TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30, the 335th day of 2016. There are 31 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date 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 Sept. 1783.
In 1016, Edmund II, King of the English, died after a reign of seven months.
In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.
In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — was born in Florida, Mo. In 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace. In 1900, Irish writer Oscar Wilde died in Paris at age 46.
In 1936, London’s famed Crystal Palace, constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was destroyed in a fire. In 1939, the Winter War began as Soviet troops invaded Finland.
In 1940, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were married at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Conn. (The marriage ended in divorce in 1960.) In 1954, Ann Elizabeth Hodges of Oak Grove, Ala., was slightly injured when an 8½-pound chunk of meteor crashed through the roof of her house, hit a radio cabinet, then struck her as she napped on a couch.
In 1982, the Michael Jackson album “Thriller” was released by Epic Records. The motion picture “Gandhi,” starring Ben Kingsley, had its world premiere in New Delhi.
In 1996, 1960s novelty singer Tiny Tim, best remembered for “Tip-toe Thru’ the Tulips with Me,” died in Minneapolis.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Robert Guillaume is 89. G. Gordon Liddy is 86. Movie director Ridley Scott is 79. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 73. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 71. Actress Margaret Whitton is 66. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 64. Musician Shuggie Otis is 63. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 62. Singer Billy Idol and historian Michael Beschloss are 61. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 54. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 53. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 51. Rock musician Mike Stone is 47. Actress Sandra Oh is 46. Singer Clay Aiken is 38. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 34. Actress Kaley Cuoco and model Chrissy Teigen are 31. Actress Adelaide Clemens is 27.