Today is Monday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2018. 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 Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) 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 1990, the pop duo Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy Award because other singers had lent their voices to the “Girl You Know It’s True” album.
In 1995, Polish President Lech Walesa (vah-WEN’-sah) was defeated in his bid for re-election.
In 1997, Iowa seamstress Bobbi McCaughey (mihk-KOY’) 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 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, Amazon.com released its first Kindle e-book reader.
Ten years ago: Al-Qaida’s No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri (AY’-muhn ahl-ZWAH’-ree), slurred Barack Obama as a black American who does the bidding of whites in a new Web message intended to dent the president-elect’s popularity among Arabs and Muslims. The Dow Jones industrial average closed under 8,000 at 7,997.28 — the lowest close since March 2003. Drama and dance critic Clive Barnes died in New York at age 81.
Five years ago: Suicide bombers struck the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, killing 23 people, including a diplomat, and injuring more than 140 others. Virginia state Sen. Creigh (kree) Deeds was attacked and stabbed multiple times by his mentally ill adult son, Gus Deeds, who then took his own life. Diane Disney Miller, 79, daughter of Walt Disney and one of his inspirations for building the Disneyland theme park, died in Napa, California. The Disney animated feature “Frozen” had its Hollywood premiere.
One year ago: 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 the age of 83 after nearly a half-century in prison. In an announcement that would trigger impeachment proceedings, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe defied calls to quit and said he would preside over a ruling party congress in December. State media and a monitoring group in Syria reported that pro-government forces had defeated the Islamic State group in its last major stronghold in the country. Longtime country music star Mel Tillis died in Florida at the age of 85. Actress and singer Della Reese died at 86 in her Los Angeles area home.
Today’s Birthdays: Talk show host Larry King is 85. Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch is 83. Talk show host Dick Cavett is 82. Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 80. Former Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is 79. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 77. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 76. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 69. Actor Robert Beltran is 65. Actress Kathleen Quinlan is 64. Actress Glynnis O’Connor is 63. Broadcast journalist Ann Curry is 62. Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins is 62. Actress Allison Janney is 59. Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 58. Actress Meg Ryan is 57. Actress-director Jodie Foster is 56. Actress Terry Farrell is 55. TV chef Rocco DiSpirito is 52. Actor Jason Scott Lee is 52. Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 52. Actress Erika Alexander is 49. Rock musician Travis McNabb is 49. Singer Tony Rich is 47. Actress Sandrine Holt is 46. Country singer Jason Albert (Heartland) is 45. Country singer Billy Currington is 45. Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 45. Country musician Chad Jeffers is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lil’ Mo is 41. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug is 41. Actor Reid Scott is 41. Movie director Barry Jenkins (Film: “Moonlight”) is 39. Actress Katherine Kelly is 39. Neo-soul musician Browan Lollar is 36. Actor Adam Driver is 35. Country singer Cam is 34. Actress Samantha Futerman is 31. Rapper Tyga is 29.
Thought for Today: “The misfortunes hardest to bear are these which never came.” — Christopher Morley, American author and journalist (1890-1957).
