Today is Sunday, Nov. 27, the 331st day of 2005. There are 34 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 27, 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White.
On this date:
In 1901, the U.S. Army War College was established in Washington, D.C.
In 1910, New York’s Pennsylvania Station opened.
In 1942, during World War II, the French navy at Toulon scuttled its ships and submarines to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.
In 1945, Gen. George C. Marshall was named special U.S. envoy to China to try to end hostilities between the Nationalists and the Communists.
In 1953, playwright Eugene O’Neill died in Boston at age 65.
In 1970, Pope Paul VI, visiting the Philippines, was slightly wounded at the Manila airport by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.
In 1973, the Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who’d resigned.
In 1983, 183 people were killed when a Colombian Avianca Airlines Boeing 747 crashed near Madrid’s Barajas airport.
In 1985, the British House of Commons approved the Anglo-Irish accord giving Dublin a consultative role in the governing of British-ruled Northern Ireland.
In 1989, 107 people were killed when a bomb blamed by police on drug traffickers destroyed a Colombian jetliner.
Ten years ago: President Clinton presented his case for sending 20,000 U.S. troops on a peacekeeping mission to Bosnia, saying in a prime-time address that “in the choice between peace and war, America must choose peace.” House Speaker Newt Gingrich ruled out a 1996 presidential run.
Five years ago: A day after George W. Bush was certified the winner of Florida’s presidential vote, Al Gore laid out his case for letting the courts settle the nation’s long-count election. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s Liberal Party won a third straight majority in the House of Commons.
One year ago: After 40 years in North Korea and less than one month in a U.S. military jail near Tokyo, U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins became a free man. The Ukraine parliament declared the recently held presidential election invalid.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor James Avery is 57. TV host Bill Nye (“Bill Nye, the Science Guy”) is 50. Actor William Fichtner is 49. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is 48. Rock musician Charlie Burchill (Simple Minds) is 46. Rock musician Charlie Benante (Anthrax) is 43. Rock musician Mike Bordin (Faith No More) is 43. Actor Fisher Stevens is 42. Actress Robin Givens is 41. Actor Michael Vartan (“Alias”) is 37. Rapper Skoob (DAS EFX) is 35. Actor Jaleel White is 29.
Thought for Today: “Tidiness is one of those virtues that never will be assimilated with pleasure.” — Dame Freya Stark, British explorer and writer (1893-1993).