Today in History

Today is Thursday, Nov. 23, the 327th day of 2023. There are 38 days left in the year. Today is Thanksgiving.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 23, 1971, the People’s Republic of China was seated in the United Nations Security Council.

On this date:

In 1889, the first jukebox made its debut in San Francisco, at the Palais Royale Saloon.

In 1903, Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in “Rigoletto.”

In 1936, Life, the photojournalism magazine created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.

In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed Nov. 25 a day of national mourning following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

In 1980, some 2,600 people were killed by a series of earthquakes that devastated southern Italy.

In 1996, a commandeered Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the water off the Comoros Islands, killing 125 of the 175 people on board, including all three hijackers.

In 2000, in a setback for Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade County officials to resume hand-counting its election-day ballots. Meanwhile, Gore’s lawyers argued in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that the high court should stay out of the Florida election controversy.

In 2003, five U.S. soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

In 2006, former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko (leet-vee-NYEN’-koh) died in London from radiation poisoning after making a deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2008, the government unveiled a bold plan to rescue Citigroup, injecting a fresh $20 billion into the troubled firm as well as guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets.

In 2011, Yemen’s authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh (AH’-lee ahb-DUH’-luh sah-LEH’) agreed to step down amid a fierce uprising to oust him after 33 years in power.

In 2012, actor Larry Hagman, best known for playing the scheming oil baron J.R. Ewing on TV’s “Dallas,” died in Dallas at age 81.

In 2020, the federal government recognized Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power; President Donald Trump still refused to concede and vowed to continue a court fight.

In 2021, a federal jury in Cleveland found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties. (A judge awarded $650 million in damages.)

In 2022, the Middle East’s first World Cup opened in Qatar. Ecuador beat the host country 2-0 in the opening match.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Franco Nero is 82. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (ES’-tur-hahs) is 79. Actor-comedy writer Bruce Vilanch is 76. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is 73. Singer Bruce Hornsby is 69. Former Sen. Mary Landrieu (LAN’-droo), D-La., is 68. Actor Maxwell Caulfield is 64. Actor John Henton is 63. TV personality Robin Roberts (“Good Morning America”) is 63. Rock singer-musician Ken Block (Sister Hazel) is 57. Actor Salli Richardson-Whitfield is 56. Actor Oded Fehr (OH’-dehd fayr) is 53. Rapper-actor Kurupt (Tha Dogg Pound) is 51. Actor Page Kennedy is 47. Actor Kelly Brook is 44. Actor Lucas Grabeel (GRAY’-beel) is 39. TV personality Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is 36. Actor-singer Miley Cyrus is 31. Actor Olivia Keville (TV: “Splitting Up Together”) is 21.