This day in history

[December 01, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Dec. 1, the 335th day of 2009. 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 1909, the first kibbutz was founded in the Jordan Valley by a group of Jewish pioneers; the collective settlement became known as Degania Alef.

In 1913, the first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Co., 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 1934, Soviet communist official Sergei M. Kirov, an associate of Josef Stalin, was assassinated in Leningrad, resulting in a massive purge.

In 1944, Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky.

In 1959, representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, signed a treaty in Washington setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military activity.

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 1989, in an extraordinary encounter, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. East Germany's Parliament abolished the Communist Party's constitutional guarantee of supremacy.

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton addressed a World Trade Organization conference in Seattle, where he defended his administration's policies in the face of sometimes violent street demonstrations. An international team of scientists announced it had mapped virtually an entire human chromosome. On World AIDS Day, United Nations officials released a report estimating that 11 million children worldwide had been orphaned by the pandemic.

Five years ago: Tom Brokaw signed off for the last time as principal anchor of the "NBC Nightly News"; he was succeeded by Brian Williams. Texas Gov. Rick Perry blocked the execution of Frances Newton two hours before she was to be lethally injected for the deaths of her husband and two young children so her lawyers could conduct new tests on evidence in the 17-year-old murder case. (Newton was executed in September 2005.)

One year ago: The National Bureau of Economic Research officially declared the U.S. to be in a recession; the Dow Jones industrial average lost 679 points to end a five-day win streak. President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team, including Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state, Eric Holder as attorney general and Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary; Obama also said that Robert Gates would stay on as defense secretary. Actor Paul Benedict, who played English neighbor Harry Bentley on "The Jeffersons," died on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., at age 70.

Today's birthdays: Actor Paul Picerni is 87. Former CIA director Stansfield Turner is 86. Singer Billy Paul is 75. Actor-director Woody Allen is 74. Golfer Lee Trevino is 70. Singer Dianne Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 70. Country musician Casey Van Beek (The Tractors) is 67. TV producer David Salzman is 66. Rock singer-musician Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult) is 65. Rock musician John Densmore (The Doors) is 65. Actress-singer Bette Midler is 64. Singer Gilbert O'Sullivan is 63. Actor Treat Williams is 58. Country singer Kim Richey is 53. Actress Charlene Tilton is 51. Actress-model Carol Alt is 49. Actor Jeremy Northam is 48. Producer-director Andrew Adamson is 43. Actor Nestor Carbonell is 42. Actress Golden Brooks is 39. Actress-comedian Sarah Silverman is 39. Actor Ron Melendez is 37. Contemporary Christian singer Bart Millard is 37. Actor-writer-producer David Hornsby is 34. Singer Sarah Masen is 34. Rock musician Brad Delson (Linkin Park) is 32. Rock musician Mika Fineo (Filter) is 28. Actress Ashley Monique Clark is 21.

Thought for today: "An educated man should know everything about something, and something about everything." -- Dame C.V. Wedgwood, English historian (1910-1997)

[Associated Press]

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