TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, NOV. 21, the 325th day of 2018. There are 40 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1980, 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.
In 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1922, Rebecca L. Felton, a Georgia Democrat, was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate; her term, the result of an interim appointment, ended the following day as Walter F. George, the winner of a special election, took office.
In 1927, picketing strikers at the Columbine Mine in northern Colorado were fired on by state police; six miners were killed.
In 1931, the Universal horror film “Frankenstein,” starring Boris Karloff as the monster and Colin Clive as his creator, was first released.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Air Quality Act.
In 1969, the Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, 55-45, the first such rejection since 1930.
In 1979, a mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing two Americans.
In 1985, U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (Pollard later pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to life in prison; he was released on parole on Nov. 20, 2015.)
In 1992, a three-day tornado outbreak that struck 13 states began in the Houston area before spreading to the Midwest and eastern U.S.; 26 people were killed. Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., issued an apology, but refused to discuss allegations that he’d made unwelcome sexual advances toward ten women over the years. (Faced with a
threat of expulsion, Packwood ended up resigning from the Senate in 1995.)
In 1995, Balkan leaders meeting in Dayton, Ohio, initialed a peace plan to end 3½ years of ethnic fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In 1997, U.N. arms inspectors returned to Iraq after Saddam Hussein’s threeweek standoff with the United Nations over the presence of Americans on the team.
In 2001, Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-yearold resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax; she was the apparent last victim of a series of anthrax attacks carried out through the mail system.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 84. Actress Marlo Thomas is 81. Actor Rick Lenz is 79. Singer Dr. John is 78. Actress Juliet Mills is 77. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Earl Monroe and television producer Marcy Carsey are 74. Actress Goldie Hawn is 73. Movie director Andrew Davis is 72. Rock musician Lonnie Jordan (War) is 70. Singer Livingston Taylor is 68. Actress-singer Lorna Luft is 66. Actress Cherry Jones is 62. Rock musician Brian Ritchie (The Violent Femmes) is 58. Gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 56. Actress Nicollette Sheridan is 55. Singer-actress Bjork is 53. Pro and College Football Hall-of-Famer Troy Aikman is 52. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chauncey Hannibal (BLACKstreet) and rock musician Alex James (Blur) are 50. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is 49. TV personality Rib Hillis is 48. Rapper Pretty Lou (Lost Boyz) and football player-turned-TV personality Michael Strahan are 47. Actress Rain Phoenix is 46. Country singer Kelsi Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 44. Actor Jimmi Simpson is 43. Singer-actress Lindsey Haun and actress Jena Malone are 34. Pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen is 33. Actor-singer Sam Palladio is 31.