Monday, November 23rd
The 327th day of 2009.
There are 38 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Nov. 23, 1943, during World War II, United States forces seized control of the Tarawa and Makin atolls from the Japanese. (Go to article.)
On Nov. 23, 1892, Erte, the French fashion and stage designer, was born. Following his death on April 21, 1990, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On November 23, 1861, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Trent Affair, a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Britain during the American Civil War. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1765 Frederick County, Md., repudiated the British Stamp Act.
1804 Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, was born in Hillsboro, N.H.
1889 The jukebox made its debut, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1903 Singer Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in "Rigoletto."
1936 Life magazine, created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.
1945 Most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.
1954 The Dow Jones industrial average finally surpassed it's pre-crash high - 25 years after Black Tuesday - when it closed at 382.74.
1971 The People's Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council.
1980 A series of earthquakes devastated southern Italy, killing some 2,600 people.
2000 In a setback for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade County to resume counting ballots by hand.
2001 An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a van in the West Bank, killing Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a leading member of the Islamic militant Hamas group.
2003 Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as president of Georgia in the face of protests.
2004 Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner of Ukraine's disputed presidential election and took a symbolic oath of office.
2006 Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London from radiation poisoning after making a deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Current Birthdays
Miley Cyrus turns 17 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Actress-singer Miley Cyrus ("Hannah Montana") turns 17 years old today.
81 Jerry Bock
Broadway composer ("Fiddler on the Roof")
68 Franco Nero
Actor
67 Susan Anspach
Actress
65 Joe Eszterhas
Screenwriter
64 James Doyle
Governor of Wisconsin
64 Steve Landesberg
Actor ("Barney Miller")
62 Bruce Vilanch
Actor, comedy writer
55 Bruce Hornsby
Rock musician
54 Mary Landrieu
U.S. senator, D-La.
50 Maxwell Caulfield
Actor
49 John Henton
Actor
49 Robin Roberts
TV host ("Good Morning America")
43 Ken Block
Rock musician (Sister Hazel)
43 Charlie Grover
Rock musician
42 Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Actress
39 Oded Fehr
Actor
37 Kurupt
Rapper, actor
33 Page Kennedy
Actor ("Desperate Housewives")
30 Kelly Brook
Actress ("Smallville")
29 Jonathan Papelbon
Baseball player
25 Lucas Grabeel
Actor ("High School Musical")
14 Austin Majors
Actor ("NYPD Blue")
Historic Birthdays
Erte
11/23/1892 - 4/21/1990
French fashion and stage designer
(Go to obit.)
60 Otto I
11/23/912 - 5/7/973
German king (936-73) and Holy Roman emperor (962-73)
86 John Wallis
11/23/1616 - 10/28/1703
English mathematician
64 Franklin Pierce
11/23/1804 - 10/8/1869
14th president of the United States
21 Billy The Kid
11/23/1859 - 7/14/1881
American gunfighter of the Wild West
64 Karl Branting
11/23/1860 - 2/24/1925
Swedish statesman and 1921 Nobel Peace Prize winner
72 Valdemar Poulsen
11/23/1869 - 7//1942
Danish engineer; contributed to development of radio
69 Manuel de Falla
11/23/1876 - 11/14/1946
Spanish composer
81 Boris Karloff
11/23/1887 - 2/3/1969
English actor
62 Billy Haughton
11/23/1923 - 7/15/1986
American harness racer
64 Jose Napoleon Duarte
11/23/1925 - 2/23/1990
El Salvadoran president (1984-89)
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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