This day in history

[November 20, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2010. There are 41 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Nov. 20, 1910, the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which overthrew longtime President Porfirio Diaz, had its beginnings under the Plan of San Luis Potosi that had been issued by Francisco I. Madero.

On this date:

In 1620, Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay; he was the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1929, the radio program "The Rise of the Goldbergs" debuted on the NBC Blue Network.

In 1947, Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey.

In 1959, the United Nations issued its Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

In 1967, the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Clock at the Commerce Department ticked past 200 million.

In 1969, the Nixon administration announced a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phaseout. A group of American Indian activists began a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

In 1975, after nearly four decades of absolute rule, Spain's General Francisco Franco died, two weeks before his 83rd birthday.

In 1980, faced with disastrous reviews from New York critics, United Artists announced it was withdrawing its movie "Heaven's Gate," whose estimated cost topped $40 million, for re-editing.

In 1985, the first version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, was officially released.

Ten years ago: Lawyers for Al Gore and George W. Bush battled before the Florida Supreme Court over whether the presidential election recount should be allowed to continue. Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (foo-jee-MOHR'-ee) resigned, ending a 10-year reign.

Five years ago: Israel's dovish Labor Party voted to pull out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government in the opening salvo of an election campaign. A gunman opened fire at a crowded shopping mall in Tacoma, Wash., wounding seven people and taking four hostages before surrendering. (Dominick Maldonado was later convicted of 15 charges, including attempted murder, assault and kidnapping; he was sentenced to just over 163 years in prison.)

One year ago: Scientists in Geneva restarted the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest atom smasher, after a year of repairs. A Chinese national killed four people and wounded nine in a shooting rampage on the Pacific island of Saipan before taking his own life. Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey told her studio audience that she would end her talk show in 2011 after a quarter-century on the air.

Today's birthdays: Nobel Prize-winning author Nadine Gordimer is 87. Actress-comedian Kaye Ballard is 85. Actress Estelle Parsons is 83. TV personality Richard Dawson is 78. Comedian Dick Smothers is 72. Singer Norman Greenbaum is 68. Vice President Joe Biden is 68. Actress Veronica Hamel is 67. Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff is 64. Actor Samuel E. Wright is 64. Singer Joe Walsh is 63. Actor Richard Masur is 62. Opera singer Barbara Hendricks is 62. Actress Bo Derek is 54. Former NFL player Mark Gastineau is 54. Reggae musician Jim Brown (UB40) is 53. Actress Sean Young is 51. Pianist Jim Brickman is 49. Rock musician Todd Nance (Widespread Panic) is 48. Actress Ming-Na is 47. Actor Ned Vaughn is 46. Rapper Mike D (The Beastie Boys) is 45. Rapper Sen Dog (Cypress Hill) is 45. Actress Callie Thorne is 41. Actress Sabrina Lloyd is 40. Actor Joel McHale is 39. Actress Marisa Ryan is 36. Country singer Dierks (duhkrs) Bentley is 35. Actor Joshua Gomez is 35. Actress Laura Harris is 34. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Dawes is 34. Country singer Josh Turner is 33. Actress Nadine Velazquez is 32. Actor Dan Byrd is 25. Rock musician Jared Followill (Kings of Leon) is 24. Actor Cody Linley is 21.

Thought for today: "There is no greatness where there is not simplicity." -- Leo Tolstoy, Russian author (born 1828, died this date in 1910)

[Associated Press]

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