Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 24, the 329th day of 2012. There are 37 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 24, 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on terms to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles. (The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev the following month.)

On this date:

In 1784, Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Va.

In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

In 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to command the Department of the West during the Civil War.

In 1922, Irish nationalist and author Robert Erskine Childers was executed in Dublin by Free State forces.

In 1939, British Overseas Airways Corp. (BOAC) was formally established.

In 1941, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Edwards v. California, unanimously struck down a California law prohibiting people from bringing impoverished non-residents into the state.

In 1950, the musical "Guys and Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway.

In 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in a scene captured on live television.

In 1969, Apollo 12 splashed down safely in the Pacific.

In 1971, a hijacker calling himself "Dan Cooper" (but who became popularly known as "D.B. Cooper") parachuted from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 over the Pacific Northwest after receiving $200,000 dollars in ransom -- his fate remains unknown.

In 1982, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Kenyan government economist and father of the president, was killed in an automobile accident in Nairobi; he was 46.

In 1992, a China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 crashed in southern China, killing all 141 people on board.

Ten years ago: In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Iraqi government complained that the small print behind upcoming weapons inspections would give Washington a pretext to attack. Lucio Gutierrez, a populist former army colonel who'd led a coup in 2000, was elected Ecuador's sixth president in six years. Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's conservative party dominated parliamentary elections in Austria.

Five years ago: A fast-moving wildfire pushed by Santa Ana winds raced through the canyons and mountains of Malibu, Calif., for the second time in little more than a month, destroying some 50 homes. In Australia's election, conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered defeat at the hands of Labor Party head Kevin Rudd.

One year ago: After a meeting in Strasbourg, France, German Chancellor Angela Merkel deflected calls for the European Central Bank to play a bigger role in solving Europe's debt crisis but won the backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italy's new premier, Mario Monti, to unite the troubled 17-nation eurozone more closely. In the first NFL game featuring brothers as opposing head coaches, the Baltimore Ravens, led by John Harbaugh, beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6, under rookie coach Jim Harbaugh.

Today's Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson is 74. Country singer Johnny Carver is 72. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is 72. Rock drummer Pete Best is 71. Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 70. Former White House news secretary Marlin Fitzwater is 70. Former Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman is 68. Singer Lee Michaels is 67. Actor Dwight Schultz is 65. Actor Stanley Livingston is 62. Rock musician Clem Burke (Blondie; The Romantics) is 58. Record producer Terry Lewis is 56. Actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson is 56. Actress Denise Crosby is 55. Actress Shae D'Lyn is 50. Rock musician John Squire (The Stone Roses) is 50. Rock musician Gary Stonadge (Big Audio) is 50. Actor Garret Dillahunt is 48. Actor-comedian Scott Krinsky is 44. Rock musician Chad Taylor (Live) is 42. Actress Lola Glaudini is 41. Actress Danielle Nicolet is 39. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Chen Lu is 36. Actor Colin Hanks is 35. Actress Katherine Heigl is 34. Actress Sarah Hyland is 22.

Thought for Today: "Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt." -- Minna Antrim, American writer (1861-1950).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.