TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, NOV. 30, the 334th day of 2019. 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 September 1783.
In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — was born in Florida, Missouri.
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 1960, the last DeSoto was built by Chrysler, which had decided to retire the brand after 32 years.
In 1965, “Unsafe at Any Speed” by Ralph Nader, a book highly critical of the U.S. auto industry, was released in hardcover by Grossman Publishers.
In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe. In 1982, the Michael Jackson album “Thriller” was released by Epic Records. The motion picture “Gandhi,” starring Ben Kingsley as the Indian nationalist leader, had its world premiere in New Delhi. In 1988, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. was declared the winner of the corporate free-for-all to take over RJR Nabisco Inc. with a bid of $24.53 billion. In 1993, President Bill 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 U.S. 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 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.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: G. Gordon Liddy is 89. Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen and movie director Ridley Scott are 82. Screenwriter Geoffrey C. Ward is 79. Movie writerdirector Terrence Malick is 76. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 74. Playwright David Mamet is 72. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 67. Musician Shuggie Otis is 66. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 65. Singer Billy Idol and historian Michael Beschloss are 64. Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) and comedian Colin Mochrie are 62. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 57. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 56. Actordirector Ben Stiller is 54. Rock musician Mike Stone is 50. Music producer Steve Aoki is 42. Singer Clay Aiken is 41. Actor Billy Lush is 38. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 37. Actress Kaley Cuoco and model Chrissy Teigen are 34. Actress Christel Khalil is 32. Actress Rebecca Rittenhouse is 31. Actress Adelaide Clemens is 30.