Today in History: November 17, Suez Canal opens

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2022. There are 44 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 17, 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

On this date:

In 1800, Congress held its first session in the partially completed U.S. Capitol building.

In 1917, French sculptor Auguste Rodin (roh-DAN’) died at age 77.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman, in an address to a special session of Congress, called for emergency aid to Austria, Italy and France. (The aid was approved the following month.)

In 1969, the first round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union opened in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon told Associated Press managing editors in Orlando, Florida: “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 (ah-yah-TOH’-lah hoh-MAY’-nee) ordered the release of 13 Black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In 1989, the Walt Disney animated feature “The Little Mermaid” opened in wide release.

In 1997, 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed when militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut (haht-shehp-SOOT’) in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers, who also hacked their victims, were killed by police.

In 2002, Abba Eban (AH’-bah EE’-ban), the statesman who helped persuade the world to approve creation of Israel and dominated Israeli diplomacy for decades, died near Tel Aviv; he was 87.

In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.

In 2018, Argentina’s navy announced that searchers had found a submarine that disappeared a year earlier with 44 crewmen aboard; the government said it would be unable to recover the vessel.

In 2020, President Donald Trump fired the nation’s top election security official, Christopher Krebs, who had refuted Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and vouched for the integrity of the vote. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said the U.S. would reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan to about 2,500 in each country by mid-January, accelerating troop withdrawals during Trump’s final days in office. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California easily won reelection as House Republican leader.

Ten years ago: Israel destroyed the headquarters of Hamas’ prime minister and blasted a sprawling network of smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, broadening a blistering four-day-old offensive against the Islamic militant group. A speeding train crashed into a bus carrying Egyptian children to their kindergarten, killing 48 children and three adults.

Five years ago: Sen. Al Franken apologized to the woman who had accused him of forcibly kissing her and groping her during a 2006 USO tour; the Minnesota Democrat said he remembered the encounter differently. The Rev. Jesse Jackson disclosed that he had been receiving outpatient care for two years for Parkinson’s disease.

One year ago: The House voted to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona for posting an animated video that depicted him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword. Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses. Jacob Chansley, the spear-carrying Jan. 6 rioter whose horned fur hat, bare chest and face paint made him one of the more recognizable figures in the assault on the Capitol, was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Rapper Young Dolph, widely admired in the hip-hop community for his authenticity and fierce independence, was shot and killed inside a cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. (Two men have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.) The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a request by Steven Avery to review his conviction for a 2005 killing; the case was the focus of a popular Netflix series “Making a Murderer.”

Today’s Birthdays: Sen. James Inhofe (IHN’-hahf), R-Okla., is 88. Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 84. Singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio (GOW’-dee-oh) is 81. Movie director Martin Scorsese (skor-SEH’-see) is 80. Actor Lauren Hutton is 79. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 78. “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 78. Movie director Roland Joffe is 77. Former Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 74. Former House Speaker John Boehner (BAY’-nur) is 73. Actor Stephen Root is 71. Rock musician Jim Babjak (The Smithereens) is 65. Actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 64. Actor William Moses is 63. Entertainer RuPaul is 62. Actor Dylan Walsh is 59. Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice is 58. Actor Sophie Marceau (mahr-SOH’) is 56. Actor-model Daisy Fuentes is 56. Blues singer/musician Tab Benoit (behn-WAH’) is 55. R&B singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 55. Rock musician Ben Wilson (Blues Traveler) is 55. Actor David Ramsey is 51. Actor Leonard Roberts is 50. Actor Leslie Bibb is 49. Actor Brandon Call is 46. Country singer Aaron Lines is 45. Actor Rachel McAdams is 44. Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 42. Former MLB outfielder Ryan Braun is 39. Musician Reid Perry (The Band Perry) is 34. Actor Raquel Castro is 28.

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