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 Today's highlight in history:
On Nov. 15, 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.
On this date:
In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, a precursor to the Constitution of the United States.
In 1889, Brazil was proclaimed a republic as its emperor, Dom Pedro II, was overthrown.
In 1926, the National Broadcasting Co. debuted as a radio network.
In 1939, President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 1948, William Lyon Mackenzie King retired as prime minister of Canada after 21 years; he was succeeded by Louis St. Laurent.
In 1966, the flight of Gemini 12 ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Junior splashed down safely in the Atlantic.
In 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War.
In 1979, the British government publicly identified Sir Anthony Blunt as the "Fourth Man" of a Soviet spy ring that included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby.
In 1982, funeral services were held in Moscow's Red Square for the late Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev.
In 1987, 28 of 82 people aboard a Continental Airlines DC-9, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed when the jetliner crashed seconds after taking off from Denver's Stapleton International Airport.
Ten years ago: A day after moving to halt the import of modified assault weapons, President Clinton defended the action in his weekly radio address, saying such weapons did nothing but "inspire fear and wreck deadly havoc on our streets."
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 Five years ago: Palestinian militants raked Israeli troops and settlers with gunfire in an ambush, killing 12 Israelis in Hebron. Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as China's Communist Party leader.
One year ago: O.J. Simpson caused an uproar with plans for a TV interview and book titled "If I Did It," in which Simpson describes how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family pleaded guilty at Fort Campbell, Ky. (Spec. James P. Barker, who agreed to testify against the others, was later sentenced to 90 years in prison.) Emmitt Smith was named winner of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" with his professional dance partner, Cheryl Burke.
Today's birthdays: Judge Joseph Wapner is 88. Statesman Howard H. Baker Junior is 82. Actor Ed Asner is 78. Actor John Kerr is 76. Singer Petula Clark is 75. Comedian Jack Burns is 74. Actress Joanna Barnes is 73. Actor Sam Waterston is 67. Pop singer Frida (ABBA) is 62. Actor Bob Gunton is 62. Director-actor James Widdoes is 54. Rock singer-producer Mitch Easter is 53. Actress Beverly D'Angelo is 53. CNN anchor-reporter John Roberts is 51. "Tonight Show" bandleader Kevin Eubanks is 50. Comedian Judy Gold is 45. Rapper E-40 is 40. Actress Rachel True is 38. Country singer Jack Ingram is 37. Actor Jonny Lee Miller is 35. Actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier is 34. Christian rock musician David Carr (Third Day) is 33. Rock singer-musician Chad Kroeger is 33. Rock musician Jesse Sandoval is 33. Actress Virginie Ledoyen is 31.
Thought for today: "To oppose something is to maintain it."
-- Ursula K. LeGuin, American writer.
[Associated Press]
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