This day in history

[December 01, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Dec. 1, the 336th day of 2008. There are 30 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a yearlong boycott of the buses by blacks.

On this date:

In 1824, the presidential election was turned over to the U.S. House of Representatives when a deadlock developed between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. (Adams ended up the winner.)

In 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis closed after seven months and some 20 million visitors.

In 1913, the first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Company opened in Pittsburgh.

In 1921, the Navy flew the first nonrigid dirigible to use helium; the C-7 traveled from Hampton Roads, Va., to Washington, D.C.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin concluded their Tehran conference.

In 1958, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Flower Drum Song" opened on Broadway.

In 1969, the U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.

In 1973, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, died in Tel Aviv at age 87.

In 1992, in Mineola, N.Y., Amy Fisher was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for shooting and seriously wounding Mary Jo Buttafuoco. (Fisher served seven years.)

In 2000, Vicente Fox was sworn in as president of Mexico, ending 71 years of ruling-party domination.

Ten years ago: Exxon agreed to buy Mobil for $73.7 billion. Cuba's Communist Party recommended that Dec. 25 be re-established as a permanent holiday.

Five years ago: India and Pakistan agreed to restore airline overflight and landing rights by Jan. 1, 2004. Boeing Co. chairman and chief executive Phil Condit resigned unexpectedly. U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow went on trial in Flandreau, S.D., charged with manslaughter in the death of a motorcyclist who'd collided with his automobile. (Janklow was convicted and served 100 days in jail.)

One year ago: Police in Wichita, Kan., identified a body found days earlier as that of Emily Sander, a missing college student whose disappearance drew nationwide attention after the discovery she was also an Internet pornography model named Zoey Zane. (A suspect, Israel Mireles, is fighting extradition from Mexico.) Four suspects were charged in Miami in the shooting death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor. (One ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder; a fifth suspect was also charged.)

Today's birthdays: Actor Paul Picerni is 86. Former CIA director Stansfield Turner is 85. Singer Billy Paul is 74. Actor-director Woody Allen is 73. Golfer Lee Trevino is 69. Singer Dianne Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 69. Country musician Casey Van Beek (The Tractors) is 66. Television producer David Salzman is 65. Rock singer-musician Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult) is 64. Rock musician John Densmore (The Doors) is 64. Actress-singer Bette Midler is 63. Singer Gilbert O'Sullivan is 62. Actor Treat Williams is 57. Country singer Kim Richey is 52. Actress Charlene Tilton is 50. Actress-model Carol Alt is 48. Actor Jeremy Northam is 47. Actor Nestor Carbonell is 41. Actress Golden Brooks is 38. Actress-comedian Sarah Silverman is 38. Actor Ron Melendez is 36. Contemporary Christian singer Bart Millard is 36. Singer Sarah Masen is 33. Rock musician Brad Delson (Linkin Park) is 31. Actress Ashley Monique Clark is 20.

Thought for today: "Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end." -- Marcelene Cox, American writer

[Associated Press]

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