Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2022. There are 31 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 30, 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris for ending the Revolutionary War; the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783.

On this date:

In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.

In 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace.

In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.

In 1982, the motion picture "Gandhi," starring Ben Kingsley as the Indian nationalist leader, had its world premiere in New Delhi.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

In 2000, Al Gore's lawyers battled for his political survival in the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts; meanwhile, GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee moved to award the presidency to George W. Bush in case the courts did not by appointing their own slate of electors.

In 2004, "Jeopardy!" fans saw Ken Jennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent Nancy Zerg.

In 2010, the Obama administration announced that all 197 airlines that flew to the U.S. had begun collecting names, genders and birth dates of passengers so the government could check them against terror watch lists before they boarded flights.

In 2011, an Arizona jury sentenced convicted "Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau to death for killing nine people in the Phoenix area. (He remains on death row.)

In 2013, Paul Walker, 40, the star of the "Fast & Furious" movie series, died with his friend, Roger W. Rodas, who was at the wheel of a Porsche sports car that crashed and burned north of Los Angeles.

In 2018, former President George H.W. Bush, a World War II hero who rose through the political ranks to the nation's highest office, died at his Houston home at the age of 94; his wife of more than 70 years, Barbara Bush, had died in April.

In 2020, two battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified their presidential election tallies in favor of Joe Biden, even as President Donald Trump's legal team continued to dispute the results; Biden's victory in Wisconsin was certified following a partial recount that only added to his 20,600-vote margin over Trump.

Ten years ago: Israel approved the construction of 3,000 homes in Jewish settlements on occupied lands, drawing swift condemnation from the Palestinians a day after their successful bid for recognition by the United Nations. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Egypt, denouncing President Mohammed Morsi and a draft constitution that was approved earlier in the day by his Islamist allies.

Five years ago: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on veteran Democratic congressman John Conyers to resign in the face of multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. (Conyers resigned five days later.) A jury found a Mexican man not guilty in the killing of a woman on a San Francisco pier, a shooting that touched off a fierce national immigration debate. (Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who had been deported five times, did not deny shooting Kate Steinle but said it was an accident. He was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.) Rapper DMX pleaded guilty to tax fraud, admitting he concealed millions of dollars in revenue to dodge $1.7 million in taxes. (The rapper was sentenced to a year in prison.) Actor Jim Nabors, best known as TV's "Gomer Pyle," died at the age of 87.

One year ago: Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old sophomore, opened fire at a Michigan high school, killing four students and wounding seven other people; school staff had discovered his violent drawings but his parents wouldn't remove him from school. (The parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are accused of making the gun accessible and ignoring their son's mental health needs; they face charges including involuntary manslaughter.) The Biden administration moved to toughen testing requirements for international travelers to the U.S., including both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, amid the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. CNN took Chris Cuomo off the air indefinitely, saying information released by New York's attorney general showed that he had played a greater role than he had previously acknowledged in defense of his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he fought sexual harassment charges. (Cuomo would be fired days later.)

Today's Birthdays: Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen is 85. Movie director Ridley Scott is 85. Screenwriter Geoffrey C. Ward is 82. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 79. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 77. Playwright David Mamet (MA'-meht) is 75. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 70. Musician Shuggie Otis is 69. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 68. Singer Billy Idol is 67. Historian Michael Beschloss is 67. Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) is 65. Comedian Colin Mochrie is 65. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 60. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 59. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 57. Rock musician Mike Stone is 53. Music producer Steve Aoki is 45. Singer Clay Aiken is 44. Actor Billy Lush is 41. Actor Elisha Cuthbert is 40. Actor Kaley Cuoco is 37. Model Chrissy Teigen is 37. Actor Christel Khalil is 35. Actor Rebecca Rittenhouse is 34. Actor Adelaide Clemens is 33. World chess champion Magnus Carlsen is 32. Actor Tyla Harris is 22.