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UPI Almanac for Friday, Nov. 17, 2017

On Nov. 17, 1800, the U.S. Congress convened at the Capitol in Washington for the first time.

By United Press International
On November 17, 1800, the U.S. Congress convened at the Capitol, pictured in 1981, in Washington for the first time. File Photo by Tim Clary/UPI
On November 17, 1800, the U.S. Congress convened at the Capitol, pictured in 1981, in Washington for the first time. File Photo by Tim Clary/UPI | License Photo

Today is Friday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2017 with 44 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Venus.

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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; actor Rock Hudson in 1925; balladeer Gordon Lightfoot in 1938 (age 79); film director Martin Scorsese in 1942 (age 75); model/actor Lauren Hutton in 1943 (age 74); actor/director Danny DeVito in 1974 (age 73); Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels in 1974 (age 73); baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver in 1974 (age 73); basketball Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim in 1944 (age 73); former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 1949 (age 68); actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in 1958 (age 59); model/actor RuPaul in 1960 (age 57); former U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice in 1964 (age 53); actor Daisy Fuentes in 1966 (age 51); singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley in 1966; singer Ronnie DeVoe in 1967 (age 50); actor David Ramsey in 1971 (age 46); actor Rachel McAdams in 1978 (age 39); writer Christopher Paolini in 1983 (age 34); actor Raquel Castro in 1994 (age 23).

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On this date in history:

In 1558, the Elizabethan Age begins with Britain's Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne upon her half-sister, Queen Mary's death.

In 1800, the U.S. Congress convened 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, NBC angered football fans across the United States when it pre-empted the final minute of an Oakland Raiders-New York Jets game to air children's movie Heidi. Viewers jammed the phone lines at telephone companies, the network and local police to vent their frustrations.

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

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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).

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 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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