Today is Tuesday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2013. There are 42 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.
On this date:
In 1600, King Charles I of England was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.
In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay’s Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.
In 1831, the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was born in Orange Township, Ohio.
In 1887, American poet Emma Lazarus, who’d written “The New Colossus” to help raise money for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal, died in New York at age 38.
In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55 in favor, 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.
In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.
In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.
In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon.
In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.
In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.
In 1990, the pop duo Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy Award because other singers had lent their voices to the “Girl You Know It’s True” album.
In 1997, Iowa seamstress Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to septuplets, four boys and three girls. The space shuttle Columbia zoomed into orbit on a two-week science mission.
In 2001, President George W. Bush signed legislation to put airport baggage screeners on the federal payroll.
Ten years ago: During his state visit to London, President Bush urged Europe to put aside bitter war disagreements with the United States and work to build democracy in Iraq or risk turning the nation over to terrorists. A U.S.-Canadian investigation found that the Aug. 14, 2003 blackout should have been contained by operators at Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corp.; the investigators also faulted Midwest regional monitors.
Five years ago: Al-Qaida’s No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, slurred Barack Obama as a black American who does the bidding of whites in a new Web message intended to dent the president-elect’s popularity among Arabs and Muslims. The Dow Jones industrial average closed under 8,000 at 7,997.28 — the lowest close since March 2003. Drama and dance critic Clive Barnes died in New York at age 81.
One year ago: With no deal in sight to end the conflict, Israel and Hamas continued to exchange fire; more than three dozen Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks and fighters in Gaza fired 95 rockets at southern Israel. President Barack Obama, the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar, promised more American help if the Asian nation keeps building its new democracy.
Associated Press
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