Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 26, the 330th day of 2011. There are 35 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 26, 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull delivered a note to Japan's ambassador to the United States, Kichisaburo Nomura, proposing an agreement for "lasting and extensive peace throughout the Pacific area." The same day, a Japanese naval task force consisting of six aircraft carriers left the Kuril Islands, headed toward Hawaii.

On this date:

In 1789, this was a day of thanksgiving set aside by President George Washington to observe the adoption of the Constitution of the United States.

In 1825, the first college social fraternity, the Kappa Alpha Society, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

In 1842, the founders of the University of Notre Dame arrived at the school's present-day site near South Bend, Ind.

In 1910, two dozen young women were killed when fire broke out at a muslin factory in Newark, N.J.

In 1933, a judge in New York decided the James Joyce book "Ulysses" was not obscene and could be published in the United States.

In 1943, during World War II, the HMT Rohna, a British transport ship carrying American soldiers, was hit by a German missile off Algeria; 1,138 men were killed.

In 1950, China entered the Korean War, launching a counteroffensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the U.S. and South Korea.

In 1965, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18-1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Senator John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush appealed to Congress to outlaw human cloning after scientists in Worcester, Mass., reported they had created the first cloned human embryo. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the recognized arbiter of when recessions begin and end in the United States, declared that the country had entered a downturn in March 2001.

Five years ago: In New York City, an angry crowd demanded to know why police officers killed Sean Bell, an unarmed man, on the day of his wedding by firing dozens of shots that also wounded two of Bell's friends. In Turkey, tens of thousands of protesters denounced Pope Benedict XVI as an enemy of Islam two days before the pontiff's scheduled visit. Rafael Correa won Ecuador's presidential runoff.

One year ago: Nineteen-year-old Somali-born Mohamed Osman Mohamud was arrested by federal agents during a sting in Portland, Ore., accused of planning to detonate van of explosives during Christmas tree lighting ceremony. President Barack Obama received 12 stitches in his upper lip after taking an errant elbow during a pickup basketball game with family and friends visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. Connecticut beat Howard 86-25 to win its 82nd straight game, setting an NCAA women's basketball record for consecutive victories.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Ellen Albertini Dow is 98. Impressionist Rich Little is 73. Singer Tina Turner is 72. Singer Jean Terrell is 67. Pop musician John McVie is 66. Actress Marianne Muellerleile is 63. Actor Scott Jacoby is 55. Actress Jamie Rose is 52. Country singer Linda Davis is 49. Blues singer-musician Bernard Allison is 46. Country singer-musician Steve Grisaffe is 46. Actress Kristin Bauer is 38. Actor Peter Facinelli is 38. Actress Tammy Lynn Michaels Etheridge is 37. Actress Maia Campbell is 35. Country singer Joe Nichols is 35. Contemporary Christian musicians Anthony and Randy Armstrong (Red) are 33. Actress Jessica Bowman is 31. Pop singer Natasha Bedingfield is 30. Rock musician Ben Wysocki (The Fray) is 27. Singer Lil Fizz is 26. Singer Aubrey Collins is 24.

Thought for Today: "Put something off for one day, and 10 days will pass." -- Korean proverb.

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.