TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, NOV. 12, the 316th day of 2017. There are 49 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. The Allies won a major victory over Japanese forces.
In 1787, severe flooding struck Dublin, Ireland, as the River Liffey rose.
In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union after Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.
In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., giving the green light to traffic.
In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.
In 1969, news of the My Lai Massacre carried out by U.S. forces in South Vietnam in March 1968 was broken by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.
In 1984, space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snared a wandering satellite in history’s first space salvage; the Palapa B2 satellite was secured in Discovery’s cargo bay for return to Earth.
In 1987, the American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person had AIDS or was HIV-positive.
In 1992, the British situation comedy “Absolutely Fabulous,” starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, premiered on BBC2 Television.
In 1996, a Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people.
In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Brian Hyland is 74. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 74. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 72. Rock musician Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 70. Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 67. Actress Megan Mullally is 59. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 56. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 49. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 47. Actress Rebecca Wisocky is 46. Actress Radha Mitchell is 44. Singer Tevin Campbell is 41. Actress Ashley Williams is 39. Actress Cote de Pablo is 38. Actor Ryan Gosling s 37. Actress Anne Hathaway is 35. Pop singer Omarion is 33. Actress Macey Cruthird is 25.