The almanac

Today is Monday, Nov. 26, the 331st day of 2012 with 35 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. Evening stars included Neptune, Uranus and Mars.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include German composer Johannes Bach in 1604; English clergyman and college benefactor John Harvard in 1607; English poet William Cowper in 1731; surgeon and women's rights leader Mary Walker Edwards in 1832; gambler, frontier lawman and sports writer William "Bat" Masterson in 1853; air conditioning engineer Willis Carrier in 1876; baseball Hall of Fame member Lefty Gomez in 1908; French playwright Eugene Ionesco in 1909; TV journalist Eric Sevareid in 1912; science fiction writer Frederik Pohl in 1919 (age 93); cartoonist Charles Schulz ("Peanuts") in 1922; Argentine pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel in 1931 (age 81); singer Robert Goulet in 1933; impressionist Rich Little in 1938 (age 74); and singer Tina Turner in 1939 (age 73); pop singer Jean Terrell in 1944 (age 68); rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame member John McVie in 1945 (age 67); and football Hall of Fame member Art Shell in 1946 (age 66).

On this date in history:

In 1789, U.S. President George Washington declared Nov. 26, 1789, to be Thanksgiving Day. It was the first U.S. holiday by presidential proclamation.

In 1832, the first streetcar railway in America started public service in New York City from City Hall to 14th Street. The car was pulled by a horse and the fare was 12 1/2 cents.

In 1842, the University of Notre Dame was founded in South Bend, Ind.

In 1922, In Egypt's Valley of the Kings, British archaeologists Howard Carter and George Carnarvon became the first humans to enter King Tutankhamen's treasure-laden tomb in more than 3,000 years.

In 1940, German Nazis forced 500,000 Jews in Warsaw to live in a ghetto surrounded by an 8-foot concrete wall.

In 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull submitted U.S. proposals to the Japanese peace envoys in Washington.

In 1956, bandleader Tommy Dorsey died at age 51. His records sold more than 110 million copies.

In 1965, France launched a satellite into space, becoming the world's third space power after the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1984, the United States and Iraq restored diplomatic relations, ending a 17-year break.

In 1992, the United States offered to send up to 20,000 U.S. ground troops to civil war-torn Somalia as part of a U.N. force to get relief supplies to the starving populace.

In 1997, the price of gold in New York City fell to $298 per ounce, the lowest level in 12 years.

In 2001, a three-day Afghanistan prison revolt claimed the life of a CIA operative, Johnny Michael Spann, 32, a former U.S. Marine captain and the first U.S. combat casualty of the war.

In 2003, the U.N. nuclear watchdog passed a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program but stopped short of recommending sanctions.

In 2004, a man broke into a high school dormitory in central China and killed eight students with a knife as they were sleeping. The killer got away.

In 2005, police officials said at least 30 people were killed and injured in a series of bombings and armed attacks in Iraq.

Also in 2005, a 67-year-old textile tycoon in India, Vijaypat Singhania, set a world's altitude record of 69,852 feet in a hot air balloon over Mumbai.

In 2006, Russia's state-run arms exporter denied Russian news agency reports it had begun delivering Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.

In 2007, riots broke out in suburban Paris after two teenagers on a stolen motorcycle were killed when they hit a police car.

In 2008, militants launched a series of coordinated attacks on Mumbai landmarks and commercial hubs popular with foreign tourists, killing at least 173 people and wounding about 300 more.

In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a 10-year, nationwide effort to move U.S. students to the head of the global class in science and math achievement.

Also in 2009, Saudi Arabia's heaviest rain in years left about 100 people dead, officials said, lashing Jeddah and the adjacent holy places of Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafath and interrupting the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

In 2010, a long-running undercover FBI operation foiled an alleged attempt to bomb a popular Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore. A 19-year-old Somali immigrant was arrested.

Also in 2010, 66 percent of U.S. voters polled in a national survey said the country was headed in the wrong direction.

In 2011, Ali Abdullah Saleh, president of violence-wracked Yemen for 33 years, obeyed an earlier agreement and stepped down, the fourth Arab leader swept away by protests in the year.

A thought for the day: Richard Bentley said, "It is a maxim with me that no man was ever written out of reputation but by himself."