TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, Nov. 18, the 322nd day of 2019. There are 43 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 18, 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore “ultimate responsibility” for wrongdoing by his aides.
On this date:
■ In 1865, Mark Twain’s first literary success, the original version of his short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” was first published in the New York Saturday Press under the title “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.”
■ In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.
■ In 1916, the World War I Battle of the Somme pitting British and French forces against German troops ended inconclusively after 4 1/2 months of bloodshed.
■ In 1963, the Bell System introduced the first commercial touch-tone telephone system in Carnegie and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
■ In 1987, a fire at London King’s Cross railway station claimed 31 lives.
■ In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.
■ In 1999, 12 people were killed when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed.
■ In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-to-3 that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama visited the Great Wall of China, which
he described as “magical,” before heading to Seoul, South Korea, for the final stop of his eight-day Asia tour. Two days before turning 92, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., set a record for longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history at 56 years, 320 days. (That record was broken in 2013 by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.)
Five years ago: Several feet of lake-effect snow paralyzed the Buffalo, New York, area on a wintry day when temperatures fell to freezing or below in all 50 states.
One year ago: Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson conceded his bitterly-close re-election bid to Republican Rick Scott, after a bruising recount left Nelson thousands of votes short of the outgoing governor.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Brenda Vaccaro is 80. Actress Linda Evans is 77. Country singer Jacky Ward is 73. Actor Jameson Parker is 72. Actresssinger Andrea Marcovicci is
71. Rock musician Herman Rarebell is 70. Singer Graham Parker is 69. Actor Delroy Lindo is 67. Comedian Kevin Nealon is 66. Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon is 63. Actor Oscar Nunez is 61. Actress Elizabeth Perkins is 59. Actor Tim Guinee is 57. Rock singer Tim DeLaughter is 54. Actor Romany Malco is 51. Singer Duncan Sheik is 50. Actor Mike Epps is 49. Country singer Jessi Alexander is 43. Rapper Fabolous is 42. Actor-director Nate Parker is 40. Rapper Mike Jones is
39. Actress Mekia Cox is 38. Fashion designer Christian Siriano is 34. Actor Nathan Kress is 27.
Thought for Today: “Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them.” — Robertson Davies, Canadian author (1913-1995).