Today in history - Nov. 17

Today is Friday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2006. There are 44 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 17, 1800, Congress held its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.

On this date:

In 1558, Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

In 1889, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Ore., as well as Chicago and San Francisco.

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The Associated Press

Today is Friday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2006. There are 44 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 17, 1800, Congress held its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.

On this date:

In 1558, Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

In 1889, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Ore., as well as Chicago and San Francisco.

In 1917, sculptor August Rodin died in Meudon, France, at age 77.

In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird."

In 1962, Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by President Kennedy.

In 1970, the Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1.

In 1973, President Nixon told Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla.: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."

In 1979, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In 2002, Israeli statesman Abba Eban died near Tel Aviv at age 87.

Ten years ago: A Russian Mars space probe carrying plutonium plunged into the South Pacific Ocean after failing to break out of Earth's orbit following its launch. The World Food Summit concluded a five-day meeting in Rome.

Five years ago: The Taliban confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden's military chief Mohammed Atef in an airstrike three days earlier. Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Afghan president ousted five years earlier by the Taliban, returned to the capital Kabul. Lennox Lewis knocked out Hasim Rahman in the fourth round to get back his WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. Former U.S. Sen. Harrison A. Williams Jr., whose political career was ended by the Abscam bribery scandal, died in Denville, N.J., at age 81.

One year ago: U.S. Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, considered one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats, called for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. A jury in Sarasota, Fla., convicted mechanic Joseph Smith of kidnapping, raping and strangling 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose abduction had been captured by a car-wash security camera.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 68. Movie director Martin Scorsese is 64. Actress Lauren Hutton is 63. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 62. "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels is 62. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver is 62. Movie director Roland Joffe is 61. Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 58. Actor Stephen Root is 55. Actress-producer-director Yolanda King is 51. Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 48. Actor William Moses is 47. Entertainer RuPaul is 46. Actor Dylan Walsh is 43. Actress Sophie Marceau is 40. Actress-model Daisy Fuentes is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 39. Rock musician Ben Wilson (Blues Traveler) is 39. Rhythm-and-blues musician Jeff Allen (Mint Condition) is 38. Actress Leslie Bibb is 33. Actor Brandon Call is 30. Country singer Aaron Lines is 29. Actress Rachel McAdams is 28. Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 26. Actor Justin Cooper is 18. Actress Raquel Castro ("Jersey Girl") is 12.

Thought for Today: "We have so many words for states of the mind, and so few for the states of the body." — Jeanne Moreau, French actress.

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Here Comes the Bride

Marks /&/amp; Spencer is to walk down the aisle into the bridal market. The store showcased one of it's new bridal gowns on the catwalk this week. It will soon be joined by a range of dresses, bridesmaid dresses and formal suits for grooms.

It's the next step in what has been a huge turn around for Britain's high street institution: M/&/amp;S is predicted to make profits of Â£1billion this year, just five years after it struggled to deliver profits of Â£145million five years ago.

So has Marks regained its spark with it's latest collection for spring/summer 2007? You decide.

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What Trent Lott Brings to the Party

The election of the once disgraced politician as the number two Senate Republican may mean that the G.O.P. has no intention of getting along too well with the new party in power.

To some observers, the choice of Trent Lott as the new number two Republican in the Senate may seem like a step backward for a party still reeling from its election drubbing. But in fact the upset victory by the Mississippi Senator, bounced out of his post as the Republican leader of the Senate four years ago after he made comments praising then-Senator Strom Thurmond for his segregationist 1948 presidential campaign, may be the clearest sign yet of how the G.O.P. plans to move forward.

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What Trent Lott Brings to the Party

PERRY BACON JR.

The election of the once disgraced politician as the number two Senate Republican may mean that the G.O.P. has no intention of getting along too well with the new party in power.

To some observers, the choice of Trent Lott as the new number two Republican in the Senate may seem like a step backward for a party still reeling from its election drubbing. But in fact the upset victory by the Mississippi Senator, bounced out of his post as the Republican leader of the Senate four years ago after he made comments praising then-Senator Strom Thurmond for his segregationist 1948 presidential campaign, may be the clearest sign yet of how the G.O.P. plans to move forward.

G.O.P. Senators said they were eager to have Lott back in the leadership, as he's known as a clever back-room dealer and tactician on the Senate floor, which operates through a bizarre, complicated rules that at times outgoing Majority Leader Bill Frist didn't seem to understand. "He's the most effective leader I know," said Arizona's John McCain, who has won Lott's support for his likely presidential bid. Minnesota's Norm Coleman called Lott "the master of the Senate."

And that level of savvy could come in especially handy now that Repubicans must adjust to their minority status. Along with newly elected Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lott could spell problems for incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who stands nine votes short of what he needs to get anything controversial passed. Lott is more conservative and partisan than his opponent, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, which could signal more polarization and less cooperation in the Senate; in other words, the post-election talk of putting partisanship aside and getting the people's business done may be short-lived.

Lott captured the minority whip post by the slimmest of margins, winning 25-24 in the secret ballot over Tennessee Senator and former G.O.P. presidential hopeful Alexander. "I feel exhilarated I have an opportunity to come back," he told reporters. That comeback may have surprised people outside of the Beltway, but it has been carefully plotted for quite a while. After he was replaced by his colleagues as the Senate leader with Frist, it was expected Lott might simply remain in the shadows or even retire. Instead, he got himself a plum post as the Senate Rules Committee, helped the new Senate leaders on key strategy and used his new freedom from leadership to take a few shots at the Bush White House; more than once, he expressed feelings other Senators had but didn't express publicly or as tartly, particularly when he bashed the Administration for picking Harriet Miers as a Supreme Court Nominee.

In fact, Lott is still angry at the White House — and especially Karl Rove — for the way he was so unceremoniously dumped, so he may not be as willing as other Republicans to do the Administration's bidding. That's only one of the risks the choice of Lott for such a prominent position carries. Republicans replaced him as their leader because they worried that his remarks about Thurmond didn't reflect well for a party trying to win minority voters and even moderate white voters by diversifying its ranks and avoiding race-baiting tactics it has used in the past. Considering that the party has been accused of using similar tactics in certain key election races this year, most notably the Harold Ford-Bob Corker Senate contest in Tennessee, Lott's reemergence might not exactly project the image the G.O.P. wants right now.

The move is also surprising since Lott has ascended to the Senate post in the same week that Republicans appointed Mel Martinez, a Senator from Florida, to head the National Republican Committee. Martinez, who is Cuban-American, is expected to help Republicans woo Latin voters. Republicans, however, say they're not worried about Lott's past remarks. ""People understand he has been deeply apologetic," said Maine's Olympia Snowe, a close friend of Lott's. Lott's colleagues have been willing to forgive him for his comments. Now, if he helps them win back the Senate, maybe they'll even forget.

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Today in history - Nov. 16

The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2006. There are 45 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

Two hundred years ago, on Nov. 16, 1806, Moses Cleaveland, the land surveyor for whom the city of Cleveland is named, died in Canterbury, Conn., at age 52.

On this date:

In 1776, British troops captured Fort Washington during the American Revolution.

In 1885, Canadian rebel Louis Riel was executed for high treason.

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.

In 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations.

In 1959, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway.

In 1961, House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn died in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms.

In 1966, Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial of charges he'd murdered his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.

In 1973, Skylab 4, carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission.

In 1973, President Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act.

In 1981, actor William Holden was found dead in his apartment in Santa Monica, Calif.; he was 63.

Ten years ago:
President Clinton spent the first full day of a shortened vacation in Hawaii that preceded a trip to Australia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Five years ago: Investigators found a letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), D-Vt., containing anthrax; it was the second letter bearing the deadly germ known to have been sent to Capitol Hill. A University of Georgia football fan rushing to catch his flight ran past guards and through a passenger exit at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, forcing officials to halt flights; the man, Michael Lasseter, was later sentenced to five weekends or 10 days in jail and 500 hours of community service.

One year ago: Hoping to reverse the deterioration of pension plans, the Senate voted to force companies to make up underfunding and live up to promises made to employees. Vice President
Dick Cheney joined the chorus of Republican criticism of Democrats who contended the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence on
Iraq, an accusation Cheney called "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city." "This Is Your Life" host Ralph Edwards died in West Hollywood, Calif., at age 92.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Clu Gulager is 78. Blues musician Hubert Sumlin is 75. Journalist Elizabeth Drew is 71. Blues musician W.C. Clark is 67. Actor Steve Railsback is 61. Actor David Leisure is 56. Actress Marg Helgenberger is 48. Rock musician Mani is 44. Country singer-musician Keith Burns (Trick Pony) is 43. Tennis player Zina Garrison is 43. Former baseball player Dwight Gooden is 42. Jazz singer Diana Krall is 42. Actor Harry Lennix is 42. Actress Lisa Bonet is 39. Actress Tammy Lauren is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd) is 37. Actress Martha Plimpton is 36. Olympic gold medal figure skater
Oksana Baiul is 29. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal is 29. Pop singer Trevor Penick is 27. Actress Kimberly J. Brown is 22. Actor Noah Gray-Cabey ("My Wife and Kids") is 10.

Thought for Today: "Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations." — Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian political philosopher (1469-1527).

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Today in history - Nov. 16

Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2006. There are 45 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

Two hundred years ago, on Nov. 16, 1806, Moses Cleaveland, the land surveyor for whom the city of Cleveland is named, died in Canterbury, Conn., at age 52.

On this date:

In 1776, British troops captured Fort Washington during the American Revolution.

In 1885, Canadian rebel Louis Riel was executed for high treason.

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.

In 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations.

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