This Day in History
1497: Explorer Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
1917: The National Hockey League is founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1943: At the World War II Cairo Conference held November 22-26 in Cairo, Egypt, Allied governments meet to define their war aims with respect to Japan.
1963: Pres. John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, TX. Vice Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president.
1967: The UN Security Council unanimously approves Resolution 242, proposing in essence that Israel withdraw from the occupied territories in return for recognition of its independence by the Arab states and the establishment of secure borders.
1975: Juan Carlos I becomes king of Spain, days after the death of Francisco Franco.
1988: After years of secrecy, the Air Force displays the B-2 Stealth bomber.
1990: British Prime Min. Margaret Thatcher resigns.
2005: The German Parliament elects Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Party, as chancellor of Germany.
Today's Birthdays
1643: Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, explorer in North America (Rouen, France; died 1687)
1819: George Eliot, novelist (Warwickshire, England; died 1880)
1868: John Nance Garner, 32nd vice president of the United States (Red River County, TX; died 1967)
1869: André Gide, writer (Paris, France; died 1951)
1883: José Clemente Orozco, muralist (Zapotlán del Rey, Jalisco State, Mexico; died 1949)
1890: Charles de Gaulle, French president and general (Lille, France; died 1970)
1899: Hoagy Carmichael, songwriter (Bloomington, IN; died 1981)
1913: Benjamin Britten, composer (Suffolk, England; died 1976)
1921: Rodney Dangerfield, comedian (Babylon, NY; died 2004)
1932: Robert Vaughn, actor (New York, NY)
1940: Terry Gilliam, director (Minneapolis, MN)
1941: Tom Conti, actor (Paisley, Scotland)
1943: Billie Jean King, champion tennis player (Long Beach, CA)
1958: Jamie Lee Curtis, actress (Los Angeles, CA)
1967: Boris Becker, champion tennis player (Leimen, Germany)
