Today is Monday, Nov. 28, the 332nd day of 2005. There are 33 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 28, 1942, nearly 500 people died in a fire that destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.
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.
In 1919, American-born Lady Astor was elected the first female member of the British Parliament.
In 1925, the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville’s famed home of country music, made its radio debut on station WSM.
In 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II.
In 1958, the African nation of Chad became an autonomous republic within the French community.
In 1964, the United States launched the space probe Mariner IV on a course to Mars.
In 1975, President Ford nominated Federal Judge John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court seat vacated by William O. Douglas.
In 1979, an Air New Zealand DC-10 en route to the South Pole crashed into a mountain in Antarctica, killing all 257 people aboard.
In 1985, the Irish Senate approved the Anglo-Irish accord concerning Northern Ireland.
In 1990, Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister of Britain during an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who conferred the premiership on John Major.
Ten years ago: President Clinton continued to press his case for sending 20,000 U.S. ground troops to Bosnia. President Clinton signed a $6 billion road bill that ended the federal 55 mph speed limit.
Five years ago: 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. Former Texas Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez, who’d served 37 years on Capitol Hill, died in San Antonio at age 84.
One year ago: NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol was injured, his son Teddy among three people killed, in a plane crash outside Montrose, Colo. Iraq’s most feared terror group claimed responsibility for slaughtering members of the Iraqi security forces in Mosul, where dozens of bodies had been found. A gas explosion in a central Chinese coal mine killed 166 people.
Today’s Birthdays: Recording executive Berry Gordy Jr. is 76. Former Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., is 69. Singer-songwriter Bruce Channel is 65. Singer Randy Newman is 62. Movie director Joe Dante is 59. CBS News correspondent Susan Spencer is 59. “Late Show” orchestra leader Paul Shaffer is 56. Actor Ed Harris is 55. Actress S. Epatha Merkerson is 53. Country singer Kristine Arnold (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 49. Actor Judd Nelson is 46. Movie director Alfonso Cuaron is 44. Rock musician Matt Cameron is 43. Comedian Jon Stewart is 43. Actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon is 39. TV personality Anna Nicole Smith is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Dawn Robinson is 37. Hip-hop musician apl.de.ap (Black Eyed Peas) is 31. Actress Scarlett Pomers (“Reba”) is 17.
Thought for Today: “The first duty of love is to listen.” — Paul Tillich, American theologian (1886-1965).
