HIGHLIGHTS IN

Today is Tuesday, November 18 , the 322nd day of 2014. There are 43 days left in the year.

1820 US Navy Captain Nathaniel Palmer discovers the frozen continent of Antarctica. 1833 US and Canada adopt a system of standard time zones.

1903 US and Panama sign a treaty granting the US rights to build the Panama Canal.

1910 The Mexican revolution breaks out, lasting 10 years and killing more than one million people.

1928 Mickey Mouse makes his debut in the US, in the first successful sound-synchronised cartoon, Steamboat Willie.

1936 Germany and Italy recognise General Francisco Franco’s government in Spain. 1941 British troops launch attack in the West African desert in World War II. 1958 King Mohammed V calls for the “total and unconditional” withdrawal of US military bases and French and Spanish troops from Moroccan territory, terming their presence a menace to Morocco’s independence.

1970 China names an ambassador to the Soviet Union, restoring top- level diplomatic relations for the first time in four years.

1976 The Spanish Parliament approves a bill to establish democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

1987 Lawyers group reports systematic genocide, torture and use of chemical weapons by Soviet and allied troops in Afghanistan. 1993 Nigeria’s new military ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, dissolves all democratic institutions in the country.

1996 Russia’s new space probe to Mars fails shortly after blast- off and comes crashing back into the Pacific Ocean near Easter Island. 2000 Leaders of Japan’s governing party reach a last- minute compromise to avert the removal of PM Yoshiro Mori in a noconfidence vote.

2011 Tens of thousands of Islamists and young activists throng Tahrir Square in Cairo to confront Egypt’s ruling military council over the generals’ attempt to appropriate special powers to themselves, over any future elected government in the country.

1626 St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is consecrated by Pope Urban VIII.

1666 The French capture Antigua, West Indies, from the British.