proposals to the Japanese peace envoys in Washington.
In 1956, bandleader Tommy Dorsey died at age 51. His records sold more than 110 million copies.
In 1965, France launched a satellite into space, becoming the world's third space power after the United States and the Soviet Union.
In 1984, the United States and Iraq restored diplomatic relations, ending a 17-year break.
In 1992, the United States offered to send up to 20,000 U.S. ground troops to civil war-torn Somalia as part of a U.N. force to get relief supplies to the starving populace.
In 1997, the international price of gold in New York City fell to $298 per ounce, the lowest level in 12 years.
In 2001, the Afghanistan prison revolt, which was crushed the third day, claimed the life of a CIA operative, Johnny Michael Spann, 32, a former U.S. Marine captain. He was the first U.S. combat casualty of the war. Five other Americans were injured.
In 2003, the U.N. nuclear watchdog passed a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program but stopped short of recommending sanctions.
In 2004, a man broke into a high school dormitory in central China and killed eight students with a knife as they were sleeping. The killer got away.
In 2005, police officials said at least 30 people were killed and injured in a series of bombings and armed attacks in Iraq.
Also in 2005, an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi killed at least 14 people and injured hundreds of others.
And, in 2005, a 67-year-old textile tycoon in India, Vijaypat Singhaniaset, set a world's altitude record of 69,852 feet in a hot air balloon over Mumbai.
In 2006, Russia's state-run arms exporter denied Russian news agency reports it had begun delivering Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.
In 2007, an exiled Iraqi journalist claimed sectarian gunmen massacred 11 members of his family in their Baghdad home.
Also in 2007, riots broke out in north-suburban Paris after two teenagers on a stolen motorcycle were reported killed when they hit a police car head-on.
A thought for the day: Richard Bentley said, "It is a maxim with me that no man was ever written out of reputation but by himself."
Today is Thursday, Nov. 27, the 332nd day of 2008 with 34 to follow.
This is Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
The moon is new. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and inventor of the centigrade thermometer, in 1701; American historian Charles Beard and Israeli statesman Chaim Weizmann, both in 1874; producer David Merrick in 1911; entertainer "Buffalo Bob" Smith ("The Howdy Dowdy Show") in 1917; actor and martial arts star Bruce Lee in 1940; rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix in 1942; singer Eddie Rabbitt in 1941; and actors Fisher Stevens in 1963 (age 45), Robin Givens in 1964 (age 44), and Jaleel White in 1976 (age 32).
On this date in history:
In 1759, town officials in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, evicted the Rev. Francis Gastrell from William Shakespeare's home after he cut down a 150-year-old tree that had been planted by the writer.
In 1901, the U.S. War Department authorized creation of the Army War College to instruct commissioned officers. It was built in Leavenworth, Kan.
In 1940, two months after Gen. Ion Antonescu seized power in Romania and forced King Carol II to abdicate, more than 60 aides of the exiled king, including Nicolae Iorga, a former minister and acclaimed historian, were executed.
In 1970, a man with a knife attempted to injure Pope Paul VI at Manila Airport in the Philippines.
In 1989, University of Chicago doctors implanted part of a woman's liver in her 21-month-old daughter in the nation's first living donor liver transplant.
Also in 1989, Virginia certified Douglas Wilder as the nation's first elected black governor by a margin of 0.38 percent.
In 1990, British Treasury chief John Major was elected Conservative Party leader, succeeding Margaret Thatcher as prime minister.
In 1992, military dissidents attempted to overthrow Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez.
In 1994, Bosnian Serbs took 150 U.N. peacekeepers hostage to prevent NATO airstrikes.
In 1997, tens of thousands of German students took to the streets of Bonn to protest the decline of Germany's higher education system.
In 2002, U.S. President George Bush created a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to glean lessons to help thwart future strikes.
In 2003, U.S. President George Bush swooped into Iraq under the cover of darkness in a surprise visit to U.S. forces in Baghdad to help serve them Thanksgiving dinner.
In 2004, the U.N. Committee on Torture asked Britain to review its policy of detaining foreign terror suspects without trial.
In 2005, earthquakes struck China and Iran. At least 17 people died in the quake that rattled eastern China and at least 10 were killed when another tremor hit southern Iran.
In 2006, while deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein awaited court-ordered execution on his earlier mass murder conviction, Baghdad prosecutors resumed his second trial in which he and six others were charged with crimes against humanity in the deaths of as many as 180,000 Kurds in 1987-88.
In 2007, U.S. President George Bush, addressing representatives from more than 40 countries before a meeting over Mideast peace, said Israeli and Palestinian leaders had agreed to initiate immediate talks on a peace treaty.
A thought for the day: King Louis XVIII of France had a favorite saying, "Punctuality is the politeness of kings."
Today is Friday, Nov. 28, the 333rd day of 2008 with 33 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include English poet William Blake in 1757; John Hyatt, inventor of celluloid, in 1837; architect Henry Bacon, designer of the Lincoln Memorial, in 1866; Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in 1929 (age 79); actress Hope Lange in 1931; singer/composer Randy Newman in 1943 (age 65); ballet dancer Alexander Godunov and band leader Paul Shaffer ("The Late Show With David Letterman") (age 59), both in 1949; actors Ed Harris in 1950 (age 58), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order") in 1952 (age 56) and Judd Nelson in 1959 (age 49); and comedian Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") in 1962 (age 46).
On this date in history:
In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east.
In 1919, Virginia-born Nancy Astor became the first woman member of the British Parliament.
In 1925, "The Grand Ole Opry," the famed country music show, made its radio debut.
In 1942, a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston killed 491 people. Most victims suffocated or were trampled to death.
In 1958, the United States fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time.
In 1963, Cape Canaveral, the space center in Florida, was renamed Cape Kennedy to honor the assassinated president. Area residents later voted to revert to the original name.
In 1989, Czechoslovakian Premier Ladislav Adamec agreed to a coalition government. The next day, the Czech Parliament revoked the Communist Party's monopoly.
In 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions.
In 1993, British officials confirmed they had made secret contacts with the outlawed Irish Republican Army in an effort to end the violence in Northern Ireland.
Also in 1993, Carlos Roberto Reina was elected president of Honduras.
In 1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and a second inmate were beaten to death by another prisoner at the Columbia Correctional Center in Portage, Wis.
In 2002, an explosion hit an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa, Kenya, killing at least 15 people and two missiles were fired at a departing Israeli passenger plane.
In 2003, an estimated 182 people were killed when two crowded ferries collided during a storm in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In 2004, a gas explosion in a central China mine killed a reported 166 people. About 123 miners escaped.
In 2005, at least 150 miners were killed in a northeast China coal mine explosion. Seventy-one were reported missing.
Also in 2005, U.S. Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy charges involving bribes from military contractors.
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI flew to Ankara, Turkey, amid heavy security measures to mend religious fences and establish a dialogue with Muslims.
