Today in History

Today is Sunday, Nov. 24, the 328th day of 2013. There are 37 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 24, 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.

On this date:

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

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

In 1863, the Civil War battle for Lookout Mountain began in Tennessee; Union forces succeeded in taking the mountain from the Confederates.

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 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers based on Saipan attacked Tokyo in the first raid against the Japanese capital by land-based planes.

In 1947, a group of writers, producers and directors that became known as the "Hollywood Ten" was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in the movie industry.

In 1950, the musical "Guys and Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by Frank Loesser (LEH'-suhr), opened on Broadway.

In 1971, hijacker "D.B. Cooper" parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $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 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on terms to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles.

In 1991, rock singer Freddie Mercury died in London at age 45 of AIDS-related pneumonia.

In 2000, The U.S. Supreme Court stepped into the bitter, overtime struggle for the White House, agreeing to consider George W. Bush's appeal against the hand recounting of ballots in Florida.

Ten years ago: President Bush signed a $401.3 billion defense authorization bill. The president then traveled to Fort Carson, Colorado, where he paid tribute to the sacrifices of U.S. troops in Iraq. A jury in Virginia Beach, Virginia, sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death for the Washington-area sniper shootings. A fire at a Moscow dormitory for foreign students killed 43 people. Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn died in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, at age 82.

Five years ago: A Muslim charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, and five of its former leaders were convicted by a federal jury in Dallas of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Pakistan won final approval for a $7.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help stave off a possible economic meltdown. Former West Virginia Gov. Cecil H. Underwood -- elected to the job in 1956 and in 1996 -- died at age 86.

One year ago: Fire raced through a garment factory in Bangladesh that supplied major retailers in the West, killing 112 people; an official said many of the victims were trapped because the eight-story building lacked emergency exits. Former championship boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho died at a hospital in Puerto Rico after doctors disconnected life support; he'd been shot in the face in his hometown of Bayamon earlier in the week. Notre Dame secured a spot in the BCS championship game with a 22-13 win over Southern California.

Today's Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson is 75. Country singer Johnny Carver is 73. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is 73. Rock drummer Pete Best is 72. Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 71. Former White House news secretary Marlin Fitzwater is 71. Former Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman is 69. Singer Lee Michaels is 68. Actor Dwight Schultz is 66. Actor Stanley Livingston is 63. Rock musician Clem Burke (Blondie; The Romantics) is 59. Record producer Terry Lewis is 57. Actor/director Ruben Santiago-Hudson is 57. Actress Denise Crosby is 56. Actress Shae D'Lyn is 51. Rock musician John Squire (The Stone Roses) is 51. Rock musician Gary Stonadge (Big Audio) is 51. Actor Conleth Hill is 49. Actor Garret Dillahunt is 49. Actor-comedian Scott Krinsky is 45. Rock musician Chad Taylor (Live) is 43. Actress Lola Glaudini is 42. Actress Danielle Nicolet is 40. Actor/writer/director/producer Stephen Merchant is 39. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Chen Lu is 37. Actor Colin Hanks is 36. Actress Katherine Heigl is 35. Actress Sarah Hyland is 23.

Thought for Today: "Nobody has ever measured, even poets, how much a heart can hold." -- Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, American writer (1900-1948).

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.