Days of Our Lives

Today is Monday, November 26th, the 330th day of 2007. There are 35 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: November 26th, 1607, is believed to be the birthdate of London-born clergyman John Harvard, the principal benefactor of the original Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On this date: In 1825, the first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, New York. [Frat-boys. Great. — Ed.] In 1832, public streetcar service began in New York City. The fare: 12 1/2 cents. In 1933, a judge in New York ruled the James Joyce book "Ulysses" was not obscene and could therefore be published in the United States. In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing, beginning December 1st. In 1943, during World War II, HMT Rohna, a British ship carrying American soldiers, was hit by a German missile off Algeria; 1,138 men were killed. In 1949, India adopted a constitution as a republic within the British Commonwealth. In 1950, China entered the Korean War, launching a counter-offensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the U.S. and South Korea. In 1965, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit. In 1973, President Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape. [Oops! — Ed.] In 1986, President Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Senator John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair. Ten years ago: Under heavy international pressure, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said he would allow visits to presidential palaces where U.N. weapons experts suspected he might be hiding chemical and biological weapons. In a small but symbolic step, the United States and North Korea held high-level discussions at the State Department for the first time. Five years ago: WorldCom and the government settled a civil lawsuit over the company's 9 billion-dollar accounting scandal. A United Nations report said that for the first time in the 20-year history of the AIDS epidemic, about as many women as men were infected with HIV. One year ago: In New York City, an angry crowd demanded to know why police officers killed Sean Bell, an unarmed man, on the day of his wedding by firing dozens of shots that also wounded two of Bell's friends. In Turkey, tens of thousands of protesters denounced Pope Benedict the 16th as an enemy of Islam two days before the pontiff's scheduled visit. Rafael Correa won Ecuador's presidential runoff. Today's Birthdays: Impressionist Rich Little is 69. Singer Tina Turner is 68. Singer Jean Terrell is 63. Pop musician John McVie is 62. Blues singer-musician Bernard Allison is 42. Today's Birthdays of The Dead: Sarah Moore Grimke, abolitionist (1792) Ellen Gould Harmon White, Seventh Day Adventist co-founder (1827) Mary Edwards Walker, surgeon and feminist (1832) Katharine Drexel, Roman Catholic nun and saint (1858) Willis Carrier, air conditioning pioneer (1876) Norbert Wiener, mathematician and educator (1894) Eugene Ionesco, French playwright (1909) Charles Schulz, cartoonist (1922) [Good Grief, Charlie Brown! — Ed.] Robert Goulet, singer, actor (1933) Show Biz History: In 1942, the motion picture "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere in New York City. In 1956, bandleader Tommy Dorsey was found dead at his Connecticut home after apparently choking. He was 51. In 1962, The Beatles recorded "Please Please Me." [Beatles three days in a row. — Ed.] In 1968, Cream performed its farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker continued working together in the band Blind Faith. In 1976, 10cc broke up. In 1982, jazz trumpeter Miles Davis married actress Cicely Tyson in New York. Comedian Bill Cosby was the best man. In 1989, more than 45 acts participated in an earthquake relief "Rock-A-Thon" broadcast on public television and in northern California. Three concerts were held in San Francisco, Oakland and Watsonville, the town hit hardest by the quake.