This day in history

[November 11, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Nov. 11, the 315th day of 2009. There are 50 days left in the year. This is Veterans Day in the U.S., Remembrance Day in Canada.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 11, 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

On this date:

In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick."

In 1831, former slave Nat Turner, who'd led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va.

In 1889, Washington became the 42nd state.

In 1909, President William Howard Taft accepted the recommendation of a joint Army-Navy board that Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands be made the principal U.S. naval station in the Pacific.

In 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding.

In 1929, the Ambassador Bridge spanning the Detroit River between Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, was dedicated.

In 1966, Gemini 12 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. aboard.

In 1968, the Republic of Maldives was declared.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan became the first U.S. chief executive to address the Diet, Japan's national legislature.

In 1984, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. -- father of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. -- died in Atlanta at age 84.

Ten years ago: A car bomb ripped through a Bogota, Colombia, commercial district, killing eight people, but President Andres Pastrana defiantly signed extradition orders for three suspected drug traffickers. Sixty-seven people were killed when an apartment building collapsed in Foggia, Italy; an investigation blamed the collapse on cheap materials and slipshod construction. Argentine journalist Jacobo Timerman died in Buenos Aires at age 76.

Five years ago: Palestinians at home and abroad wept, waved flags and burned tires in an eruption of grief at news of the death of Yasser Arafat in Paris at age 75. President George W. Bush expressed hope that Arafat's passing would clear the way for successful Mideast peace negotiations with new Palestinian leaders.

One year ago: President George W. Bush marked his last Veterans Day as president at a New York pier, speaking to a crowd of thousands gathered for the rededication of the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Mohamed Nasheed was sworn in as the Maldives' first democratically elected president. San Francisco's Tim Lincecum won the National League Cy Young Award.

Today's birthdays: Dancer-choreographer Nicholas Royce is 84. Comedian Jonathan Winters is 84. Jazz singer-musician Mose Allison is 82. Author Carlos Fuentes is 81. Actress Bibi Andersson is 74. Country singer Narvel Felts is 71. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is 69. Rock singer-musician Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge) is 64. The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, is 64. Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller is 58. Pop singer-musician Paul Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 57. Rock singer-musician Andy Partridge (XTC) is 56. Singer Marshall Crenshaw is 56. Rock singer Dave Alvin is 54. Rock musician Ian Craig Marsh (Human League; Heaven 17) is 53. Actor Stanley Tucci is 49. Actress Demi Moore is 47. Actress Calista Flockhart is 45. Actor Philip McKeon is 45. Rock musician Scott Mercado is 45. Actor Frank John Hughes is 42. TV personality Carson Kressley is 40. Actor David DeLuise is 38. Actor Adam Beach is 37. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is 35. Rock musician Jonathan Pretus (Cowboy Mouth) is 28.

Thought for today: "Life happens too fast for you ever to think about it. If you could just persuade people of this, but they insist on amassing information." -- Kurt Vonnegut, American author (born this date in 1922, died 2007)

[Associated Press]

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