This day in history
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2022. There are 31 days left in the year.
▶ Birthdays: Movie director Ridley Scott is 85. Screenwriter Geoffrey C. Ward is 82. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 79. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 77. Playwright David Mamet is 75. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 70. Musician Shuggie Otis is 69. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 68. Singer Billy Idol is 67. Historian Michael Beschloss is 67. The Psychedelic Furs guitarist John Ashton is 65. Comedian Colin Mochrie is 65. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 60. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 57. Music producer Steve Aoki is 45. Model Chrissy Teigen is 37. World chess champion Magnus Carlsen is 32.
▶ In 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris for ending the Revolutionary War; the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783.
▶ In 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace.
▶ In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.
▶ In 1993, President Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.
▶ In 2000, Al Gore’s lawyers battled for his political survival in the Florida and US Supreme Courts; meanwhile, GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee moved to award the presidency to George W. Bush in case the courts did not by appointing their own slate of electors.
▶ In 2004, “Jeopardy!” fans saw Ken Jennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent Nancy Zerg.
▶ In 2013, Paul Walker, 40, the star of the “Fast Furious” movie series, died with his friend, Roger W. Rodas, who was at the wheel of a Porsche sports car that crashed and burned north of Los Angeles.
▶ In 2018, former President George H.W. Bush, a World War II hero who rose through the political ranks to the nation’s highest office, died at his Houston home at the age of 94; his wife of more than 70 years, Barbara Bush, had died in April.
▶ In 2020, two battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified their presidential election tallies in favor of Joe Biden, even as President Trump’s legal team continued to dispute the results; Biden’s victory in Wisconsin was certified following a partial recount that added to his 20,600-vote margin over Trump. Last year, Ethan Crumbley, a 15year-old sophomore, opened fire at a Michigan high school, killing four students and wounding seven other people; school staff had discovered his violent drawings but his parents wouldn’t remove him from school. (The parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are accused of making the gun accessible and ignoring their son’s mental health needs; they face charges including involuntary manslaughter.)