TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, NOV. 11, the 315th day of 2021. There are 50 days left in the year. Today is Veterans Day. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a “body politick.” In 1831, former slave Nat Turner, who’d led a slave uprising, was executed in Jerusalem, Virginia. In 1918, fighting in World War I ended as the Allies and Germany signed an armistice in the Forest of Compiegne. In 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding. In 1938, Irish-born cook Mary Mallon, who’d gained notoriety as the diseasecarrying “Typhoid Mary” blamed for the deaths of three people, died on North Brother Island in New York’s East River at age 69 after 23 years of mandatory quarantine. In 1942, during World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France. In 1966, Gemini 12 blasted off on a four-day mission with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. aboard; it was the tenth and final flight of NASA’s Gemini program. In 1972, the U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1987, following the failure of two Supreme Court nominations, President Ronald Reagan announced his choice of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, who went on to win confirmation.
In 1992, the Church of England voted to ordain women as priests. In 1998, President Clinton ordered warships, planes and troops to the Persian Gulf as he laid out his case for a possible attack on Iraq. Iraq, meanwhile, showed no sign of backing down from its refusal to deal with U.N. weapons inspectors. In 2003, in Galveston, Texas, millionaire Robert Durst was found not guilty of murdering Morris Black, an elderly neighbor who Durst said he’d killed accidentally. In 2004, Palestinians at home and abroad wept, waved flags and burned tires in an eruption of grief at news of the death of Yasser Arafat in Paris at age 75. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Country singer Narvel Felts is 83. Former Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is 81. Americana roots singer/songwriter Chris Smither is 77. Rock singer-musician Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge) and the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, are 76. Rock singer Jim Peterik (Ides of March, Survivor) is 71. Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller and pop singer-musician Paul Cowsill (The Cowsills) are 70. Rock singer-musician Andy Partridge (XTC) and singer Marshall Crenshaw are 68. Rock singer Dave Alvin is 66. Rock musician Ian Craig Marsh (Human League; Heaven 17) is 65. Actor Stanley Tucci is 61. Actor Demi Moore is 59. Actor Calista Flockhart is 57. Actor Frank John Hughes is 54. TV personality Carson Kressley is 52. Actor David DeLuise is 50. Actors Adam Beach and Tyler Christopher are 49. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is 47. Actor Scoot McNairy is 44. Rock musician Jonathan Pretus (formerly with Cowboy Mouth) and actor Frankie Shaw are 40. Musician Jon Batiste is 35.