Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 30, 2013, actor Paul Walker star of the “Fast & Furious” movie series, died with his friend, Roger W. Rodas, who was at the wheel of a Porsche sports car that crashed and burned north of Los Angeles. Walker was 40.
On this date:
In 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris for ending the Revolutionary War; the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783.
In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.
In 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, England.
In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.
In 1982, the motion picture “Gandhi,” starring Ben Kingsley as the Indian nationalist leader, had its world premiere in New Delhi.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.
In 2000, Al Gore’s lawyers battled for his political survival in the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts; meanwhile, GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee moved to award the presidency to George W. Bush in case the courts did not by appointing their own slate of electors.
In 2004, “Jeopardy!” fans saw Ken Jennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent Nancy Zerg.
In 2010, the Obama administration announced that all 197 airlines that flew to the U.S. had begun collecting names, genders and birth dates of passengers so the government could check them against terror watch lists before they boarded flights.
In 2011, an Arizona jury sentenced convicted “Baseline Killer” Mark Goudeau (goo-DOH’) to death for killing nine people in the Phoenix area. (He remains on death row.)
In 2012, Israel approved the construction of 3,000 homes in Jewish settlements on occupied lands, drawing swift condemnation from the Palestinians a day after their successful bid for recognition by the United Nations.
In 2017, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on veteran Democratic congressman John Conyers to resign in the face of multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. (Conyers resigned five days later.)
In 2018, former President George H.W. Bush, a World War II hero who rose through the political ranks to the nation’s highest office, died at his Houston home at the age of 94; his wife of more than 70 years, Barbara Bush, had died in April.
In 2020, two battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified their presidential election tallies in favor of Joe Biden, even as President Donald Trump’s legal team continued to dispute the results.
In 2021, Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old sophom*ore, opened fire at a Michigan high school, killing four students and wounding seven other people.
In 2022, House Democrats elected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to be the first Black American to head a major political party in Congress as long-serving Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team stepped aside.
