Today is Tuesday, Nov. 29, the 333rd day of 2005. There are 32 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 29, 1963, President Johnson named a commission headed by Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy.
On this date:
In 1864, a Colorado militia killed at least 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians in the Sand Creek Massacre.
In 1924, Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels before he could complete his opera “Turandot.” (It was finished by Franco Alfano.)
In 1929, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he’d made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.
In 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine between Arabs and Jews.
In 1952, President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower kept his campaign promise to visit Korea to assess the ongoing conflict.
In 1961, “Enos” the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited earth twice before returning.
In 1964, the U.S. Roman Catholic Church instituted sweeping changes in the liturgy, including the use of English instead of Latin.
In 1981, actress Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island, Calif., at age 43.
In 1986, actor Cary Grant died in Davenport, Iowa, at age 82.
In 2001, former Beatle George Harrison died in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer; he was 58.
Ten years ago: President Clinton opened a five-day European trip in London, where he met with Prime Minister John Major and addressed the British Parliament.
Five years ago: Bracing the public for more legal wrangling, Vice President Al Gore said in a series of TV interviews that he was prepared to contest the Florida presidential vote until “the middle of December.” Lou Groza, the Cleveland Browns’ Hall of Fame kicker and lineman affectionately known as “The Toe,” died at age 76.
One year ago: President Bush picked Carlos Gutierrez, the chief executive officer of cereal giant Kellogg Co., to be commerce secretary. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to a gay-marriage law in Massachusetts. An Army helicopter crashed near Waco, Texas, killing seven soldiers. John Drew Barrymore, the sometimes troubled heir to an acting dynasty and absent father of movie star Drew Barrymore, died in Los Angeles at age 72.
Today’s Birthdays: Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Vin Scully is 78. Blues singer-musician John Mayall is 72. Composer-musician Chuck Mangione is 65. Pop singer Denny Doherty (The Mamas & the Papas) is 65. Country singer Jody Miller is 64. Actress Diane Ladd is 62. Pop singer-musician Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals) is 61. Olympic gold medal skier Suzy Chaffee is 59. Comedian Garry Shandling is 56. Movie director Joel Coen is 51. Actor-comedian Howie Mandel is 50. Actor Jeff Fahey is 48. Actress Cathy Moriarty is 45. Actress Kim Delaney is 44. Actor Tom Sizemore is 44. Actor Andrew McCarthy is 43. Actor Don Cheadle is 41. Actor-producer Neill Barry is 40. Musician Wallis Buchanan (Jamiroquai) is 40. Pop singer Jonathan Knight (New Kids on the Block) is 37. Rock musician Martin Carr (Boo Radleys) is 37. Actress Gena Lee Nolin is 34. Actress Anna Faris is 29. Rock musician Ringo Garza is 24. Actor Lucas Black is 23.
Thought for Today: “The tragedy of love is indifference.” — W. Somerset Maugham, English author-dramatist (1874-1965).