HISTORY AT A GLANCE

TODAY is Thursday, November 30, the 334th day of 2017. There are 31 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1947 – 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine begins,

leading up to the creation of the state of Israel. 1971 – Iran seizes the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the

United Arab Emirates. 1972 – Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000. 1981 – Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe. (The meetings end inconclusively on December 17.) 1982 – Michael Jackson’s second solo album, Thriller is released worldwide. It will become the best-selling record album in history. 1994 – MS Achille Lauro catches fire off the coast of Somalia. 1995 – Official end of Operation Desert Storm. 1995 – US President Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland and speaks in favour of the “Northern Ireland peace process” to a huge rally at Belfast City Hall. He calls terrorists “yesterday’s men”. 1998 – Exxon and Mobil sign a US$73.7 billion agreement to merge, thus creating ExxonMobil, the world’s largest company. 1999 – In Seattle, United States, demonstrations against a World Trade Organization meeting by anti-globalization protesters catch police unprepared and force the cancellation of opening ceremonies. 1999 – British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world. 2004 – Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, finally loses, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television’s biggest game show winnings. 2004 – Lion Air Flight 538 crash lands in Surakarta, Central

Java, Indonesia, killing 26. 2005 – John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York. 2012 – An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane belonging to AéroService, crashes into houses near Maya-Maya Airport during a thunderstorm, killing at least 32 people.