Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 crashed while trying to land in West Virginia, killing all 75 people on board, including the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff.
On this date:
In 1851, Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale” was published in the United States, almost a month after being released in Britain.
In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln gave the go-ahead for Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s plan to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond; the resulting Battle of Fredericksburg proved a disaster for the Union.
In 1889, Jawarharlal Nehru (juh-wah-hahr-LAHL’ NAY’-roo), the first prime minister of India, was born.
In 1910, Eugene B. Ely became the first aviator to take off from a ship as his Curtiss pusher rolled off a sloping platform on the deck of the scout cruiser USS Birmingham off Hampton Roads, Virginia.
In 1915, African-American educator Booker T. Washington, 59, died in Tuskegee, Alabama.
In 1940, during World War II, German planes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry.
In 1965, the U.S. Army’s first major military operation of the Vietnam War began with the start of the five-day Battle of Ia Drang. (The fighting between American troops and North Vietnamese forces ended on Nov. 18 with both sides claiming victory.)
In 1969, Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon.
In 1972, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 1,000 level for the first time, ending the day at 1,003.16.
In 1990, it was revealed that the pop duo Milli Vanilli (Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan) had done none of the singing on their Grammy-winning debut album, “Girl You Know It’s True.”
In 1996, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (BURN’-uh-deen), the senior Roman Catholic prelate in the United States and leader of Chicago’s 2.3 million Catholics, died at his home at age 68. Singer Michael Jackson married his plastic surgeon’s nurse, Debbie Rowe, in a ceremony in Sydney, Australia. (Rowe filed for divorce in 1999.)
In 1997, a jury in Fairfax, Virginia, decided that Pakistani national Aimal Khan Kasi (eye-MAHL’ kahn KAH’-see) should get the death penalty for gunning down two CIA employees outside agency headquarters. (Five years later on this date, Aimal Khan Kasi was executed.)
Ten years ago: A 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in Yokohama, Japan, concluded with a unanimous pledge by members to avoid raising more trade barriers and to roll back those they may have erected in the midst of crisis. Somali pirates released British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were held for 388 days after they were abducted from their 38-foot-yacht.
Five years ago: The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and said France would remain at the “top of the list” of its targets. A high-speed train undergoing a test run derailed and plunged into a canal in northeast France, killing 11 people. In the Democrats’ second debate of the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton cast herself as the country’s strongest commander-in-chief in a scary world while fending off questions about her corporate ties from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Saeed Jaffrey, 85, an Indian actor acclaimed for his roles in international films including “Gandhi,” “A Passage to India” and “My Beautiful Laundrette,” died in London.
One year ago: Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced a late entry into the Democratic presidential race. (Patrick, the last remaining African-American in the field, would end his bid in February after it failed to catch fire or resonate with voters.) A Walmart in El Paso, Texas, reopened for the first time since a gunman fatally shot 22 people there in August; the company had since hired off-duty officers to work at all of its stores in the area. Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin conceded to Democrat Andy Beshear, putting an end to the state’s bitterly-fought governor’s race. Mike Trout of the California Angels won his third American League MVP award; Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger made it a Southern California sweep by beating out the Brewers’ Christian Yelich for the National League prize.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Kathleen Hughes is 92. Former NASA astronaut Fred Haise is 87. Composer Wendy Carlos is 81. Writer P.J. O’Rourke is 73. Britain’s Prince Charles is 72.
Rock singer-musician James Young (Styx) is 71. Singer Stephen Bishop is 69. Blues musician Anson Funderburgh is 66. Pianist Yanni is 66. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is 66. Former presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett is 64. Actor Laura San Giacomo (JEE’-ah-koh-moh) is 59. Actor D.B. Sweeney is 59. Rapper Reverend Run (Run-DMC) is 56. Actor Patrick Warburton is 56. Rock musician Nic Dalton is 56. Country singer Rockie Lynne is 56. Pop singer Jeanette Jurado (Expose) is 55. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling is 54. Rock musician Brian Yale is 52. Rock singer Butch Walker is 51. Actor Josh Duhamel (du-MEHL’) is 48. Rock musician Travis Barker is 45. Contemporary Christian musician Robby Shaffer is 45. Actor Brian Dietzen is 43. Rapper Shyheim is 43. Rock musician Tobin Esperance (Papa Roach) is 41. Actor Olga Kurylenko is 41. Actor-comedian Vanessa Bayer is 39. Actor Russell Tovey is 39. Actor Cory Michael Smith is 34. Actor Graham Patrick Martin is 29. NHL forward Taylor Hall is 29.
