This day in history

[November 30, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2010. There are 31 days left in the year.

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, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace.

In 1900, Irish 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 Winter War began as Soviet troops invaded Finland. (The conflict ended the following March with a Soviet victory.)

In 1960, the last DeSoto was built by Chrysler, which had decided to retire the brand after 32 years.

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.

Ten years ago: Al Gore's lawyers battled for his political survival in the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts; meanwhile, GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee moved to award the presidency to George W. Bush in case the courts did not by appointing their own slate of electors.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush gave an unflinching defense of his Iraq war strategy in a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, refusing to set a timetable for troop withdrawals and asserting that once-shaky Iraqi troops were proving increasingly capable. Shimon Peres quit Israel's Labor Party, his political home of six decades, to campaign for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new organization. Actress Jean Parker died in Woodland Hills, Calif., at age 90.

One year ago: Retired Ohio auto worker John Demjanjuk went on trial in Munich, Germany, accused of helping to kill 27,900 Jews as a Nazi death camp guard. In Geneva, the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest atom smasher, broke a world record for proton acceleration. Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her tirade at a U.S. Open line judge. Tiger Woods withdrew from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from a car crash near his Florida home.

Today's birthdays: Historian Jacques Barzun is 103. Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is 92. Actor Robert Guillaume is 83. TV personality and producer Dick Clark is 81. Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy is 80. Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen is 73. Movie director Ridley Scott is 73. Singer Rob Grill (The Grassroots) is 67. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 67. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 65. Playwright David Mamet (MA'-meht) is 63. Actress Margaret Whitton is 60. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 58. Musician Shuggie Otis is 57. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 56. Singer Billy Idol is 55. Historian Michael Beschloss is 55. Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) is 53. Comedian Colin Mochrie is 53. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 48. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 47. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 45. Rock musician Mike Stone is 41. Actress Sandra Oh is 40. Country singer Mindy McCready is 35. Singer Clay Aiken is 32. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 28. Actress Kaley Cuoco (KWOH'-koh) is 25.

Thought for today: "The real problem is what to do with the problem-solvers after the problems are solved." -- Gay Talese, American author and journalist

[Associated Press]

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