today in history | National News from the Associated Press

Today in history

Today is Sunday, November 28, the 332nd day of 2021. There are 33 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history:

On November 28, 1942, a fire engulfed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing 492 people in the deadliest nightclub fire of all time. (The cause of the rapidly spreading fire, which started in the basement, is disputed; one theory is that a service boy accidentally lit an artificial palm tree using a lit match to repair a light bulb. .)

To this date :

In 1520, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after crossing the South American strait which now bears his name.

In 1859, the American writer Washington Irving died in present-day Tarrytown, New York, at the age of 76.

In 1907, future movie producer Louis B. Mayer opened his first movie theater in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

In 1919, Lady Astor, born in the United States, was elected the first woman member of the British Parliament.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began consulting in Tehran during World War II.

In 1961, Ernie Davis of Syracuse University became the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.

In 1964, the United States launched the Mariner 4 space probe en route to Mars, which it flew over in July 1965, returning images of the red planet.

In 1979, an Air New Zealand DC-10 en route to the South Pole crashed into a mountain in Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board.

In 1990, Margaret Thatcher resigned her post as British Prime Minister in an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who then bestowed the post of Prime Minister on John Major.

In 1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was killed in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate. Sixties war protester Jerry Rubin died in Los Angeles two weeks after being hit by a car; he was 56 years old.

In 2001, Enron Corp., once the world’s largest energy trader, collapsed after future lifeguard Dynegy Inc. withdrew from an $ 8.4 billion acquisition deal. (Enron filed for bankruptcy four days later.)

In 2010, actor Leslie Nielsen died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aged 84.

Ten years ago: the Egyptians, despite a recent wave of unrest, peacefully waited in long lines to vote in the first legislative elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak; The Islamist parties have been the big winners. Occupy Wall Street protesters have defied a deadline to remove their weeks-old encampment on the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall.

Five years ago: An 18-year-old Somali man drove a car through a crowd of Ohio State University students, then attacked passers-by with a knife before being shot by a campus police officer; 13 people were injured. A chartered plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team crashed near Medellin, Colombia, killing all but six of the 77 people on board. The first commercial flight from the United States to Havana in more than 50 years arrived in Cuba as the island began week-long memorial services in honor of Fidel Castro. Former NBC president and television producer Grant Tinker, 90, has died in Los Angeles.

A year ago: Pennsylvania’s highest court dismissed a lower court order preventing the state from certifying dozens of contests in its Nov. 3 election ballot; it was the latest lawsuit by Republicans trying to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory on the battlefield. Biden broke his right foot while playing with one of his dogs in Delaware; doctors said he would probably have to wear a walking boot for several weeks. Sarah Fuller became the first woman to appear in a Power Five Conference football game when she kicked off Vanderbilt to start the second half at Missouri. David Prowse, the British weightlifter turned actor who was the body, but not the voice, of Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, has died at age 85.

Today’s Birthdays: Recording Director Berry Gordy Jr. is 92 years old. Former Senator Gary Hart, D-Colo., Is 85. Former US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is 84 years old. Singer-songwriter Bruce Channel is 81 years old. Singer Randy Newman is 78 years old. CBS News correspondent Susan Spencer is 75 years old. Director Joe Dante is 74 years old. Former Late Show conductor Paul Shaffer is 72 years old. Actor Ed Harris is 71 years old. Former NASA astronaut Barbara Morgan is 70 years old. Actor S. Epatha (eh-PAY’- thah) Merkerson is 69 years old. Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is 68 years old. Country singer Kristine Arnold (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 65. Actor Judd Nelson is 62. Director Alfonso Cuaron (kwahr-OHN ‘) is 60 years old. Rock musician Matt Cameron is 59. Actor Jane Sibbett is 59 years old. Comedian Jon Stewart is 59 years old. The actor Garcelle Beauvais (gar-SEHL ‘boh-VAY’) is 55 years old. Actor / comedian Stephnie (cq) Weir is 54 years old. R&B singer Dawn Robinson is 53. Actress Gina Tognoni is 48 years old. Hip-hop musician apl.de.ap (Black Eyed Peas) is 47 years old. Actor Malcolm Goodwin is 46 years old. Actor Ryan Kwanten is 45 years old. Actor Aimee Garcia is 43 years old. Rapper Chamillionaire is 42 years old. Actor Daniel Henney is 42 years old. Rock musician Rostam Batmanglij (baht-man-GLEESH ‘) is 38 years old. Rock singer-keyboardist Tyler Glenn (Neon Trees) is 38 years old. Actor Mary Elizabeth Winstead is 37 years old. R&B singer Trey Songz is 37 years old. NHL goalie Marc-André Fleury (marhk-ahn-dray FLOOR’-ee) is 37 years old. Actress Scarlett Pomers is 33 years old. Actor-rapper Bryshere Gray is 28 years old.

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