Today In History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2018. There are 44 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1973: President Richard Nixon told Associated Press managing editors in Orlando, Fla.: “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

ON THIS DATE

› 1800: Congress held its first session in the partially completed U.S. Capitol building.

› 1869: The Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

› 1889: The Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Ore., as well as Chicago and San Francisco.

› 1947: President Harry S. Truman, in an address to a special session of Congress, called for emergency aid to Austria, Italy and France. (The aid was approved the following month.)

› 1979: Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

› 2003: Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., is 84. Rock musician Gerry McGee (The Ventures) is 81. Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 80. Singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio is 77. “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 74. Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Seaver is 74. Movie director Roland Joffe is

73. Former Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 70. Former House Speaker John Boehner is 69. Actor Stephen Root is 67. Rock musician Jim Babjak (The Smithereens) is 61. Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 60. Actor William Moses is 59. Entertainer RuPaul is 58. Actor Dylan Walsh is 55. Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice is 54. Actress Sophie Marceau is 52. Actress-model Daisy Fuentes is 52. Blues singer/musician Tab Benoit is 51. Rhythm and blues singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 51. Actor David Ramsey is 47. Actor Leonard Roberts is 46. Actress Leslie Bibb is

45. Actor Brandon Call is 42. Country singer Aaron Lines is 41. Actress Rachel McAdams is 40. Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 38. Actor Justin Cooper is 30. Musician Reid Perry (The Band Perry) is 30. Actress Raquel Castro is 24.