Today in History

1703 – A two-day storm rages through southern England, flooding the Thames and Severn rivers and killing at least 8000 people.

1789 – A day of Thanksgiving is set aside by United States President George Washington to observe the adoption of America’s Constitution.

1922 – The tomb of King Tutankhamen is opened in Egypt.

1939 – Stalin attacks Finland, leading to 105-day Winter War.

1940 – Half a million Jews of Warsaw, Poland, are ordered to live within a walled ghetto.

1941 – US President Franklin Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

1942 – Casablanca has its world premiere in New York.

1960 – Keith Holyoake, left, begins 12-year reign as New Zealand prime minister, defeating Walter Nash’s Labour government.

1975 – A jury in California finds Lynette ‘‘Squeaky’’ Fromme, a Charles Manson follower, guilty of trying to assassinate US President Gerald Ford.

1976 – Sex Pistols release their debut single, Anarchy In The UK.

1983 – A record £26 million in gold bullion, diamonds and cash is stolen from the Brink’s-Mat warehouse near Heathrow Airport. Most of the gold has not been recovered.

1992 – The Queen announces she will start paying taxes on her personal income.

2006 – Ireland play their last rugby international at Lansdowne Road, beating a Pacific Islanders team

61-17.

2008 – Gunmen storm luxury hotels, a tourist attraction and a railway station in Mumbai, killing at least 172 people.

Birthdays

Charles Schulz, US cartoonist (1922-2000); Tina Turner, US pop singer (1939-); Marilynne Robinson, US author (1943-); John McVie, Fleetwood Mac musician (1945-); Rita Ora, Kosovo-born UK singer (1990-).