Today in History

Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2023. There are 45 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.

On this date:

In 1914, the newly created Federal Reserve Banks opened in 12 cities.

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

In 1960, Academy Award-winning actor Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59.

In 1961, House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn died in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms.

In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.

In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador.

In 1991, former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards won a landslide victory in his bid to return to office, defeating State Rep. David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader.

In 2001, investigators found a letter addressed to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont containing anthrax; it was the second letter bearing the deadly germ known to have been sent to Capitol Hill.

In 2004, President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be his new secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell.

In 2006, Democrats embraced Nancy Pelosi as the first female House speaker in history, but then selected Steny Hoyer as majority leader against her wishes.

In 2017, Democratic Sen. Al Franken became the first member of Congress to be caught up in a wave of allegations of sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior, after a Los Angeles radio anchor accused him of forcibly kissing her and groping her during a 2006 USO tour. (Franken would resign weeks later.)

In 2018, a U.S. official said intelligence officials had concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (jah-MAHL’ khahr-SHOHK’-jee).

In 2020, President-elect Joe Biden warned of dire consequences if President Donald Trump and his administration continued to refuse to coordinate with his transition team on the coronavirus pandemic and kept blocking briefings on national security policy issues and vaccine plans.

Today’s Birthdays: Journalist Elizabeth Drew is 88. Blues musician W.C. Clark is 84. Actor Joanna Pettet is 81. Actor Steve Railsback is 78. Actor David Leisure is 73. Actor Miguel Sandoval is 72. Actor Marg Helgenberger is 65. Rock musician Mani is 61. Former pro tennis player Zina Garrison is 60. Former MLB All-Star pitcher Dwight Gooden is 59. Jazz singer Diana Krall is 59. Actor Harry Lennix is 59. Rock musician Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver) is 57. Actor Lisa Bonet is 56. Actor Tammy Lauren is 55. Actor Martha Plimpton is 53. Actor Michael Irby is 51. Actor Missi Pyle is 51. Rock musician Corey McCormick (Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real) is 47. Olympic gold medal figure skater Oksana Baiul (ahk-SAH’-nah by-OOL’) is 46. Actor Maggie Gyllenhaal (JIHL’-ehn-hahl) is 46. Pop singer Trevor Penick is 44. Former NBA player Amare Stoudemire (ah-MAR’-ay STOW’-duh-my-ur) is 41. Actor Kimberly J. Brown is 39. Rock singer Siva Kaneswaran (The Wanted) is 35. Actor-comedian Pete Davidson is 30. Actor Casey Moss is 30. Actor Noah Gray-Cabey is 28.