Happy Birthday, Marty Scorsese! (no, I don't gotta problem with that...)
Today is Friday, November 17, 2017, the 321st day of the year with 44 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 6:53am
- Sunset: 4:57pm
...giving us 10 hours and 4 minutes of daylight. 2% of the waning crescent moon will be visible, setting at 4:58pm - new moon tomorrow!
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 10:22am/11:44pm
- Low: 4:00am/4:50pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Army Day -- Zaire (Democratic Congo)
- Day of National Revival - Azerbaijan
- Students' fight for freedom and democracy (1989) - Czech Republic
- Malabo Fiesta - Equatorial Guinea
- Presidents Day - Marshall Islands
- Prince Charles' Birthday - Fiji
- Student Youth Day - Turkmenistan
It’s also…
- Take A Hike Day
- Homemade Bread Day
- National Baklava Day
- National Unfriend Day
- Petroleum Day
- Substitute Educators Day
- Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, patron of bakers
On this day in…
1558 - Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary Tudor.
1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh went on trial for treason.
1796 - Catherine the Great of Russia died at the age of 67.
1798 - Irish nationalist leader Wolfe Tone committed suicide while in jail awaiting execution.
1800 - The U.S. Congress held its first session in Washington, DC, in the partially completed Capitol building.
1869 - The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.
1880 - The first three British female graduates received their Bachelor of Arts degrees from London University.
1903 - Russia's Social Democrats officially split into two groups - Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
1904 - The first underwater submarine journey was taken, from Southampton, England, to the Isle of Wight.
1913 - The steamship Louise became the first ship to travel through the Panama Canal.
1913 - In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm banned the armed forces from dancing the tango.
1922 - Siberia voted for union with the U.S.S.R.
1962 - Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by U.S. President Kennedy.
1970 - The Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1. The vehicle was released by Luna 17.
1973 - U.S. President Nixon told an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, FL, "people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
1979 - Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
1982 - The Empire State Building was added to the National Register of Historical Places.
1988 - Benazir Bhutto became the first woman leader of an Islamic country. She was elected in the first democratic elections in Pakistan in 11 years.
1990 - A mass grave was discovered by the bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand. The bodies were believed to be those of World War II prisoners of war.
1990 - The Soviet government agreed to change the country's constitution.
1997 - 62 people were killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt. The attackers were killed by police.
1997 - Mario Lemieux was voted into the NHL Hall of Fame.
2010 - Researchers trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms. It was the first time humans had trapped antimatter.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- Nicolas Appert 1749
- Louis XVIII (France) 1755
- Bernard Law Montgomery (Britain) 1887
- Lee Strasberg 1901
- Rock Hudson 1925
- Sir Charles Mackerras 1925
- Bob Mathias 1930
- Gordon Lightfoot 1938 - Singer
- Gene Clark (Byrds) 1941
- Martin Scorsese 1942 - Director
- Danny DeVito 1944 - Actor
- Lauren Hutton 1944 - Actress
- Lorne Michaels 1944 - TV producer ("Saturday Night Live")
- Tom Seaver 1944 - Baseball player
- Elvin Hayes 1945 - Basketball player
- Stephen Root 1951 - Actor ("NewsRadio," "Office Space")
- Jim Babjak (Smithereens) 1957
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio 1958 - Actress
- William Moses 1959
- RuPaul 1960 - Entertainer
- Dylan Walsh 1963
- Daisy Fuentes 1966 - Actress, model
- Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe) 1967
- Jeff Allen (Mint Condition) 1968
- Leslie Bib 1973
- Brandon Call 1976
- Rachel McAdams 1978 - Actress ("The Notebook," "Mean Girls")
- Reggie Wayne 1978 - Football player
- Isaac Hanson 1980 - Musician (Hanson)
- Justin Cooper 1988
