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UPI Almanac for Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016

On Nov. 17, 1871, the National Rifle Association was founded by a journalist and a lawyer with a mission to improve its members' marksmanship skills through the organization of rifle clubs across the country.

By United Press International
Employee Jill Tropino fires a .22 caliber handgun at the indoor shooting range at G. A. T. Guns in Dundee, Illinois on June 28, 2010. The Supreme Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, striking down Chicago's nearly 30-year-old handgun ban but leaving the door open for other gun-control legislation. . UPI/Brian Kersey
Employee Jill Tropino fires a .22 caliber handgun at the indoor shooting range at G. A. T. Guns in Dundee, Illinois on June 28, 2010. The Supreme Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, striking down Chicago's nearly 30-year-old handgun ban but leaving the door open for other gun-control legislation. . UPI/Brian Kersey | License Photo

Today is Thursday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2016 with 44 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include King Louis XVIII of France in 1755; German astronomer and mathematician August Mobius in 1790; social reformer Grace Abbott in 1878; British army Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in 1887; drama teacher/actor Lee Strasberg in 1901; historian Shelby Foote in 1916; actor Rock Hudson in 1925; two-time Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bob Mathias in 1930; British comedian Peter Cook in 1937; balladeer Gordon Lightfoot in 1938 (age 78); film director Martin Scorsese in 1942 (age 74); model/actor Lauren Hutton in 1943 (age 73); actor/director Danny DeVito, "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver and basketball Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim, all in 1944 (age 72); U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 1949 (age 67); actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in 1958 (age 58); model/actor RuPaul in 1960 (age 56); U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice in 1964 (age 52); actors Daisy Fuentes in 1966 (age 50) and Rachel McAdams in 1978 (age 38); and writer Christopher Paolini in 1983 (age 33).

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On this date in history:

In 1800, the U.S. Congress convened in at the Capitol in Washington for the first time.

In 1869, the Suez Canal in Egypt was opened, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

In 1871, the National Rifle Association was founded by a journalist and a lawyer with a mission to improve its member's marksmanship skills through the organization of rifle clubs across the country.

In 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two factions: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority"), led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks (Russian for "minority"), led by Julius Martov. The Bolsheviks would eventually morph into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1969, strategic arms limitation talks (SALT I) began between the United States and the Soviet Union in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1989, Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution began following the put down of a student demonstration by riot police. A larger uprising against the country's communist government succeeds on Dec. 29, ending 41 years of Communist rule.

In 1993, by a vote of 234-200, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

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In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved marketing of silicone gel-filled breast implants, ending a 14-year moratorium on them.

In 2008, the movie that launched a global teenage vampire romance phenomenon, "Twilight," premiered in Los Angeles.

In 2009, U.S. residents were almost evenly divided over efforts in Congress to reform the country's healthcare system with 48 percent for the changes and 49 percent against, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated.

In 2012, President Barack Obama left on a three-day Asian trip that would make him the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar. Other destinations included Cambodia and Thailand.

In 2013, Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died in London at the age of 94.


A thought for the day: "The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his mother or his wife or God, to give him that confidence." -- Clark

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