This day in history

[November 13, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Nov. 13, the 318th day of 2008. There are 48 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington.

On this date:

In 1775, during the American Revolution, the Continental Army captured Montreal.

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

In 1927, the Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between lower Manhattan and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.

In 1940, the Walt Disney animated movie "Fantasia" had its world premiere in New York.

In 1942, President Roosevelt signed a measure lowering the minimum draft age from 21 to 18.

In 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public city and state buses.

In 1971, the U.S. space probe Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars.

In 1974, Karen Silkwood, a technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Okla., died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter.

In 1977, the comic strip "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp appeared in newspapers for the last time.

In 1985, some 23,000 residents of Armero, Colombia, died when a volcanic mudslide buried the city.

Ten years ago: President Clinton agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000 to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit, with no apology or admission of guilt, ending the four-year legal battle that had spurred the impeachment proceedings against him.

Five years ago: Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who had refused to remove his granite Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse, was thrown off the bench by a judicial ethics panel for having "placed himself above the law." Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League Cy Young Award.

One year ago: Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto demanded the resignation of U.S.-backed President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, dashing Western hopes the two would form an alliance to confront strengthening Islamic extremists. French rail workers went on a nine-day strike over President Nicolas Sarkozy's bid to strip away labor protections. CC Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award to become the first Cleveland pitcher in 35 years to earn the honor.

Today's birthdays: Actress Madeleine Sherwood is 86. Journalist-author Peter Arnett is 74. Producer-director Garry Marshall is 74. Country singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard is 62. Actor Joe Mantegna is 61. Actress Sheila Frazier is 60. Actress Frances Conroy is 55. Musician Andrew Ranken (The Pogues) is 55. Actress Tracy Scoggins is 55. Actor Chris Noth is 54. Actress-comedian Whoopi Goldberg is 53. Actor Rex Linn ("CSI: Miami") is 52. Actress Caroline Goodall is 49. Actor Neil Flynn ("Scrubs") is 48. Football player Vinny Testaverde is 45. Rock musician Walter Kibby (Fishbone) is 44. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel is 41. Actor Steve Zahn is 41. Rock musician Nikolai Fraiture is 30. Actress Monique Coleman is 28.

Thought for today: "As you live, believe in life. Always human beings will live and profess to greater, broader and fuller life. The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the great end comes slowly, because time is long." -- W.E.B. Du Bois, American author and reformer (1868-1963)

[Associated Press]

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