Today in History

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 10, 1938, Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on her CBS radio program.

On this date:

In 1775, the U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress.

In 1871, journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley found Scottish missionary David Livingstone, who had not been heard from for years, near Lake Tanganyika in central Africa.

In 1919, the American Legion opened its first national convention in Minneapolis.

In 1928, Japanese Emperor Hirohito (hee-roh-hee-toh) was formally enthroned, almost two years after his ascension.

In 1938, Turkish statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in Istanbul at age 57.

In 1942, Winston Churchill delivered a speech in London in which he said, “I have not become the King’s First Minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.”

In 1951, customer-dialed long-distance telephone service began as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, N.J., called Alameda, Calif., Mayor Frank Osborne without operator assistance.

In 1954, the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Arlington, Va.

In 1961, the satirical war novel “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller was first published by Simon & Schuster.

In 1969, the children’s educational program “Sesame Street” made its debut on National Educational Television (later PBS).

In 1972, three armed men hijacked Southern Airways Flight 49, a DC-9 with 24 other passengers on board during a stopover in Birmingham, Ala., and demanded $10 million in ransom. (The 30-hour ordeal, which involved landings in nine U.S. cities and Toronto, finally ended with a second landing in Cuba, where the hijackers were taken into custody by Cuban authorities.)

In 1975, the ore-hauling ship SS Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew of 29 mysteriously sank during a storm in Lake Superior with the loss of all on board.

In 1982, the newly finished Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to its first visitors in Washington, D.C., three days before its dedication. Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev died at age 75.

Ten years ago: Democrat John Kerry shook up his faltering presidential campaign, replacing campaign manager Jim Jordan with Mary Beth Cahill. Federal regulators allowed customers to switch home phone numbers to their cell phones. A World Trade Organization panel upheld a ruling that U.S. duties on steel imports were illegal. Chicago newspaper columnist and TV personality Irv Kupcinet died at age 91.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, welcomed Barack and Michelle Obama to the White House for a nearly two-hour visit; the president and president-elect conferred in the Oval Office, while the current and future first ladies talked in the White House residence. Miriam Makeba, the South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist, died at age 76 after performing at a concert in Castel Volturno, Italy.

One year ago: Officials announced that President Barack Obama had won Florida with 50 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney’s 49.1 percent, a margin of about 74,000 votes. U.S. officials disclosed that the scandal that brought down CIA Director David Petraeus started when harassing emails sent by his biographer and paramour, Paula Broadwell, to another woman came to the attention of the FBI. Two people were killed when a powerful gas explosion rocked an Indianapolis neighborhood, destroying two homes and damaging 33 others so badly they had to be demolished. (Authorities later charged three people with deliberatly setting off the blast to collect a big insurance payout.) A 4.3 magnitude earthquake centered near Whitesburg, Ky., was felt in at least eight other states.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Russell Johnson is 89. Film composer Ennio Morricone (EHN’-yoh mohr-ee-KOHN’-eh) is 85. Blues singer Bobby Rush is 79. Actor Albert Hall is 76. Country singer Donna Fargo is 72. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., is 70. Lyricist Tim Rice is 69. Rock singer-musician Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 66. Actress-dancer Ann Reinking is 64. Actor Jack Scalia is 63. Movie director Roland Emmerich is 58. Actor Matt Craven is 57. Actor-comedian Sinbad is 57. Actress Mackenzie Phillips is 54. Author Neil Gaiman (GAY’-mihn) is 53. Actress Vanessa Angel is 50. Actor Hugh Bonneville (TV: “Downton Abbey”) is 50. Actor-comedian Tommy Davidson is 50. Actor Michael Jai (jy) White is 49. Country singer Chris Cagle is 45. Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan is 45. Actress Ellen Pompeo (pahm-PAY’-oh) (TV: “Grey’s Anatomy”) is 44. Rapper-producer Warren G is 43. Actor Walton Goggins is 42. Comedian-actor Chris Lilley is 39. Rock singer-musician Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World) is 38. Rapper Eve is 35. Rock musician Chris Joannou (joh-AN’-yoo)(Silverchair) is 34. Actor Bryan Neal is 33. Actress Heather Matarazzo is 31. Country singer Miranda Lambert is 30. Actor Josh Peck is 27. Actress Kiernan Shipka (TV: “Mad Men”) is 14. Actress Mackenzie Foy (Film: the “Twilight” films) is 13.

Thought for Today: “Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?” — Fanny Brice, American actress and singer (1891-1951).

(Above Advance for Use Sunday, Nov. 10)

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.