On This Day in History - November 9th - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Nov. 9, the 313th day of 2019 with 52 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Russian author Ivan Turgenev in 1818; actor Marie Dressler in 1868; actor Hedy Lamarr in 1914; Sargent Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps, in 1915; former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew in 1918; actor Dorothy Dandridge in 1922; astronomer Carl Sagan in 1934; baseball Hall of Fame member Whitey Herzog in 1931 (age 88); baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Gibson in 1935 (age 84); folk singer Mary Travers in 1936; Rock and Roll Hall of fame member Tom Fogerty in 1941; actor Robert David Hall in 1947 (age 72); bodybuilder/actor Lou Ferrigno in 1951 (age 68); musician Susan Tedeschi in 1970 (age 49); wrestler Chris Jericho, born Christopher Irvine, in 1970 (age 49); actor Eric Dane in 1972 (age 47); singer Nick Lachey in 1973 (age 46); rapper Sisqo, born Mark Andrews, in 1978 (age 41); actor Cory Hardrict in 1979 (age 40); television personality Vanessa Lachey in 1980 (age 39); rapper French Montana, born Karim Kharbouch, in 1984 (age 35); country musician Chris Lane in 1984 (age 35); actor Analeigh Tipton in 1988 (age 31); actor Nikki Blonsky in 1988 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1872, a fire which began in the basement of a warehouse in downtown Boston raged for 12 hours, consuming 65 acres and leaving 776 buildings in ruins. The Great Boston Fire killed at least 30 people.

In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Panama to observe the progress being made on the construction of the canal. He was the first sitting president of the United States to embark on an official trip outside the country.

In 1918, Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated as World War I drew to a close.

In 1938, mobs of Germans attacked Jewish businesses and homes throughout Germany in what became known as Kristallnacht, or Crystal Night.

In 1953, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Major League Baseball isn't within the scope of federal antitrust laws.

In 1965, a massive power failure left more than 30 million people in the dark in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.

In 1985, Gary Kasparov, 22, became the youngest world chess champion, ending the 10-year reign of Anatoly Karpov in Moscow.

In 1989, East Germany announced free passage for its citizens through border checkpoints. The announcement rendered the Berlin Wall, the most reviled symbol of the Cold War, virtually irrelevant 28 years after its construction.

In 1995, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat visited Israel for the first time to offer personal condolences to the wife of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

In 2007, Germany's Bundestag passes a heavily criticized data retention bill, mandating the collection of its citizen's telecom data for six months without probable cause.

In 2008, three men were executed by firing squad for 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, mostly tourists.

In 2011, a burgeoning child sexual-abuse scandal at Penn State University involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky claimed its legendary football coach when the school's board of trustees fired Joe Paterno.

In 2012, CIA Director David Petraeus resigned, citing an extramarital affair.

In 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended that Russia be banned from international sporting events due to systematic doping by athletes. Of the 389 athletes submitted for competition in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 111 were prohibited in stringent doping tests required of all Russian athletes.

In 2018, a series of car bombs detonated in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing more than 50 people.

A thought for the day: former Vice President Hubert Humphrey said in 1964, "Freedom is the most contagious virus known to man."