November 12th

Today's Highlight in History:
On November 12th, 1942, the World War Two naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Americans ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)

On this date:
In 1920, baseball got its first "czar" as Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected commissioner of the American and National Leagues.

In 1921, representatives of nine nations gathered for the start of the Washington Conference for Limitation of Armaments.

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1929, Grace Kelly -- the future movie star and Princess of Monaco -- was born in Philadelphia.

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War Two Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1954, Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.

In 1975, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36-and-a-half-year term.

In 1980, the US space probe "Voyager One" came within 77-thousand miles of Saturn.

In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.

In 1993, former Nixon White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 67.

Ten years ago: Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne. Actress Eve Arden died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 82.

Five years ago: Israel's ruling Labor Party unanimously approved Shimon Peres as its new leader, replacing slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The space shuttle "Atlantis" blasted off on a mission to dock with the Russian space station "Mir."

One year ago: President Clinton signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products. An earthquake struck western Turkey, killing at least 834 people.

"Money is always there but the pockets change; it is not in the same pockets after a change, and that is all there is to say about money."

-- Gertrude Stein, American author (1874-1946).