Today is Tuesday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2006. There are 40 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 21, 1922, Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. (Felton, a Democrat appointed by Gov. Thomas Hardwick to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas E. Watson, served only a day before Watson’s elected successor, Walter F. George, took office.)
On this date:
In 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1934, the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes,” starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney, opened in New York.
In 1942, the Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened.
In 1964, the upper level of New York’s Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which connected Brooklyn and Staten Island, was opened.
In 1969, the Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, the first such rejection since 1930.
In 1973, President Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18½-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
In 1979, a mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing two Americans.
In 1980, 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.
In 1985, former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (He later pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison.)
In 1995, The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time.
Ten years ago: Thirty-three people were killed, more than 100 injured, when an explosion blamed on leaking gas ripped through a six-story building in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Five years ago: Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax in a case that baffled investigators. Actor-turned-author Gardner McKay died in Honolulu at age 69.
One year ago: General Motors Corp. announced it would close 12 facilities and lay off 30,000 workers in North America. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke away from the hardline Likud with the intention of forming a new party. President Bush became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Mongolia. Time magazine political columnist Hugh Sidey died in Paris at age 78.
Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial is 86. Country singer Jean Shepard is 73. Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 72. Actress Marlo Thomas is 69. Actor Rick Lenz is 67. Singer Dr. John is 66. Actress Juliet Mills is 65. Comedian-director Harold Ramis is 62. Television producer Marcy Carsey is 62. Actress Goldie Hawn is 61. Movie director Andrew Davis is 60. Rock musician Lonnie Jordan (War) is 58. Singer Livingston Taylor is 56. Actress-singer Lorna Luft is 54. Journalist Tina Brown is 53. Actress Cherry Jones is 50. Rock musician Brian Ritchie (The Violent Femmes) is 46. Gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 44. Actress Nicollette Sheridan is 43. Singer-actress Bjork is 41. Football player Troy Aikman is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chauncey Hannibal (BLACKstreet) is 38. Rock musician Alex James (Blur) is 38. Baseball player Ken Griffey Jr. is 37. Rapper Pretty Lou (Lost Boyz) is 35. Country singer Kelsi Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 32. Actress Jena Malone is 22.
Thought for Today: “Never confuse motion with action.” — Ernest Hemingway, American author (1899-1961).