Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

November 26

1986
Iran-Contra Affair: The U.S. Justice Department begins a full-scale investigation of the Reagan administration's weapons shipments to Iran.

1969
Lottery for Selective Service Draftees: Bill establishing the lottery is signed by Pres. Nixon.

1942
Casablanca: The film classic premiers. It starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

1922
King Tut: Archeologist Howard Carter looks into King Tutankhamen's tomb for the first time.

1861
A convention in western Virginia votes to secede from Virginia and form the state of West Virginia.

1832
First U.S. streetcar: The New York and Harlem Railroad's horse-drawn vehicle begins public service. It road on rails laid in the center of the road.

1789
First national Thanksgiving Day (as declared by presidential proclamation): Pres. George Washington declares today as a day of general thanksgiving for the adoption of the constitution. This was also the first national U.S. holiday.

1938
Tina Turner (Annie Mae Bullock), American singer, with husband Ike. Music: Proud Mary.

1938
Rich Little, Canadian impersonator.

1933
Robert Goulet, American singer, actor. One of his TV appearances prompted Elvis Presley to shoot his TV.

1922     d. 2000
Charles Monroe Schulz, American cartoonist, creator of Peanuts (1950).

1912     d. 1994
Eugene Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright. Writings: The Bald Soprano (1950) and The Lesson (1950).

1912     d. 1992
Eric Sevareid, American Emmy-winning broadcast journalist for CBS.

1910     d. 1993
Cyril Cusack, Irish actor. Film: The Day of the Jackal, The Taming of the Shrew, and My Left Foot. He was considered Ireland's finest actor.

1908     d. 1989
Vernon "Lefty" Gomez, American Baseball Hall of Famer. He won 189 games with the N.Y. Yankees, and was the winning pitcher for the first All-Star game (1933).

1895     d. 1971
Bill Wilson (William Griffith Wilson aka Bill W.), American cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous (1935).

1861     d. 1944
Albert Bacon Fall, American senator, first member of a president's cabinet convicted of a crime (1929). While Pres. Harding's Secretary of the Interior, he was convicted of accepting a $100,000 bribe. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $100,000.

1844     d. 1929
Karl Friedrich Benz, German automotive pioneer, built the first car powered by an internal combustion engine.

1832     d. 1919
Mary Edwards Walker, American physician, women's rights leader. She was the first female surgeon in the U.S. Army (1864), and the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor (1865); although it was revoked in 1916 and then reinstated in 1977. In 1897 she established a women's colony called "Adamless Eden."

1607     d. 1638
John Harvard, English scholar. As he was dying he bequeathed his library and half his estate to a new college being formed. It was named Harvard in his honor.

1956     b. 1905
Tommy Dorsey, American bandleader of the Big Band Era, brother of Jimmy.

1954     b. 1868
Wallace Rupert Turnbull, Canadian aviation pioneer, inventor of the variable-pitch propeller (1927).

1952     b. 1865
Sven Hedin, Swedish explorer, scientist. His explorations (1899-1902) provided the first substantial knowledge of Tibet to the rest of the world.

1885     b. 1857
Alfonso XII, King of Spain (1874-85).

1883     b. circa 1790
Sojourner Truth, ex-slave, abolitionist.

1836     b. 1756
John Loudon McAdam, Scottish engineer, creator of asphalt.

399     b. ????
Saint Siricius, Italian religious leader, 38th Pope (384-399).

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