This day in history

[November 21, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2011. There are 40 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 21, 1973, President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt (buh-ZAHRDT'), revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

On this date:

In 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1861, Judah Benjamin, who had been acting Confederate Secretary of War, was formally named to the post.

In 1920, the Irish Republican Army killed 12 British intelligence officers and two auxiliary policemen in the Dublin area; British forces responded by raiding a soccer match, killing 14 civilians.

In 1922, Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

In 1931, the Universal horror film "Frankenstein," starring Boris Karloff as the monster and Colin Clive as his creator, was first released.

In 1942, the Alaska Highway was formally opened.

In 1969, the Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, 55-45, the first such rejection since 1930.

In 1974, bombs exploded at a pair of pubs in Birmingham, England, killing 21 people. (Six suspects were convicted of the attack, but the convictions of the so-called "Birmingham Six" were overturned in 1991.)

In 1980, 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.

In 1991, the U.N. Security Council chose Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt to be Secretary-General.

Ten years ago: Ottilie (AH'-tih-lee) Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax; she was the apparent last victim of a series of anthrax attacks carried out through the mail system. Actor-turned-author Gardner McKay died in Honolulu at age 69.

Five years ago: Kathryn Johnston, 92, was killed in a shootout with Atlanta police during a botched "no-knock" drug raid. Lebanon's industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian family, was assassinated in a brazen daytime hit. A methane gas explosion at the Halemba coal mine in southern Poland killed 23 people. Justin Morneau won the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.

One year ago: Debt-struck Ireland formally applied for a massive EU-IMF loan to stem the flight of capital from its banks, joining Greece in a step unthinkable only a few years earlier when Ireland was a booming Celtic Tiger and the economic envy of Europe. Sixteen-year-old Justin Bieber received four American Music Awards, becoming the youngest performer to win artist of the year.

Today's birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial is 91. Actor Joseph Campanella is 84. Country singer Jean Shepard is 78. Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 77. Actress Marlo Thomas is 74. Actor Rick Lenz is 72. Singer Dr. John is 71. Actress Juliet Mills is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Monroe is 67. Comedian-director Harold Ramis is 67. Television producer Marcy Carsey is 67. Actress Goldie Hawn is 66. Movie director Andrew Davis is 65. Rock musician Lonnie Jordan (War) is 63. Singer Livingston Taylor is 61. Actress-singer Lorna Luft is 59. Actress Cherry Jones is 55. Rock musician Brian Ritchie (The Violent Femmes) is 51. Gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 49. Actress Nicollette Sheridan is 48. Singer-actress Bjork (byork) is 46. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chauncey Hannibal (BLACKstreet) is 43. Rock musician Alex James (Blur) is 43. MLB All-Star player Ken Griffey Jr. is 42. TV personality Rib Hillis is 41. Rapper Pretty Lou (Lost Boyz) is 40. Actor and former football player Michael Strahan (STRAY'-han) is 40. Country singer Kelsi Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 37. Singer-actress Lindsey Haun is 27. Actress Jena Malone is 27.

Thought for today: "Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment." -- Robert Benchley, American humorist (born 1889, died this date in 1945)

[Associated Press]

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