On Nov. 12, 1942, the naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)
On this date:
In 1799, the first North American meteor shower on record took place. Early American astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass said, "The whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets."
In 1815, American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, N.Y.
In 1892, the first professional football game was played in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Athletic Association defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, 4-0. (Touchdowns at the time were worth 4 points.)
In 1908, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun was born in Nashville, Ill.
In 1920, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected baseball's first commissioner.
In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.
In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.
In 1954, Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.
In 1980, the Voyager 1 spacecraft passed Saturn and sent back stunning pictures.
In 1981, the shuttle Columbia became the first spacecraft launched twice from Earth.
In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.
In 1984, space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snared a wandering satellite in history's first space salvage; the Palapa B2 satellite was secured in Discovery's cargo bay for return to Earth.
In 1985, Xavier Suarez was elected Miami's first Cuban-American mayor.
In 1987, The American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person has AIDS or is HIV-positive.
In 1990, Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne.
In 1992, Volker Keith Meinhold became the first openly gay person on active duty in the U.S. military when, armed with a court order, he reported to work at Moffett Naval Air Station in Mountain View, Calif., for reinstatement as a chief petty officer.
In 1996, a Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people.
In 1996, Jonathan Schmitz was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Scott Amedure, a gay man who'd revealed a crush on Schmitz during a taping of "The Jenny Jones Show."
In 1997, Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products. An earthquake struck western Turkey, killing some 800 people.
In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, en route from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff, killing 265 people.
In 2004, a jury in Redwood City, Calif., convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. (Peterson, who maintains his innocence, was later sentenced to death.) Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was buried at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a day after his death in a French military hospital.
In 2006, Gerald R. Ford surpassed Ronald Reagan as the longest-lived U.S. president at 93 years and 121 days. (Ford died the following month.)
One year ago: Same-sex marriages began in Connecticut, a month after the state Supreme Court ruled that gays had the right to wed.
Today's Birthdays: R&B singer Ruby Nash Curtis (Ruby and the Romantics) is 70. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 66. Singer Brian Hyland is 66. R&B singer Jimmy Hayes (Persuasions) is 66. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 65. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 65. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 64. Rock musician Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (Blue Öyster Cult) is 62. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., is 60. Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 59. Actress Megan Mullally is 51. Actor Vincent Irizarry ("All My Children") is 50. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 48. Actor Sam Lloyd is 46. Rock musician David Ellefson is 45. Former baseball player Sammy Sosa is 41. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 39. Actress Radha Mitchell is 36. Actress Lourdes Benedicto is 35. Actress Tamala Jones is 35. Actress Angela Watson is 35. Singer Tevin Campbell is 33. Actress Ashley Williams is 31. Actress Cote de Pablo ("NCIS") is 30. Actor Ryan Gosling is 29. Contemporary Christian musician Chris Huffman is 29. Actress Anne Hathaway is 27. Pop singer Omarion is 25.
Today In Entertainment History November 12
In 1970, singer Jim Morrison performed with The Doors for the last time during a concert in New Orleans. Morrison died in July 1971.
In 1980, Bruce Springsteen earned his first No. 1 album, with "The River."
In 1984, Madonna released her "Like A Virgin" album.
In 1987, Sly Stone showed up over an hour late to his comeback concert in Los Angeles. When he got there, he was arrested for nonpayment of child support.
In 1990, actress Eve Arden died of heart failure.
_04.jpg "The late Ms. Arden w/ the late Julius 'Groucho' Marx.")
In 1991, talk show host Oprah Winfrey testified on Capitol Hill in favor of a bill aimed at making sure convicted child abusers aren't hired to take care of children.
In 1993, pop star Michael Jackson, hounded by allegations that he had molested a teenage boy, canceled the rest of his worldwide "Dangerous" tour, citing an addiction to painkillers.
In 2003, actor Art Carney, who won fame and Emmy Awards as sewer worker Ed Norton on the "Honeymooners" TV show in the 1950s and an Oscar in 1974 for "Harry and Tonto," died at age 85.
In 2008, Mitch Mitchell, the drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead in his hotel room in Portland, Ore.; he was 61. Kenny Chesney took home his fourth entertainer of the year trophy at the CMA Awards.
Thought for Today: "Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better." — Florence Nightingale, English nursing pioneer (1820-1910).
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