TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2021. There are 44 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On Nov. 17, 1997, 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed when militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers, who also hacked their victims, were killed by police.
1800 — Congress held its first session in the partially completed US Capitol building.
1969 — The first round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union opened in Helsinki, Finland.
1973 — President Richard Nixon told Associated Press managing editors in Orlando, Florida: “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”
1989 — The Walt Disney animated feature “The Little Mermaid” opened in wide release.
2003 — Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.
2018 — Argentina’s navy announced that searchers had found a submarine that disappeared a year earlier with 44 crewmen aboard; the government said it would be unable to recover the vessel.
Ten years ago — Occupy Wall Street protesters clogged streets and tied up traffic around the US to mark two months since the movement’s birth and signal they weren’t ready to quit, despite the breakup of many of their encampments by police. Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL Cy Young Award. Demi Moore said she was ending her six-year marriage to Ashton Kutcher.
Five years ago — President-elect Donald Trump, at Trump Tower in New York, held his first meeting with a world leader, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and received advice from former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
One year ago — Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, whose district includes much of the Antelope Valley, easily won reelection as House Republican leader. The White House Coronavirus task force warned of an “aggressive” and “unrelenting” spread of the Coronavirus as the nation headed into the Thanksgiving holiday. US regulators allowed emergency use of the first rapid Coronavirus test that could be performed entirely at home and delivered results in 30 minutes.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, is 87. Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 83. Singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio (GOW’-dee-oh) is 80. Movie director Martin Scorsese is 79. Actor Lauren Hutton is 78. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 77. “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 77. Movie director Roland Joffe is 76. Former Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 73. Former House Speaker John Boehner is 72. Actor Stephen Root is 70. Rock musician Jim Babjak (The Smithereens) is 64. Actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 63. Actor William Moses is 62. Entertainer RuPaul is 61. Actor Dylan Walsh is 58. Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice is 57. Actor Sophie Marceau is 55. Actor-model Daisy Fuentes is 55. Blues singer/musician Tab Benoit is 54. R&B singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 54. Rock musician Ben Wilson (Blues Traveler) is 54. Actor David Ramsey is 50. Actor Leonard Roberts is 49. Actor Leslie Bibb is 48. Actor Brandon Call is 45. Country singer Aaron Lines is 44. Actor Rachel McAdams is 43. Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 41. Former MLB outfielder Ryan Braun is 38. Actor Justin Cooper is 33. Musician Reid Perry (The Band Perry) is 33. Actor Raquel Castro is 27.