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331st day of 2010 - 34 remaining
Saturday, November 27, 2010
PENN STATION DAY
The largest railway station in the world opened to traffic on this day in 1910. Pennsylvania Station, more fondly known as Penn Station, was one of the first grand buildings of the 20th century. The building covered 28 acres of mid-Manhattan. This cathedral-like structure of steel, glass and Italian marble saw hundreds of thousands of souls pass through its grandiose concourse, stand at ticket counters and step to the platforms to make the commute home, or board trains to points north, south and west of New York City. Multitudes walked through its doors just to people-watch, or fantasize as they heard the whistle blow and the call, “All aboard.” This was no ordinary building ... what stories it could tell! As the decades passed, Penn Station remained a palace among New York’s famous skyscrapers for more than half a century.
It is said that all good things must come to an end. Penn Station met its demise almost 53 years to the day it opened as crews began demolishing it on October 28, 1963. The building was torn down to make way for a new Madison Square Garden, although the trains continue to run beneath it. Gone was the grandeur of another time.
In 1999, there was a plan to turn the James A. Farley U.S. Post Office Building (across the street from the original Penn Station) into a new Pennsylvania Station, in the great public building style of its predecessor, and to be named Moynihan Station in honor of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Not so coincidentally, the post office was designed by the architectural firm that designed the original Penn Station.
In 2002, funding began and initial design proposals were laid out, but the project schedule was continually pushed forward. By 2005, the initial plan was replaced. The second plan was not as elaborate as the first; however, it too was replaced by yet a third design and plan. This time, work actually began in the preservation of the façade of the Farley building.
And in October 2007, the state of New York unveiled a $14-billion plan for the redesigned Penn Station area, featuring a new Madison Square Garden and a pair of grand transit hubs. The owners of Madison Square Garden backed out of that plan a few months later, however.
The Friends of Moynihan Station, a coalition of civic organizations, continues to push for an eventual Penn Station resurrection. Maybe, just maybe, there really will be a miracle. It’ll be on 33rd instead of 34th Street, or even maybe on 32nd Street, but still a miracle as Penn Station is resurrected – not like it was before but in a 21st century version of subways, trains and walkways.
Events November 27
1779 - The College of Pennsylvania became the University of Pennsylvania and the first legally recognized university in America.
1889 - Curtis P. Brady was issued the first permit to drive an automobile through Central Park in New York City. Mr. Brady had to pledge to New York’s finest that he would not frighten the horses in the park.
1926 - Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong recorded You Made Me Love You on Okeh Records.
1930 - Broadcasting from “...a little theatre off Times Square,” according to the show’s introduction, The First Nighter was first heard on radio. The program, which actually originated from Chicago, then from Hollywood, aired for 23 years and featured dramas and comedies.
1935 - Eeny Meeny Miney Mo was recorded by Ginger Rogers and Johnny Mercer. The tune was recorded at Decca Records in Los Angeles.
1937 - Pins and Needles, opened in New York City. The cast of the stage play consisted of members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU). The show ran two years. We bet it was a stitch.
1942 - The French navy at Toulon (Vichy) scuttled its ships and submarines to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Nazis.
1945 - C.A.R.E. (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) was founded this day, as 22 American organizations formed a cooperative to rush lifesaving CARE packages to survivors of World War II.
1951 - Nike, the first ground-to-air missile, was successfully tested at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico.
1953 - Playwright Eugene O’Neill died in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 65 years old. His vast collection of plays included Anna Christie, Ah! Wilderness, The Hairy Ape, Desire Under the Elms, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Mourning Becomes Electra. O’Neill won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936. His daughter, Oona, married silent film star Charlie Chaplin.
1960 - CBS radio cancelled Have Gun Will Travel. The adventures of the man called Paladin (played by John Dehner) had first aired on the radio on Nov 23, 1958.
1967 - The Association, a California group, earned a gold record for the hit Never My Love, on Warner Bros. Records. The group also earned worldwide fame for other hits including Windy, Cherish and Along Comes Mary.
1967 - The Beatles released their Magical Mystery Tour album -- and the world began singing along to: Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool on the Hill, Flying, Blue Jay Way, Your Mother Should Know, I Am the Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Baby You’re a Rich Man and All You Need is Love. And a coo coo ca choo to you.
1969 - The Rolling Stones used portions of their stint at New York’s Madison Square Garden this day for their live album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out (released in 1970). Tracks on the album: Jumpin’ Jack flash , Carol, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Midnight Rambler, Sympathy for the Devil, Live with Me, Little Queenie, Honky Tonk Women and Street Fighting Man.
1973 - The U.S. Senate voted 92-to-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president. Ford succeeded Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned in a financial scandal.
1977 - It was a big day for sweat hog Vinnie Barbarino, formerly of TV’s Welcome Back Kotter. His new character, Tony Manero, set box office records as Saturday Night Fever made a superstar of John Travolta. The soundtrack album, by the Bee Gees and others, sold more than 11 million copies.
1978 - San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were gunned down inside City Hall. Former supervisor Dan White later turned himself in at the city’s Northern Police station.
1982 - The #1 song in the U.S. was former Commodore Lionel Richie’s Truly. The love song stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks. The song was his first solo hit and followed Endless Love, a duet with Diana Ross (1981).
1983 - Stores across the U.S. were inundated by eager shoppers trying to buy Cabbage Patch Kids -- dolls with computer-designed faces.
1986 - Lou Holtz signed a five-year pact to lead the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Holtz left the head coaching job with the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota to take the new position.
1989 - University of Chicago doctors transplanted part of Teri Smith’s liver in her 21-month-old daughter, Alyssa. It was the first living donor liver transplant in the U.S.
1990 - Britain’s Conservatives chose John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as party leader, paving the way for his appointment as prime minister.
1991 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution paving the way for the establishment of a U.N. peacekeeping operation in war-ravaged Yugoslavia.
1992 - Part of the Vienna Hofburg Palace in Austria was destroyed by fire.
1996 - Movies premiering in the U.S.: The Crucible, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield and Joan Allen; and 101 Dalmations, with Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson and Joan Plowright.
1997 - During Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, a gust of wind blew the ‘Cat-in-the-Hat’ balloon into a lamppost. Part of the streetlight then fell onto a 34-year-old woman spectator, fracturing her skull and leaving her in a coma for almost a month.
1998 - Answering 81 questions put to him in advance, U.S. President Bill Clinton wrote to the House Judiciary Committee stating that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was “not false and misleading.”
1999 - New Zealand’s Labour Party under Helen Clark won a general election, ousting the National Party after nine years in power.
2000 - Prime Minister Jean Chretien led the Liberal Party to a third consecutive majority government in parliamentary elections in Canada -- with 41% of the popular vote.
2002 - Two animated flicks debuted in U.S. theatres: Treasure Planet, with the voices of Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Hyde Pierce, Mona Marshall, Brian Murray, Johnny Rzeznik, Martin Short, Emma Thompson and Michael Wincott; and Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, featuring the voices of Adam Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, Tyra Banks, James Barbour, Bobby Edner, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon and Rob Schneider.
2002 - Also opening this day: Extreme Ops, starring Devon Sawa, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell, Heino Ferch, Joe Absolom, Jana Pallaske, Liliana Komorowska and Klaus Lowitsch; Solaris, starring George Clooney, Natascha Mcelhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis and Ulrich Tukur; and Wes Craven Presents: They, with Laura Regan, Marc Blucas, Ethan Embry, Dagmara Dominczyk and Jon Abrahams.
2003 - U.S. President George Bush (II) flew to Baghdad, Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops.
2004 - U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins was released from a military jail after serving 25 days for abandoning his squadron and crossing the border into North Korea in 1965.
2004 - Televangelist Billy James Hargis died at 79 years of age. His books included Is the Schoolhouse the Best Place to Teach Raw Sex.
2005 - A rare November tornado outbreak across the central U.S. (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) killed two people. In addition, the same system produced a major blizzard in the northern and western Great Plains.
2006 - Eurotunnel, operator of the Channel tunnel, was rescued from looming bankruptcy when key creditors approved a plan in Paris to slash debt exceeding 9.0 billion euros (11.9 billion dollars).
2007 - Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric declared that a Muslim woman could fight back in self-defense if she was hit by her husband. The ruling was rare for the region’s male-dominated Islamic society.
2007 - Google announced an initiative to clean the environment and reduce the company’s own power bill. The Internet search giant said it would spend millions of dollars to develop renewable energy to replace polluting fossil fuels and to help reverse global warming.
2008 - Switzerland reached an agreement to join the European Union’s passport-free travel zone. The borderless zone (created by the "Schengen Agreements"), called the Schengen Area, is made up of twenty-five European countries.
2008 - Iraq’s parliament approved a pact with the U.S., setting a clear timetable for a U.S. withdrawl for the first time since the 2003 invasion. Under the security pact, U.S. forces would withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities by Jul 2008 and from the entire country by Jan 2012.
2009 - Movies opening in U.S. theatres: Bunny and the Bull, with Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, Verónica Echegui, Richard Ayoade, Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding and Waleed Khalid; and The Private Lives of Pippa, starring Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore, Wynona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Maria Bello, Alan Arkin, Monica Bellucci and Blake Lively.
2009 - Golfing superstar Tiger Woods ran his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his Florida home. This took place just days after the National Enquirer claimed he had an affair with Rachel Uchitel, the 33-year-old golf champ. A report soon followed in Us Weekly magazine of a cocktail waitress claiming to have had a 31-month affair with Woods.
Birthdays November 27
1804 - Sir Julius Benedict
musician, composer; died Jun 5, 1885
1809 - Fanny Kemble
actress: Romeo and Juliet, The Hunchback; died Jan 15, 1893
1870 - Joseph Mack
inventor: passenger bus; builder of gasoline-powered delivery wagons; founder [w/brothers] of Mack Truck Company
1874 - Charles A. Beard
historian: “perhaps the quintessential economic-school historian”; writer: An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, The Basic History of the United States; helped found New School for Social Research in New York City; died Sep 1, 1948
1874 - Chaim Weizmann
Israeli statesman: instrumental in establishing Israel as a national home for Jews; died Nov 9, 1952
1903 - Mona Washbourne
actress: Mrs. Pearce, My Fair Lady, Night Must Fall, Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter, Brideshead Revisited; died Nov 15, 1988
1906 - Dudley ****erson
actor: Three Stooges films, Pardon My Nightshirt, One Shivery Night, The Sickle or the Cross, Tall, Dark and Gruesome, Nervous Shakedown, Get Along Little Zombie; died Sep 23, 1968
1911 - David Merrick (Margulois)
Broadway producer: Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!, Beckett, Oliver, Fanny, Stop the World: I Want to Get Off, 42nd Street; died Apr 25, 2000
1917 - ‘Buffalo’ Bob Smith
TV host: Howdy Doody Show, The Gulf Road Show Starring Bob Smith; died July 30, 1998
1917 - Robert Youngson
Academy Award-winning producer, director, screenwriter: World of Kids [1952], This Mechanical Age [1955]; The Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy Was King, 4 Clowns, The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy, The Big Parade of Comedy, Days of Thrills and Laughter, Gadgets Galore; died Apr 8, 1974
1920 - Stephen Elliott
actor: As the World Turns, The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, Taking Care of Business, Arthur, Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love, Beverly Hills Cop; died May 21, 2005
1925 - Derroll Adams
folk musician: banjo; singer: Feelin’ Fine [w/Wiz Jones]; songwriter: Portland Town, Wish I was a Rock; in film: Don’t Look Back; died Feb 6, 2000
1925 - Marshall Thompson
actor: The Turning Point, George!, East of Kilimanjaro, To Hell and Back, The Caddy, The Purple Heart, Daktari, Angel; died May 18, 1992
1935 - Al Jackson Jr.
drummer: groups: Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Roy Milton Band; died Oct 1, 1975
1935 - Willie (Wilfred) Pastrano
boxer: Light Heavyweight Champion [1963-65]; died Dec 6, 1997
1937 - Gail Henion Sheehy
author, journalist: Passages, The Silent Passage: Menopause, Pathfinders
1939 - DAVE (David John) Giusti
baseball: pitcher: Houston Colt .45’s, Houston Astros, SL Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates [World Series: 1971/NL Fireman of the Year: 1971 (his 30 saves led the league)/all-star: 1973], Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics
1940 - John Alderton
actor: He Knew He Was Right, Calendar Girls, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries: Speedy Death, Mr. H Is Late, Late Flowering Love, Little Dorrit
1940 - Bruce Lee (Lee Jun Fan)
actor: martial arts cult star; The Green Hornet, Game of Death, Return of the Dragon, Fists of Fury, Enter the Dragon, Chinese Connection, Marlowe; subject of the movie, Dragon; died July 20, 1973
1941 - Eddie Rabbitt
songwriter: Kentucky Rain [Elvis Presley]; singer: I Love A Rainy Night, Drivin’ My Life Away, Suspicions, Every Which Way But Loose; his 17 albums garnered 26 #1 country hits and 8 pop hits; died May 7, 1998
1942 - Jimi (James Marshall) Hendrix
musician, singer: Foxy Lady, Purple Haze, All Along the Watch Tower, The Wind Cries Mary, Manic Depression, Spanish Castle Magic; died Sep 18, 1970
1944 - Dozy (Trevor Davies)
musician: bass: group: DAVE Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
1947 - Don Adams
basketball: Detroit Pistons
1948 - James Avery
actor: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I Wanna Dance, Let the Game Begin, Restraining Order, Nancy Drew, Epoch, A Friend to Die For, Roe vs. Wade, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, That ’70s Show
1948 - Jimmy Gunn
football: USC all-American DE; USC Athletic Hall of Famer
1948 - DAVE Winthrop
musician: flute, sax; singer group: Supertramp: Take the Long Way Home, The Logical Song, Goodbye Stranger, Breakfast in America, Bloody Well Right
1949 - Jim Price
basketball: University of Louisville all-American, Milwaukee Bucks all-star, Buffalo, Denver, LA Lakers
1950 - Hans-Joachim Faßnacht
swimmer: 1972 Olympics
1952 - Ike Harris
football: New Orleans Saints
1953 - Boris Grebenshikov
Russian rock musician
1956 - William Fichtner
actor: The Moguls, Crash, Equilibrium, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, The Perfect Storm, Drowning Mona, Go, Empire Falls
1957 - Caroline (Bouvier) Kennedy
former First Daughter: daughter of 35th President of U.S. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy
1959 - Charlie Burchill
musician: guitar: group: Simple Minds: Changeling, Premonition, The American, Love Song, Don’t You [Forget About Me]
1963 - Fisher Stevens
actor: The Right to Remain Silent, Hackers, Super Mario Bros., When the Party’s Over, The Marrying Man, Short Circuit series, The Flamingo Kid, Bob Roberts, The Brother from Another Planet, Key West
1964 - Robin Givens
actress: Boomerang, Head of the Class, Angel Street, A Rage in Harlem, Foreign Student, Blankman, The Penthouse, The Women of Brewster Place, Beverly Hills Madam
1969 - Tim Laker
baseball [catcher]: Montreal Expos, Balitmore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Cleveland Indians
1970 - Brooke Langton
actress: Melrose Place, Primeval, The Benchwarmers, Beautiful Dreamer, Kiss the Bride, Playing Mona Lisa, The Replacements
1971 - Larry Allen
football [guard]: NFL: Dallas Cowboys
1971 - Nick Van Exel
basketball [guard]: Univ of Cincinnati; NBA: LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs
1972 - Chris Hetherington
football [running back]: Yale University; NFL: Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers
1973 - Samantha Harris
TV correspondent: Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America; co-host: Dancing with the Stars; actress: Beautiful, Drop Dead Gorgeous, George of the Jungle, D3: The Mighty Ducks
1976 - Jaleel White
actor: Family Matters, Camp Cucamongo, The Leftovers, Kids Don’t Tell, Silence of the Heart, Grown Ups
1978 - Jimmy Rollins
baseball [shortstop]: Philadelphia Phillies
1985 - Alison Pill
actress: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Safety Glass, One Way to Valhalla, Plain Truth, Fast Food High, The Pilot’s Wife; Broadway: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Blackbird , Mauritius
Chart Toppers November 27
1950Harbor Lights - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Tony Alamo)
Goodnight Irene - The Weavers
Thinking of You - Don Cherry
I’m Moving On - Hank Snow
1959Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
Don’t You Know - Della Reese
In the Mood - Ernie Fields Orchestra
Country Girl - Faron Young
1968Hey Jude - The Beatles
Love Child - Diana Ross & The Supremes
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Stand by Your Man - Tammy Wynette
1977You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle
How Deep is Your Love - Bee Gees
The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want to Get Over You) - Waylon Jennings
1986Human - Human League
True Blue - Madonna
You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
You’re Still New to Me - Marie Osmond with Paul Davis
1995Exhale (Shoop Shoop) - Whitney Houston
You Remind Me of Something - R. Kelly
Hey Lover - LL Cool J
Check Yes or No - George Strait
2004Over And Over - Nelly featuring Tim McGraw
My Boo - Usher & Alicia Keys
Lose My Breath - Destiny’s Child
Mr. Mom - Lonestar
Chart Topper November 27th, 1986...You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
Saturday, November 27, 2010
PENN STATION DAY
The largest railway station in the world opened to traffic on this day in 1910. Pennsylvania Station, more fondly known as Penn Station, was one of the first grand buildings of the 20th century. The building covered 28 acres of mid-Manhattan. This cathedral-like structure of steel, glass and Italian marble saw hundreds of thousands of souls pass through its grandiose concourse, stand at ticket counters and step to the platforms to make the commute home, or board trains to points north, south and west of New York City. Multitudes walked through its doors just to people-watch, or fantasize as they heard the whistle blow and the call, “All aboard.” This was no ordinary building ... what stories it could tell! As the decades passed, Penn Station remained a palace among New York’s famous skyscrapers for more than half a century.
It is said that all good things must come to an end. Penn Station met its demise almost 53 years to the day it opened as crews began demolishing it on October 28, 1963. The building was torn down to make way for a new Madison Square Garden, although the trains continue to run beneath it. Gone was the grandeur of another time.
In 1999, there was a plan to turn the James A. Farley U.S. Post Office Building (across the street from the original Penn Station) into a new Pennsylvania Station, in the great public building style of its predecessor, and to be named Moynihan Station in honor of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Not so coincidentally, the post office was designed by the architectural firm that designed the original Penn Station.
In 2002, funding began and initial design proposals were laid out, but the project schedule was continually pushed forward. By 2005, the initial plan was replaced. The second plan was not as elaborate as the first; however, it too was replaced by yet a third design and plan. This time, work actually began in the preservation of the façade of the Farley building.
And in October 2007, the state of New York unveiled a $14-billion plan for the redesigned Penn Station area, featuring a new Madison Square Garden and a pair of grand transit hubs. The owners of Madison Square Garden backed out of that plan a few months later, however.
The Friends of Moynihan Station, a coalition of civic organizations, continues to push for an eventual Penn Station resurrection. Maybe, just maybe, there really will be a miracle. It’ll be on 33rd instead of 34th Street, or even maybe on 32nd Street, but still a miracle as Penn Station is resurrected – not like it was before but in a 21st century version of subways, trains and walkways.
Events November 27
1779 - The College of Pennsylvania became the University of Pennsylvania and the first legally recognized university in America.
1889 - Curtis P. Brady was issued the first permit to drive an automobile through Central Park in New York City. Mr. Brady had to pledge to New York’s finest that he would not frighten the horses in the park.
1926 - Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong recorded You Made Me Love You on Okeh Records.
1930 - Broadcasting from “...a little theatre off Times Square,” according to the show’s introduction, The First Nighter was first heard on radio. The program, which actually originated from Chicago, then from Hollywood, aired for 23 years and featured dramas and comedies.
1935 - Eeny Meeny Miney Mo was recorded by Ginger Rogers and Johnny Mercer. The tune was recorded at Decca Records in Los Angeles.
1937 - Pins and Needles, opened in New York City. The cast of the stage play consisted of members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU). The show ran two years. We bet it was a stitch.
1942 - The French navy at Toulon (Vichy) scuttled its ships and submarines to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Nazis.
1945 - C.A.R.E. (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) was founded this day, as 22 American organizations formed a cooperative to rush lifesaving CARE packages to survivors of World War II.
1951 - Nike, the first ground-to-air missile, was successfully tested at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico.
1953 - Playwright Eugene O’Neill died in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 65 years old. His vast collection of plays included Anna Christie, Ah! Wilderness, The Hairy Ape, Desire Under the Elms, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Mourning Becomes Electra. O’Neill won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936. His daughter, Oona, married silent film star Charlie Chaplin.
1960 - CBS radio cancelled Have Gun Will Travel. The adventures of the man called Paladin (played by John Dehner) had first aired on the radio on Nov 23, 1958.
1967 - The Association, a California group, earned a gold record for the hit Never My Love, on Warner Bros. Records. The group also earned worldwide fame for other hits including Windy, Cherish and Along Comes Mary.
1967 - The Beatles released their Magical Mystery Tour album -- and the world began singing along to: Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool on the Hill, Flying, Blue Jay Way, Your Mother Should Know, I Am the Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Baby You’re a Rich Man and All You Need is Love. And a coo coo ca choo to you.
1969 - The Rolling Stones used portions of their stint at New York’s Madison Square Garden this day for their live album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out (released in 1970). Tracks on the album: Jumpin’ Jack flash , Carol, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Midnight Rambler, Sympathy for the Devil, Live with Me, Little Queenie, Honky Tonk Women and Street Fighting Man.
1973 - The U.S. Senate voted 92-to-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president. Ford succeeded Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned in a financial scandal.
1977 - It was a big day for sweat hog Vinnie Barbarino, formerly of TV’s Welcome Back Kotter. His new character, Tony Manero, set box office records as Saturday Night Fever made a superstar of John Travolta. The soundtrack album, by the Bee Gees and others, sold more than 11 million copies.
1978 - San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were gunned down inside City Hall. Former supervisor Dan White later turned himself in at the city’s Northern Police station.
1982 - The #1 song in the U.S. was former Commodore Lionel Richie’s Truly. The love song stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks. The song was his first solo hit and followed Endless Love, a duet with Diana Ross (1981).
1983 - Stores across the U.S. were inundated by eager shoppers trying to buy Cabbage Patch Kids -- dolls with computer-designed faces.
1986 - Lou Holtz signed a five-year pact to lead the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Holtz left the head coaching job with the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota to take the new position.
1989 - University of Chicago doctors transplanted part of Teri Smith’s liver in her 21-month-old daughter, Alyssa. It was the first living donor liver transplant in the U.S.
1990 - Britain’s Conservatives chose John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as party leader, paving the way for his appointment as prime minister.
1991 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution paving the way for the establishment of a U.N. peacekeeping operation in war-ravaged Yugoslavia.
1992 - Part of the Vienna Hofburg Palace in Austria was destroyed by fire.
1996 - Movies premiering in the U.S.: The Crucible, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield and Joan Allen; and 101 Dalmations, with Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson and Joan Plowright.
1997 - During Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, a gust of wind blew the ‘Cat-in-the-Hat’ balloon into a lamppost. Part of the streetlight then fell onto a 34-year-old woman spectator, fracturing her skull and leaving her in a coma for almost a month.
1998 - Answering 81 questions put to him in advance, U.S. President Bill Clinton wrote to the House Judiciary Committee stating that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was “not false and misleading.”
1999 - New Zealand’s Labour Party under Helen Clark won a general election, ousting the National Party after nine years in power.
2000 - Prime Minister Jean Chretien led the Liberal Party to a third consecutive majority government in parliamentary elections in Canada -- with 41% of the popular vote.
2002 - Two animated flicks debuted in U.S. theatres: Treasure Planet, with the voices of Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Hyde Pierce, Mona Marshall, Brian Murray, Johnny Rzeznik, Martin Short, Emma Thompson and Michael Wincott; and Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, featuring the voices of Adam Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, Tyra Banks, James Barbour, Bobby Edner, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon and Rob Schneider.
2002 - Also opening this day: Extreme Ops, starring Devon Sawa, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell, Heino Ferch, Joe Absolom, Jana Pallaske, Liliana Komorowska and Klaus Lowitsch; Solaris, starring George Clooney, Natascha Mcelhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis and Ulrich Tukur; and Wes Craven Presents: They, with Laura Regan, Marc Blucas, Ethan Embry, Dagmara Dominczyk and Jon Abrahams.
2003 - U.S. President George Bush (II) flew to Baghdad, Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops.
2004 - U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins was released from a military jail after serving 25 days for abandoning his squadron and crossing the border into North Korea in 1965.
2004 - Televangelist Billy James Hargis died at 79 years of age. His books included Is the Schoolhouse the Best Place to Teach Raw Sex.
2005 - A rare November tornado outbreak across the central U.S. (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) killed two people. In addition, the same system produced a major blizzard in the northern and western Great Plains.
2006 - Eurotunnel, operator of the Channel tunnel, was rescued from looming bankruptcy when key creditors approved a plan in Paris to slash debt exceeding 9.0 billion euros (11.9 billion dollars).
2007 - Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric declared that a Muslim woman could fight back in self-defense if she was hit by her husband. The ruling was rare for the region’s male-dominated Islamic society.
2007 - Google announced an initiative to clean the environment and reduce the company’s own power bill. The Internet search giant said it would spend millions of dollars to develop renewable energy to replace polluting fossil fuels and to help reverse global warming.
2008 - Switzerland reached an agreement to join the European Union’s passport-free travel zone. The borderless zone (created by the "Schengen Agreements"), called the Schengen Area, is made up of twenty-five European countries.
2008 - Iraq’s parliament approved a pact with the U.S., setting a clear timetable for a U.S. withdrawl for the first time since the 2003 invasion. Under the security pact, U.S. forces would withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities by Jul 2008 and from the entire country by Jan 2012.
2009 - Movies opening in U.S. theatres: Bunny and the Bull, with Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, Verónica Echegui, Richard Ayoade, Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding and Waleed Khalid; and The Private Lives of Pippa, starring Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore, Wynona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Maria Bello, Alan Arkin, Monica Bellucci and Blake Lively.
2009 - Golfing superstar Tiger Woods ran his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his Florida home. This took place just days after the National Enquirer claimed he had an affair with Rachel Uchitel, the 33-year-old golf champ. A report soon followed in Us Weekly magazine of a cocktail waitress claiming to have had a 31-month affair with Woods.
Birthdays November 27
1804 - Sir Julius Benedict
musician, composer; died Jun 5, 1885
1809 - Fanny Kemble
actress: Romeo and Juliet, The Hunchback; died Jan 15, 1893
1870 - Joseph Mack
inventor: passenger bus; builder of gasoline-powered delivery wagons; founder [w/brothers] of Mack Truck Company
1874 - Charles A. Beard
historian: “perhaps the quintessential economic-school historian”; writer: An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, The Basic History of the United States; helped found New School for Social Research in New York City; died Sep 1, 1948
1874 - Chaim Weizmann
Israeli statesman: instrumental in establishing Israel as a national home for Jews; died Nov 9, 1952
1903 - Mona Washbourne
actress: Mrs. Pearce, My Fair Lady, Night Must Fall, Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter, Brideshead Revisited; died Nov 15, 1988
1906 - Dudley ****erson
actor: Three Stooges films, Pardon My Nightshirt, One Shivery Night, The Sickle or the Cross, Tall, Dark and Gruesome, Nervous Shakedown, Get Along Little Zombie; died Sep 23, 1968
1911 - David Merrick (Margulois)
Broadway producer: Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!, Beckett, Oliver, Fanny, Stop the World: I Want to Get Off, 42nd Street; died Apr 25, 2000
1917 - ‘Buffalo’ Bob Smith
TV host: Howdy Doody Show, The Gulf Road Show Starring Bob Smith; died July 30, 1998
1917 - Robert Youngson
Academy Award-winning producer, director, screenwriter: World of Kids [1952], This Mechanical Age [1955]; The Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy Was King, 4 Clowns, The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy, The Big Parade of Comedy, Days of Thrills and Laughter, Gadgets Galore; died Apr 8, 1974
1920 - Stephen Elliott
actor: As the World Turns, The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, Taking Care of Business, Arthur, Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love, Beverly Hills Cop; died May 21, 2005
1925 - Derroll Adams
folk musician: banjo; singer: Feelin’ Fine [w/Wiz Jones]; songwriter: Portland Town, Wish I was a Rock; in film: Don’t Look Back; died Feb 6, 2000
1925 - Marshall Thompson
actor: The Turning Point, George!, East of Kilimanjaro, To Hell and Back, The Caddy, The Purple Heart, Daktari, Angel; died May 18, 1992
1935 - Al Jackson Jr.
drummer: groups: Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Roy Milton Band; died Oct 1, 1975
1935 - Willie (Wilfred) Pastrano
boxer: Light Heavyweight Champion [1963-65]; died Dec 6, 1997
1937 - Gail Henion Sheehy
author, journalist: Passages, The Silent Passage: Menopause, Pathfinders
1939 - DAVE (David John) Giusti
baseball: pitcher: Houston Colt .45’s, Houston Astros, SL Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates [World Series: 1971/NL Fireman of the Year: 1971 (his 30 saves led the league)/all-star: 1973], Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics
1940 - John Alderton
actor: He Knew He Was Right, Calendar Girls, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries: Speedy Death, Mr. H Is Late, Late Flowering Love, Little Dorrit
1940 - Bruce Lee (Lee Jun Fan)
actor: martial arts cult star; The Green Hornet, Game of Death, Return of the Dragon, Fists of Fury, Enter the Dragon, Chinese Connection, Marlowe; subject of the movie, Dragon; died July 20, 1973
1941 - Eddie Rabbitt
songwriter: Kentucky Rain [Elvis Presley]; singer: I Love A Rainy Night, Drivin’ My Life Away, Suspicions, Every Which Way But Loose; his 17 albums garnered 26 #1 country hits and 8 pop hits; died May 7, 1998
1942 - Jimi (James Marshall) Hendrix
musician, singer: Foxy Lady, Purple Haze, All Along the Watch Tower, The Wind Cries Mary, Manic Depression, Spanish Castle Magic; died Sep 18, 1970
1944 - Dozy (Trevor Davies)
musician: bass: group: DAVE Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
1947 - Don Adams
basketball: Detroit Pistons
1948 - James Avery
actor: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I Wanna Dance, Let the Game Begin, Restraining Order, Nancy Drew, Epoch, A Friend to Die For, Roe vs. Wade, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, That ’70s Show
1948 - Jimmy Gunn
football: USC all-American DE; USC Athletic Hall of Famer
1948 - DAVE Winthrop
musician: flute, sax; singer group: Supertramp: Take the Long Way Home, The Logical Song, Goodbye Stranger, Breakfast in America, Bloody Well Right
1949 - Jim Price
basketball: University of Louisville all-American, Milwaukee Bucks all-star, Buffalo, Denver, LA Lakers
1950 - Hans-Joachim Faßnacht
swimmer: 1972 Olympics
1952 - Ike Harris
football: New Orleans Saints
1953 - Boris Grebenshikov
Russian rock musician
1956 - William Fichtner
actor: The Moguls, Crash, Equilibrium, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, The Perfect Storm, Drowning Mona, Go, Empire Falls
1957 - Caroline (Bouvier) Kennedy
former First Daughter: daughter of 35th President of U.S. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy
1959 - Charlie Burchill
musician: guitar: group: Simple Minds: Changeling, Premonition, The American, Love Song, Don’t You [Forget About Me]
1963 - Fisher Stevens
actor: The Right to Remain Silent, Hackers, Super Mario Bros., When the Party’s Over, The Marrying Man, Short Circuit series, The Flamingo Kid, Bob Roberts, The Brother from Another Planet, Key West
1964 - Robin Givens
actress: Boomerang, Head of the Class, Angel Street, A Rage in Harlem, Foreign Student, Blankman, The Penthouse, The Women of Brewster Place, Beverly Hills Madam
1969 - Tim Laker
baseball [catcher]: Montreal Expos, Balitmore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Cleveland Indians
1970 - Brooke Langton
actress: Melrose Place, Primeval, The Benchwarmers, Beautiful Dreamer, Kiss the Bride, Playing Mona Lisa, The Replacements
1971 - Larry Allen
football [guard]: NFL: Dallas Cowboys
1971 - Nick Van Exel
basketball [guard]: Univ of Cincinnati; NBA: LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs
1972 - Chris Hetherington
football [running back]: Yale University; NFL: Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers
1973 - Samantha Harris
TV correspondent: Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America; co-host: Dancing with the Stars; actress: Beautiful, Drop Dead Gorgeous, George of the Jungle, D3: The Mighty Ducks
1976 - Jaleel White
actor: Family Matters, Camp Cucamongo, The Leftovers, Kids Don’t Tell, Silence of the Heart, Grown Ups
1978 - Jimmy Rollins
baseball [shortstop]: Philadelphia Phillies
1985 - Alison Pill
actress: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Safety Glass, One Way to Valhalla, Plain Truth, Fast Food High, The Pilot’s Wife; Broadway: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Blackbird , Mauritius
Chart Toppers November 27
1950Harbor Lights - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Tony Alamo)
Goodnight Irene - The Weavers
Thinking of You - Don Cherry
I’m Moving On - Hank Snow
1959Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
Don’t You Know - Della Reese
In the Mood - Ernie Fields Orchestra
Country Girl - Faron Young
1968Hey Jude - The Beatles
Love Child - Diana Ross & The Supremes
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Stand by Your Man - Tammy Wynette
1977You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle
How Deep is Your Love - Bee Gees
The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want to Get Over You) - Waylon Jennings
1986Human - Human League
True Blue - Madonna
You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
You’re Still New to Me - Marie Osmond with Paul Davis
1995Exhale (Shoop Shoop) - Whitney Houston
You Remind Me of Something - R. Kelly
Hey Lover - LL Cool J
Check Yes or No - George Strait
2004Over And Over - Nelly featuring Tim McGraw
My Boo - Usher & Alicia Keys
Lose My Breath - Destiny’s Child
Mr. Mom - Lonestar
Chart Topper November 27th, 1986...You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi