November 16, 2017

Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2017 with 45 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Tiberius, emperor of Rome, in 42 B.C.; composer W.C. Handy, known as the "Father of the Blues," in 1873; Broadway director and playwright George S. Kaufman in 1889; jazz guitarist and bandleader Eddie Condon in 1905; actor Burgess Meredith in 1907; actor Clu Gulager in 1928 (age 89); actor Donna McKechnie in 1942 (age 75); video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto in 1952 (age 65); actor Marg Helgenberger in 1958 (age 59); actor Bruno Amato in 1961 (age 56); singer Diana Krall in 1964 (age 53); actor Lisa Bonet in 1967 (age 50); actor Brooke Elliott in 1974 (age 43); Olympic figure skater Oksana Baiul in 1977 (age 40); actor Pete Davidson in 1993 (age 23); actor Brandon Larracuente in 1994 (age 23); actor Milo Parker in 2002 (age 15).

On this date in history:

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state admitted to the union.

In 1914, intended to serve as a "lender of last resort," the New York Fed opened for business.

In 1933, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

In 1957, Ed Gein murdered his last victim, Bernice Worden. When police searched his house, they found 10 human skulls, a human heart in a pot on the stove and what appeared to be a belt made out of human flesh. He confessed to killing two women and said the other body parts were from grave robbing.

In 1960, Hollywood king Clark Gable, best remembered as Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, died of a heart attack at the age of 59.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon authorized the construction of the Alaska Pipeline with the signing of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law.

In 1988, Pakistanis voted Benazir Bhutto as prime minister, the nation's first female leader in modern history.

In 1990, the Soviet Union indicated its approval of the use of military force to oust Iraq from Kuwait but said action should be delayed to give Iraqi President Saddam Hussein a chance to leave the country peacefully.

In 2001, U.S. officials said a bomb had killed Muhammad Atef, one of Osama bin Laden's closest strategists who was believed to have helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

In 2010, Britain's Prince William asked Kate Middleton to marry him after eight years of dating. The couple married in 2011.

In 2007, the United Nations warned global warming would lead to a rise in sea levels that would swallow up island nations, decimate one-quarter or more of the world's species, cause famine in Africa and spark increasingly violent hurricanes.

In 2008, after nearly a year of negotiations with the United States, the Iraqi Cabinet agreed to withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by Dec. 31, 2011.

In 2015, miners uncovered the world's second-largest gem-quality diamond in Botswana. The 1,111-carat gem, dubbed the Lesedi La Rona diamond, sold in September 2017 for $53 million.

A thought for the day: "The only peace that can endure is a peace that can be defended." -- Benjamin Netanyahu