Today is Monday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2009. There are 31 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On Nov. 30, 1939, the Russo-Finnish War, also known as the Winter War, began as Soviet troops invaded Finland. (The conflict ended the following March with a Soviet victory.)
On this date
In 1718, Charles XII, king of Sweden, was killed during a siege of the fortress of Fredriksten, east of Oslo Fjord, ending Sweden’s “Age of Greatness.”
In 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.
In 1804, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase went on trial, accused of political bias. He was acquitted by the Senate.
In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens – better known as Mark Twain – was born in Florida, Mo.
In 1874, Sir Winston Churchill, the British statesman, orator and author who served as prime minister during World War II, was born.
In 1900, Irish writer Oscar Wilde died in Paris at age 46.
In 1908, the United States and Japan signed the Root-Takahira Agreement, which averted a drift toward possible war through the mutual acknowledgment of certain international policies and spheres of influence in the Pacific.
In 1936, London’s famed Crystal Palace, constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was destroyed in a fire.
In 1949, Chinese communist troops captured Chongqing.
In 1962, U Thant of Burma, who had been acting secretary-general of the United Nations following the death of Dag Hammarskjold the year before, was elected to a four-year term.
In 1966, Barbados, an island nation in the Caribbean situated about 100 miles (160 km) east of the Windward Islands, had gained internal self-rule in 1961 and achieved its full independence from Britain on this day in 1966.
In 1979, the album “The Wall” by Pink Floyd was released.
In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Brady bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.
In 1993, authorities in California arrested Richard Allen Davis, who confessed to abducting and killing 12 year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma.
In 1994, almost 1,000 people are forced to abandon the Achille Lauro in the Indian Ocean after it catches fire.
In 1995, President Clinton became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Northern Ireland.
In 1999, ten years ago, the opening of a 135-nation trade gathering in Seattle was disrupted by at least 40,000 demonstrators, some of whom clashed with police.
In 2004, five years ago, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced his resignation.
In 2004, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume announced he was stepping down after a nearly nine-year tenure.
In 2004, President George W. Bush tried to repair strained U.S.-Canada relations during a visit to Ottawa.
In 2004, “Jeopardy!” fans saw Ken Jennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent Nancy Zerg.
In 2008, one year ago, space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth after a nearly 16-day mission to repair and upgrade the international space station.
In 2008, the world’s most comprehensive legalized heroin program became permanent with overwhelming approval from Swiss voters, who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.
Historian Jacques Barzun is 102. Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is 91. Actor Robert Guillaume is 82. TV personality and producer Dick Clark is 80. Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy is 79. Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen is 72. Movie director Ridley Scott is 72. Singer Rob Grill (The Grassroots) is 66. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 66. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 64. Playwright David Mamet is 62. Actress Margaret Whitton is 59. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 57. Musician Shuggie Otis is 56. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 55. Singer Billy Idol is 54. Historian Michael Beschloss is 54. Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) is 52. Comedian Colin Mochrie is 52. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 47. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 46. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 44. Rock musician Mike Stone is 40. Actress Sandra Oh is 39. Country singer Mindy McCready is 34. Singer Clay Aiken is 31. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 27. Actress Kaley Cuoco is 24.
Today’s Historic Birthdays
11/30/1466 – 11/25/1560
Italian admiral and naval leader
11/30/1508 – 8/19/1580
11/30/1667 – 10/19/1745
Anglo-Irish author and satirist
11/30/1670 – 3/11/1722
Irish-born British religious philosopher
11/30/1723 – 7/25/1790
First governor of New Jersey
11/30/1810 – 12/11/1880
American gun and ammunition manufacturer; developed the Winchester rifle
11/30/1835 – 4/21/1910
Frederick Charles Cavendish
11/30/1836 – 5/6/1882
11/30/1836 – 5/6/1882
11/30/1893 – 2/10/1944
Polish-born American author
Donald Ogden Stewart
11/30/1894 – 8/2/1980
American playwright and actor
Thought for Today
“‘Plain English’ – everybody loves it, demands it – from the other fellow.” – Jacques Barzun, French-born American historian.