbol, how many shares have traded that day and the price per share. It also tells how much the price has changed from the previous day's closing price and whether it's an up or down change. A common misconception is that there is one ticker used by everyone. In fact, private data companies run a variety of tickers; each provides information about a select mix of stocks.

Today Birthdays

Sam Waterston turns 68 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer Actor Sam Waterston ("Law and Order") turns 68 years old today.

89 Joseph Wapner TV personality ("The People's Court") 83 Howard Baker Former U.S. senator, R-Tenn. 79 Ed Asner Actor ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Lou Grant") 76 Petula Clark Singer 75 Jack Burns Comedian 74 Joanna Barnes Actress 63 Frida Pop singer (ABBA) 63 Bob Gunton Actor 61 Bill Richardson Governor of New Mexico 55 James Widdoes Director 54 Beverly D'Angelo Actress 54 Mitch Easter Rock producer 51 Kevin Eubanks Bandleader ("The Tonight Show With Jay Leno") 46 Judy Gold Comedian 41 E-40 Rapper 39 Rachel True Actress 38 Jack Ingram Country singer 36 Jonny Lee Miller Actor 35 Sydney Tamiia Actress 34 Chad Kroeger Rock musician (Nickelback) 34 Jesse Sandoval Rock musician (The Shins) 32 Virginie Ledoyen Actress