This day in history

[November 17, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2010. There are 44 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 17, 1800, Congress held its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.

On this date:

In 1558, Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

In 1917, French sculptor Auguste Rodin (roh-DAN') died in Meudon at age 77.

In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as Lady Bird, in San Antonio, Texas.

In 1962, Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy.

In 1969, the first round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union opened in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1970, the Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon told Associated Press managing editors in Orlando, Fla.: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."

In 1979, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In 1987, a federal jury in Denver convicted two neo-Nazis and acquitted two others of civil rights violations in the 1984 slaying of radio talk show host Alan Berg.

Ten years ago: The Florida Supreme Court froze the state's presidential tally, forbidding Secretary of State Katherine Harris from certifying results of the marathon vote count just as Republican George W. Bush was advancing his minuscule lead over Democrat Al Gore. Also, a federal appeals court refused to block recounts under way in two heavily Democratic counties.

Five years ago: U.S. Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, considered one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats, called for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. A jury in Sarasota, Fla. convicted mechanic Joseph Smith of kidnapping, raping and strangling 11-year-old Carlie Brucia (BROO'-shuh), whose abduction had been captured by a car-wash security camera. (Smith was later sentenced to death.)

One year ago: President Barack Obama held formal, closed-door talks in Beijing with Chinese President Hu Jintao. It was announced that Iran had sentenced to death five defendants accused of postelection turmoil. Sarah Palin's autobiography "Going Rogue" was released; 1 million copies sold in less than two weeks.

Today's birthdays: Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., is 76. Rock musician Gerry McGee (The Ventures) is 73. Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 72. Singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio is 69. Movie director Martin Scorsese (skor-SEH'-see) is 68. Actress Lauren Hutton is 67. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 66. "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels is 66. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver is 66. Movie director Roland Joffe is 65. Former Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 62. Actor Stephen Root is 59. Rock musician Jim Babjak (The Smithereens) is 53. Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 52. Actor William Moses is 51. Entertainer RuPaul is 50. Actor Dylan Walsh is 47. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is 46. Actress Sophie Marceau is 44. Actress-model Daisy Fuentes is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 43. Rock musician Ben Wilson (Blues Traveler) is 43. Actor Leonard Roberts is 38. Actress Leslie Bibb is 37. Actor Brandon Call is 34. Country singer Aaron Lines is 33. Actress Rachel McAdams is 32. Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 30. Actor Justin Cooper is 22. Actress Raquel Castro is 16.

Thought for today: "The upper classes are merely a nation's past; the middle class is its future." -- Ayn Rand, Russian-American author (1905-1982)

[Associated Press]

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