Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2011. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. (Investigators later determined that part of the tail assembly of the jetliner had fallen off, and blamed pilot error, inadequate pilot training and overly sensitive rudder controls.)

On this date:

In 1815, American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, N.Y.

In 1908, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun was born in Nashville, Ill.

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., giving the green light to traffic.

In 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1977, the city of New Orleans elected its first black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial, the winner of a runoff.

In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.

In 1990, Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne. Actress Eve Arden died in Beverly Hills, Calif. at age 82.

In 1996, a Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people.

Ten years ago: Afghan opposition forces broke through Taliban lines outside Kabul. Fashion editor Carrie Donovan died in New York at age 73.

Five years ago: Hundreds of relatives and friends of victims who died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 dedicated a much-awaited memorial in New York. Gerald R. Ford surpassed Ronald Reagan as the longest-living U.S. president at 93 years and 121 days.

One year ago: President Barack Obama arrived in Japan from South Korea to attend a regional economic summit; it was the fourth and final stop on the president's 10-day tour of Asia. An old Chinese vase that had been tucked away unnoticed for years in a suburban London home was sold at auction for a record $83 million, scooped up by a Chinese buyer.

Today's Birthdays: Rhythm-and-blues singer Ruby Nash Curtis (Ruby and the Romantics) is 72. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 68. Singer Brian Hyland is 68. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jimmy Hayes (Persuasions) is 68. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 67. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 67. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 66. Rock musician Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 64. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., is 62. Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 61. Actress Megan Mullally is 53. Actor Vincent Irizarry is 52. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 50. Actor Sam Lloyd is 48. Rock musician David Ellefson is 47. Former MLB player Sammy Sosa is 43. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 41. Actress Radha Mitchell is 38. Actress Lourdes Benedicto is 37. Actress Tamala Jones is 37. Actress Angela Watson is 37. Singer Tevin Campbell is 35. Actress Ashley Williams is 33. Actress Cote de Pablo is 32. Actor Ryan Gosling is 31. Contemporary Christian musician Chris Huffman is 31. Actress Anne Hathaway is 29. Pop singer Omarion is 27. Actress Macey Cruthird is 19.

Thought for Today: "Private opinion creates public opinion.... That is why private opinion, and private behaviour, and private conversation are so terrifyingly important." -- Jan Struther (nee Joyce Anstruther), English poet (1901-1953).

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.