Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 19, the 324th day of 2016. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 19, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon.

On this date:

In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.

In 1831, the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was born in Orange Township, Ohio.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

In 1915, labor activist Joe Hill was executed by firing squad in Utah for the murders of Salt Lake City grocer John Morrison and his son, Arling.

In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55 in favor, 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.

In 1924, movie producer Thomas H. Ince died after celebrating his 42nd birthday aboard the yacht of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. (The exact circumstances of Ince's death remain a mystery.)

In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.

In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.

In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

In 1996, 14 people were killed when a commuter plane collided with a private plane at an airport in Quincy, Illinois. The United States vetoed U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's bid for a second term. The space shuttle Columbia lifted off with the oldest crew member to that time, 61-year-old mission specialist Story Musgrave.

In 2005, two dozen Iraqi men, women and children in Haditha were slain by U.S. Marines after a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb. (Eight Marines were initially charged; one was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped. The squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, received a general discharge under honorable conditions after pleading guilty to negligent dereliction of duty.)

Ten years ago: British authorities said they were investigating the apparent poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who had been critical of the Russian government (Litvinenko died in London four days later of polonium poisoning). Actor Jeremy Slate died in Los Angeles at age 80.

Five years ago: Moammar Gadhafi's former heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, was captured by revolutionary fighters in the southern desert just over a month after his father was killed, setting off joyous celebrations across Libya. British-born Canadian actor John Neville, who'd appeared in the TV series "The X-Files," died in Toronto at age 86.

One year ago: A study by the Pew Research Center found that more Mexicans were leaving than moving into the United States, reversing the flow of a half-century of mass migration. Marcus Ray Johnson, convicted of killing Angela Sizemore, a woman he'd met at a Georgia nightclub, was put to death after losing a last-minute round of appeals. Bryce Harper, 23, became the youngest unanimous MVP winner in baseball history, capturing the NL award despite his Washington Nationals missing the playoffs; Josh Donaldson took the AL MVP, earning the honor after helping boost the Toronto Blue Jays back into the postseason for the first time since 1993. Actor Rex Reason, 86, died in Walnut, California.

Today's Birthdays: Talk show host Larry King is 83. Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch is 81. Talk show host Dick Cavett is 80. Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 78. Singer Pete Moore (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles) is 77. Former Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is 77. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 75. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 74. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 67. Actor Robert Beltran is 63. Actress Kathleen Quinlan is 62. Actress Glynnis O'Connor is 61. Broadcast journalist Ann Curry is 60. Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins is 60. Actress Allison Janney is 57. Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 56. Actress Meg Ryan is 55. Actress-director Jodie Foster is 54. Actress Terry Farrell is 53. TV chef Rocco DiSpirito is 50. Actor Jason Scott Lee is 50. Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 50. Actress Erika Alexander is 47. Rock musician Travis McNabb is 47. Singer Tony Rich is 45. Actress Sandrine Holt is 44. Country singer Jason Albert (Heartland) is 43. Country singer Billy Currington is 43. Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 43. Country musician Chad Jeffers is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lil' Mo is 39. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug is 39. Actor Reid Scott is 39. Actress Katherine Kelly is 37. Neo-soul musician Browan Lollar is 34. Actor Adam Driver is 33. Country singer Cam is 32. Actress Samantha Futerman is 29. Rapper Tyga is 27.

Thought for Today: "The facts are always less than what really happened." -- Nadine Gordimer, South African Nobel Prize-winning author (1923-2014).