Today is Saturday, Nov. 26, the 330th day of 2005. There are 35 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 26, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing, beginning Dec. 1.
On this date:
In 1825, the first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
In 1832, public streetcar service began in New York City. The fare: 12½ cents.
In 1940, the half million Jews of Warsaw, Poland, were forced by the Nazis to live within a walled ghetto.
In 1942, the motion picture “Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York.
In 1943, during World War II, the HMT Rohna, a British transport ship carrying American soldiers, was hit by a German missile off Algeria; 1,038 men were killed, including 1,015 American troops.
In 1949, India adopted a constitution as a republic within the British Commonwealth.
In 1950, China entered the Korean conflict, launching a counteroffensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the U.S. and South Korea.
In 1965, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit.
In 1973, President Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she’d accidentally caused part of the 18½-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.
In 1985, the space shuttle Atlantis roared into the nighttime sky over Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying seven astronauts on a seven-day mission.
Ten years ago: Senior U.S. officials declared the Dayton treaty on Bosnia was final, rejecting demands from Bosnian Serbs that provisions relating to the future of Sarajevo be changed. Two men set fire to a subway token booth in Brooklyn, N.Y., fatally burning the clerk inside.
Five years ago: Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore in the state’s presidential balloting by a 537-vote margin. Haiti held its presidential election; former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide won by a huge margin.
One year ago: Leading Iraqi politicians called for a six-month delay in the Jan. 30 election because of spiraling violence; President Bush said, “The Iraqi Election Commission has scheduled elections in January, and I would hope they’d go forward in January.” (The vote took place as scheduled.) French movie director Philippe de Broca (“King of Hearts”) died at age 71.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Robert Goulet is 72. Impressionist Rich Little is 67. Singer Tina Turner is 66. Singer Jean Terrell is 61. Pop musician John McVie is 60. Actress Jamie Rose is 46. Country singer Linda Davis is 43. Blues singer-musician Bernard Allison is 40. Country singer-musician Steve Grisaffe is 40. Actress Kristin Bauer (“Two and a Half Men”) is 32. Actor Peter Facinelli is 32. Actress Maia Campbell is 29. Country singer Joe Nichols is 29. Actress Jessica Bowman is 25. Singer Lil Fizz is 20.
Thought for Today: “Some minds remain open long enough for the truth not only to enter but to pass on through by way of a ready exit without pausing anywhere along the route.” — Sister Elizabeth Kenny, Australian nurse (1886-1952).