On This Day in History - November 16th - Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 16, the 321st day of 2016 with 45 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning star is Jupiter. The evening stars are Mercury, Saturn, Venus, Mars, Neptune and Uranus.

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; actors Burgess Meredith in 1907, Clu Gulager in 1928 (age 88); Donna McKechnie in 1940 (age 76); Marg Helgenberger in 1958 (age 58) and Lisa Bonet in 1967 (age 49); singer Diana Krall in 1964 (age 52); and Olympic figure skater Oksana Baiul in 1977 (age 39).

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 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 1990, the Soviet Union indicated its approval of the use of military force to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

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 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 2012, a Gallup-USA Today poll indicated that 54 percent of Americans were upbeat about the country's prospects during the next four years. Forty-one percent said they thought the country could be in a worse condition.

In 2013, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car near the Kabul, Afghanistan, site where hundreds of tribal elders were to vote (five days later) on a long-term security agreement with the United States, killing at least seven people, wounding more than 20 and heavily damaging nearby shops and vehicles.

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