Today in History

Today is Sunday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2023. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

On this date:

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

In 1919, the U.S. 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 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 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon.

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 1997, Iowa seamstress Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to the world's first set of surviving septuplets, four boys and three girls.

In 2004, in one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history, Ron Artest (now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest) and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers charged into the stands and fought with Detroit Pistons fans, forcing officials to end the Pacers' 97-82 win with 45.9 seconds left.

In 2007, in Pakistan, a Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule.

In 2010, President Barack Obama, attending a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, won an agreement to build a missile shield over Europe, a victory that risked further aggravating Russia.

In 2012, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Myanmar, where he promised more American help if the Asian nation kept building its new democracy.

In 2013, the Disney animated feature "Frozen" had its Hollywood premiere.

In 2017, Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader behind the gruesome murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles in 1969, died in a California hospital at age 83 after nearly a half-century in prison.

In 2020, with the coronavirus surging out of control, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pleaded with Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving and not to spend the holiday with people from outside their household.

In 2021, Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in the shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of a third during a night of protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the summer of 2020.

Today's Birthdays: Talk show host Dick Cavett is 87. Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 85. Former Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is 84. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 82. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 81. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 74. Actor Robert Beltran is 70. Actor Kathleen Quinlan is 69. Actor Glynnis O'Connor is 68. Broadcast journalist Ann Curry is 67. Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins is 67. Actor Allison Janney is 64. Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 63. Actor Meg Ryan is 62. Actor-director Jodie Foster is 61. Actor Terry Farrell is 60. TV chef Rocco DiSpirito is 57. Actor Jason Scott Lee is 57. Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 57. Actor Erika Alexander is 54. Rock musician Travis McNabb is 54. Singer Tony Rich is 52. Actor Sandrine Holt is 51. Country singer Billy Currington is 50. Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 50. R&B singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 48. R&B singer Lil' Mo is 46. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug is 46. Actor Reid Scott is 46. Movie director Barry Jenkins (Film: "Moonlight") is 44. Actor Katherine Kelly is 44. Actor Adam Driver is 40. Country singer Cam is 39. Actor Samantha Futerman is 36. NHL forward Patrick Kane is 35. Rapper Tyga is 34.