Today in History

Today is Friday, Dec. 1, the 335th day of 2017. There are 30 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 1, 1942, during World War II, nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect in the United States; the goal was not so much to save on gas, but to conserve rubber (as in tires) that was desperately needed for the war effort.

On this date:

In 1824, the presidential election was turned over to the U.S. House of Representatives when a deadlock developed between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. (Adams ended up the winner.)

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln sent his Second Annual Message to Congress, in which he called for the abolition of slavery, and went on to say, "Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves."

In 1921, the Navy flew the first non-rigid dirigible to use helium; the C-7 traveled from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Washington, D.C.

In 1934, Soviet communist official Sergei M. Kirov, an associate of Josef Stalin, was assassinated in Leningrad, resulting in a massive purge.

In 1941, Japan's Emperor Hirohito approved waging war against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands after his government rejected U.S. demands contained in the Hull Note.

In 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus; the incident sparked a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.

In 1965, an airlift of refugees from Cuba to the United States began in which thousands of Cubans were allowed to leave their homeland.

In 1973, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, died in Tel Aviv at age 87.

In 1989, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.

In 1990, British and French workers digging the Channel Tunnel between their countries finally met after knocking out a passage in a service tunnel.

In 1992, a judge in Mineola, New York, sentenced Amy Fisher to 5 to 15 years in prison for shooting and seriously wounding her lover's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco. (Fisher served seven years.)

In 1997, a 14-year-old boy opened fire on a prayer circle at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, killing three fellow students and wounding five; the shooter is serving a life sentence.

Ten years ago: Police in El Dorado, Kansas, identified a body found days earlier as that of Emily Sander, a college student whose disappearance drew added attention after the discovery she was also an Internet porn model named "Zoey Zane." (A suspect was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.) Four suspects were charged in Miami in the shooting death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor. (A fifth suspect was later arrested; all received prison sentences.)

Five years ago: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of the team's coach and general manager. Enrique Pena Nieto took the oath of office as Mexico's new president, vowing to restore peace and security.

One year ago: During the first stop of a "Thank you" tour, President-elect Donald Trump made a surprise announcement from the stage in Cincinnati, saying he had decided to offer the post of defense secretary to retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis. French President Francois Hollande announced in a televised address that he would not seek a second term in the 2017 presidential election. Former NFL player Joe McKnight, 28, was shot to death in Terrytown, Louisiana, in what authorities said was a road-rage incident (a suspect is facing a second-degree murder charge).

Today's Birthdays: Former CIA director Stansfield Turner is 94. Actor-director Woody Allen is 82. World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino is 78. Singer Dianne Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 78. Country musician Casey Van Beek (The Tractors) is 75. Television producer David Salzman is 74. Rock singer-musician Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult) is 73. Rock musician John Densmore (The Doors) is 73. Actress-singer Bette Midler is 72. Singer Gilbert O'Sullivan is 71. Former child actor Keith Thibodeaux (TV: "I Love Lucy") is 67. Actor Treat Williams is 66. Country singer Kim Richey is 61. Actress Charlene Tilton is 59. Actress-model Carol Alt is 57. Actor Jeremy Northam is 56. Actress Katherine LaNasa is 51. Producer-director Andrew Adamson is 51. Actor Nestor Carbonell is 50. Actress Golden Brooks is 47. Actress-comedian Sarah Silverman is 47. Actor Ron Melendez is 45. Contemporary Christian singer Bart Millard is 45. Actor-writer-producer David Hornsby is 42. Singer Sarah Masen is 42. Rock musician Brad Delson (Linkin Park) is 40. Actor Nate Torrence is 40. Rock/Christian music singer-songwriter Mat Kearney is 39. Rock musician Mika Fineo (Filter) is 36. Actor Riz Ahmed (Film: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story") is 35. Actor Charles Michael Davis is 33. R&B singer-actress Janelle Monae is 32. Actress Ashley Monique Clark is 29. Pop-rock-rap singer Tyler Joseph (Twenty One Pilots) is 29. Actress Zoe Kravitz is 29. Pop singer Nico Sereba (Nico & Vinz) is 27. Actor Jackson Nicoll is 14.

Thought for Today: "An educated man should know everything about something, and something about everything." -- Dame C.V. Wedgwood, English historian (1910-1997).