November 13th

Today's Highlight in History:
On November 13th, 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to a friend in which he said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

On this date:
In 1775, during the American Revolution, US forces captured Montreal.

In 1927, the Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.

In 1940, the Walt Disney animated movie "Fantasia" had its world premiere in New York.

In 1942, the minimum draft age was lowered from 21 to 18.

In 1956, the Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.

In 1969, speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accused network television news departments of bias and distortion, and urged viewers to lodge complaints.

In 1974, Karen Silkwood, a technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, died in a car crash.

In 1977, the comic strip "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp appeared in newspapers for the last time.

In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington.

In 1985, some 23,000 residents of Armero, Colombia, died when a gigantic mudslide buried the city.

Ten years ago: Secretary of State James A. Baker the Third told reporters in Hamilton, Bermuda, the Persian Gulf crisis threatened world recession and the loss of American jobs. Members of Congress demanded a larger role in US Gulf policy following President Bush's decision to send more US troops to the region.

Five years ago: Seven people, including five Americans, were killed when a bomb exploded at a military training facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The government braced for imminent partial shutdown as President Clinton vetoed one budget bill and prepared to reject another in a fiscal standoff with Republicans.

One year ago: The Navy recovered the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir Flight 990, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean October 31st with the loss of all 217 people aboard. Lennox Lewis became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, winning a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas. Donald Mills, last surviving member of the singing Mills Brothers, died in Los Angeles at age 84.

"As you live, believe in life. Always human beings will live and profess to greater, broader and fuller life. The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the great end comes slowly, because time is long."

-- W.E.B. Du Bois, American author and reformer (1868-1963).