Today in History

Today is Monday, Nov. 25, the 329th day of 2019. There are 36 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 25, 1986, the Iran-Contra affair erupted as President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels.

On this date:

In 1783, the British evacuated New York during the Revolutionary War.

In 1914, baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California.

In 1915, a new version of the Ku Klux Klan, targeting blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants, was founded by William Joseph Simmons.

In 1947, movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the "Hollywood Ten" who'd been cited for contempt of Congress the day before.

In 1961, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, was commissioned.

In 1963, the body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery; his widow, Jacqueline, lighted an "eternal flame" at the gravesite.

In 1980, Sugar Ray Leonard regained the World Boxing Council welterweight championship when Roberto Duran abruptly quit in the eighth round at the Louisiana Superdome.

In 1999, Elian Gonzalez, a 5-year-old Cuban boy, was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida, setting off an international custody battle.

In 2001, as the war in Afghanistan entered its eighth week, CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed during a prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif, becoming America's first combat casualty of the conflict.

In 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head.

In 2008, former NFL quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to a Virginia dogfighting charge, receiving a three-year suspended sentence.

In 2016, Fidel Castro, who led his rebels to victorious revolution in 1959, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half-century of rule in Cuba, died at age 90.

Ten years ago: Toyota said it would replace the gas pedals on 4 million vehicles in the United States because the pedals could get stuck in the floor mats and cause sudden acceleration.

Five years ago: Attorneys for Michael Brown's family vowed to push for federal charges against the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who killed the unarmed 18-year-old, a day after a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson. (The Justice Department later declined to prosecute Wilson.) President Barack Obama sharply rebuked protesters for racially charged violence in Ferguson, saying there was no excuse for burning buildings, torching cars and destroying other property.

One year ago: U.S. border agents fired tear gas on hundreds of migrants protesting near the border with Mexico after some of them tried to get through the fencing and wire separating the two countries; U.S. authorities temporarily shut down the border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico, where thousands were waiting to apply for asylum. The nation's deadliest wildfire in a century was declared fully contained after burning for more than two weeks; it had killed 85 people and destroyed thousands of homes in and around the Northern California town of Paradise.

Today's Birthdays: Playwright Murray Schisgal is 93. Actress Kathryn Crosby is 86. Actor Christopher Riordan is 82. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs is 79. Singer Bob Lind is 77. Author, actor and economist Ben Stein is 75. Actor John Larroquette is 72. Actor Tracey Walter is 72. Movie director Jonathan Kaplan is 72. Author Charlaine Harris is 68. Retired MLB All-Star Bucky Dent is 68. Dance judge Bruno Tonioli (TV: "Dancing with the Stars") is 64. Singer Amy Grant is 59. Former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar is 56. Rock musician Eric Grossman (K's Choice) is 55. Rock singer Mark Lanegan is 55. Rock singer-musician Tim Armstrong is 54. Actor Steve Harris is 54. Actor Billy Burke is 53. Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 53. Rock musician Rodney Sheppard (Sugar Ray) is 53. Rapper-producer Erick Sermon is 51. Actress Jill Hennessy is 50. Actress Christina Applegate is 48. Actor Eddie Steeples is 46. Actress Kristian Nairn is 44. Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb is 43. Actress Jill Flint is 42. Actor Jerry Ferrara is 40. Actor Joel Kinnaman is 40. Actress Valerie Azlynn is 39. Former first daughter Barbara Pierce Bush is 38. Former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager is 38. Actress Katie Cassidy is 33. Contemporary Christian singer Jamie Grace is 28.

Thought for Today: "There's no one so intolerable or less tolerated in society than someone who's intolerant." -- Giacomo Leopardi, Italian author and poet (1798-1837).

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.