Today is Thursday, Nov. 26, the 331st day of 2020 with 35 to follow.
This is Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include German composer Johannes Bach in 1604; English clergyman/college benefactor John Harvard in 1607; surgeon/women's rights leader Mary Walker Edwards in 1832; 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; cartoonist Charles Schulz in 1922; Argentine pacifist/Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel in 1931 (age 89); impressionist Rich Little in 1938 (age 82); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Tina Turner in 1939 (age 81); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member John McVie in 1945 (age 75); football Hall of Fame member Art Shell in 1946 (age 74); author James Dashner in 1972 (age 48); actor Peter Facinelli in 1973 (age 47); DJ Khaled in 1975 (age 45); singer Natasha Bedingfield in 1981 (age 39); actor Robert Raco in 1989 (age 31); singer/actor Rita Ora in 1990 (age 30); actor Luka Sabbat in 1997 (age 23).
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 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 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull submitted U.S. proposals to Japanese peace envoys in Washington.
In 1948, the first commercial Polaroid camera was sold. The inventor of the device and founder of Polaroid Corp., Edwin H. Land, obtained some 533 patents before his death in 1991.
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 2001, a three-day Afghanistan prison revolt claimed the life of a CIA operative, Johnny Michael Spann, 32, a former U.S. Marine captain. His was the first U.S. combat death in the war.
In 2005, a 67-year-old textile tycoon in India, Vijaypat Singhania, set the world record for the highest flight in a hot-air balloon, reaching 69,852 feet over Mumbai.
In 2008, militants launched a series of coordinated attacks on Mumbai landmarks and commercial hubs popular with foreign tourists. More than 170 people died and about 300 were injured in the three-day siege.
In 2011, the United States launched an Atlas V rocket to look for life on Mars. Aboard was the rover Curiosity, which would explore the planet, searching for signs of life.
In 2012, rebels in Syria said airstrikes and other violence in the war-torn country killed at least 117 people, including children on a playground.
In 2018, lawmakers in Kiev voted to impose martial law in the border region after the Russian coast guard seized three Ukrainian ships.
A thought for the day: "When men reach their 60s and retire, they go to pieces. Women just go right on cooking." -- American writer Gail Sheehy
