Today in history

On Nov. 24,1859 British naturalist Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species,” which explained his theory of evolution.

In 1871 the National Rifle Association was incorporated.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers based on Saipan attacked Tokyo in the first raid against the Japanese capital by land-based planes.

In 1947 a group of writers, producers and directors, known later as “the Hollywood 10,” was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer a committee’s questions about alleged communist influence in the film industry.

In 1969 Apollo 12 splashed down safely in the Pacific.

In 1971 hijacker D.B. Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom; his fate remains unknown.

In 1985 the hijacking of an Egyptair jetliner parked on the ground in Malta ended violently as Egyptian commandos stormed the plane; 58 people died in the raid, in addition to two others killed by the hijackers. Also in 1985 bluesman Big Joe Turner died in Inglewood, Calif.; he was 74.

In 1987 the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles.

In 1989 Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu was unanimously re-elected Communist Party chief. (Within a month, he was overthrown in a popular uprising and executed along with his wife, Elena, on Christmas Day.)

In 1991 Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the rock band Queen, died in London of AIDS complications; he was 45.

In 1995 voters in Ireland narrowly approved a constitutional amendment legalizing divorce.