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 Today's highlight in history:
On Nov. 30, 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
On this date:
In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.
In 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens -- better known as Mark Twain -- was born in Florida, Mo.
In 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace.
In 1900, 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 1939, the Russo-Finnish War began as Soviet troops invaded Finland.
In 1962, U Thant of Burma, who had been acting secretary-general of the United Nations following the death of Dag Hammarskjold the year before, was elected to a four-year term.
In 1966, the former British colony of Barbados became independent.
In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.
In 1987, author James Baldwin died in Saint Paul de Vence, France, at age 63.
Ten years ago: Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus formally handed in his government's resignation in the wake of a campaign financing scandal. In Tajikistan, French hostage Karine Mane was killed with five suspected kidnappers when a grenade exploded during a failed rescue operation; a companion had been released hours earlier.
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 Five years ago: International weapons hunters in Iraq paid an unannounced visit to a military post previously declared "sensitive" and restricted by Baghdad. A nightclub fire in Caracas, Venezuela, killed 50 people.
One year ago: President Bush met in Jordan with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki; Bush said the United States would speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces but assured al-Maliki that Washington was not looking for a "graceful exit" from the war. Pope Benedict XVI visited Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque in a dramatic gesture of outreach to Muslims.
Today's birthdays: Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is 90. Actor Robert Guillaume is 80. TV personality and producer Dick Clark is 78. Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy is 77. Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen is 70. Movie director Ridley Scott is 70. Singer Rob Grill (The Grassroots) is 64. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 64. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 62. Playwright David Mamet is 60. Actress Margaret Whitton is 57. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 55. Musician Shuggie Otis is 54. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 53. Singer Billy Idol is 52. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is 50. Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) is 50. Comedian Colin Mochrie is 50. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 45. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 44. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 42. Rock musician Mike Stone is 38. Actress Sandra Oh is 37. Country singer Mindy McCready is 32. Singer Clay Aiken is 29. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 25. Actress Kaley Cuoco is 22.
Thought for today: "'Classic': a book which people praise and don't read."
-- Mark Twain (1835-1910)
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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