TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT Nov. 13, 1977

The satirical comic strip “Li’l Abner” by Al Capp appeared in newspapers for the last time.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1789

Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, Jean-Baptiste Leroy: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

1849

Voters in California ratified the state’s original constitution.

1909

259 men and boys were killed when fire erupted inside a coal mine in Cherry, Illinois.

1927

The Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between lower Manhattan and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.

1942

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure lowering the minimum draft age from 21 to 18.

1956

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public city and state buses.

1969

Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accused network television news departments of bias and distortion, and urged viewers to lodge complaints.

1974

Karen Silkwood, a 28-yearold technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter.