Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 22, the 326th day of 2014. There are 39 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas; Texas Gov. John B. Connally, in the same open car as the president, was seriously wounded. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested.

On this date:

In 1718, English pirate Edward Teach -- better known as "Blackbeard" -- was killed during a battle off present-day North Carolina.

In 1862, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "La Forza del Destino" had its world premiere in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1914, the First Battle of Ypres during World War I ended with an Allied victory against Germany.

In 1928, "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel had its premiere at the Paris Opera.

In 1935, a flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, California, carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan. Lyricist Lorenz Hart died in New York at age 48.

In 1954, the Humane Society of the United States was incorporated as the National Humane Society.

In 1965, the musical "Man of La Mancha" opened on Broadway.

In 1967, the U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it had captured the previous June, and implicitly called on adversaries to recognize Israel's right to exist.

In 1975, Juan Carlos was proclaimed King of Spain.

In 1989, Rene Mouawad was killed by a bomb after only 17 days as president of Lebanon.

In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election of the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced her resignation.

Ten years ago: Tens of thousands of demonstrators jammed downtown Kiev, denouncing Ukraine's presidential runoff election as fraudulent and chanting the name of their reformist candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, who ended up winning a revote the following month. Iran said it had frozen all uranium enrichment programs; President George W. Bush said he hoped the statement was true but added, "there must be verification."

Five years ago: Iran said it had begun large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack. Michael Jackson posthumously won four American Music Awards; Taylor Swift was named artist of the year; Adam Lambert's sexually provocative performance drew complaints.

One year ago: On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the city of Dallas paused to honor the fallen leader.

Today's Birthdays: Movie director Arthur Hiller is 91. Actor Robert Vaughn is 82. Actor Michael Callan is 79. Actor Allen Garfield is 75. Animator and movie director Terry Gilliam is 74. Actor Tom Conti is 73. Singer Jesse Colin Young is 73. Astronaut Guion Bluford is 72. International Tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King is 71. Rock musician-actor Steve Van Zandt (a.k.a. Little Steven) is 64. Rock musician Tina Weymouth (The Heads; Talking Heads; The Tom Tom Club) is 64. Retired MLB All-Star Greg Luzinski is 64. Rock musician Lawrence Gowan is 58. Actor Richard Kind is 58. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is 56. Alt-country singer Jason Ringenberg (Jason & the Scorchers) is 56. Actress Mariel Hemingway is 53. Actor Winsor Harmon is 51. Actor-turned-producer Brian Robbins is 51. Actor Stephen Geoffreys is 50. Rock musician Charlie Colin is 48. Actor Nicholas Rowe is 48. Actor Michael K. Williams is 48. Actor Mark Ruffalo is 47. International Tennis Hall of Famer Boris Becker is 47. Country musician Chris Fryar (Zac Brown Band) is 44. Actor Josh Cooke is 35. Actor-singer Tyler Hilton is 31. Actress Scarlett Johansson is 30. Actor Jamie Campbell Bower is 26. Singer Candice Glover is 25. Actor Alden Ehrenreich is 25.

Thought for Today: "Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals." -- Dorothy Height, American civil rights activist (1912-2010).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.