Today In History
Today is Friday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2021. There are 49 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1942: The World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over Japanese forces.)
ON THIS DATE
› 1920: Baseball got its first “czar” as Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected commissioner of the American and National Leagues.
› 1927: Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.
› 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.
› 1975: Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36-year term.
› 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.
› 2019: Venice saw its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with the water reaching 6.14 feet above average sea level; damage was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Singer Brian Hyland is 78. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 78. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 77. Sportscaster Al Michaels is
77. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 76. Rock musician Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 74. Actor Megan Mullally is 63. Actor Vincent Irizarry is
62. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 60. Rock musician David Ellefson is 57. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 53. Actor Rebecca Wisocky is 50. Actor Radha Mitchell is
48. Actor Lourdes Benedicto is 47. Actor Tamala Jones is 47. Actor Angela Watson is 47. Singer Tevin Campbell is 45. Actor Ashley Williams is 43. Actor Cote de Pablo is 42. Actor Ryan Gosling is 41. Contemporary Christian musician Chris Huffman is 41. Actor Anne Hathaway is 39. Pop singer Omarion is 37. NBA AllStar Russell Westbrook is 33. Folk-rock musician Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes) is 31. Actor Macey Cruthird is 29.