Today in History

Today in History

Today is Sunday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2017. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 12, 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over Japanese forces.)

On this date:

In 1787, severe flooding struck Dublin, Ireland, as the River Liffey rose.

In 1866, Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, the first provisional president of the Republic of China, was born.

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., giving the green light to traffic.

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1969, news of the My Lai Massacre carried out by U.S. forces in South Vietnam in March 1968 was broken by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.

In 1977, the city of New Orleans elected its first black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial, the winner of a runoff.

In 1984, space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snared a wandering satellite in history's first space salvage; the Palapa B2 satellite was secured in Discovery's cargo bay for return to Earth.

In 1987, the American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person had AIDS or was HIV-positive.

In 1992, the British situation comedy "Absolutely Fabulous," starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, premiered on BBC2 Television.

In 1996, a Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

Ten years ago: Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest for the second time in four days ahead of a planned march to protest emergency rule. The Dow Jones industrial average closed below 13,000 for first time since Aug. 2007. Ryan Braun won the NL Rookie of the Year award in one of the closest votes, while Dustin Pedroia ran away with the AL honor. Author Ira Levin, 78, died in New York.

Five years ago: The United States was re-elected to another three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council in the only contested election for the organization's top human rights body.

One year ago: Tens of thousands of people marched in streets across the United States, staging the fourth day of protests against Donald Trump's surprise victory as president. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Seoul (sohl), South Korea, demanding the resignation of President Park Geun-hye amid an explosive political scandal.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Brian Hyland is 74. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 74. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 73. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 73. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 72. Rock musician Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 70. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., is 68. Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 67. Actress Megan Mullally is 59. Actor Vincent Irizarry is 58. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 56. Actor Sam Lloyd is 54. Rock musician David Ellefson is 53. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 49. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 47. Actress Rebecca Wisocky is 46. Actress Radha Mitchell is 44. Actress Lourdes Benedicto is 43. Actress Tamala Jones is 43. Actress Angela Watson is 43. Singer Tevin Campbell is 41. Actress Ashley Williams is 39. Actress Cote de Pablo is 38. Actor Ryan Gosling is 37. Contemporary Christian musician Chris Huffman is 37. Actress Anne Hathaway is 35. Pop singer Omarion is 33. Folk-rock musician Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes) is 27. Actress Macey Cruthird is 25.

Thought for Today: "Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better." -- Florence Nightingale, English nursing pioneer (1820-1910).