On this day: November 26
Thanksgiving Day becomes an official holiday, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is published, the NHL is formed, "Casablanca" premieres, and the Concorde lands for the last time, all on this day.
1607: John Harvard, a minister whose bequest to the Massachusetts Bay Colony's fledgling New College led to the renaming of the school to Harvard College in his honor, is born in Southwark, England.
1607: John Harvard, a minister whose bequest to the Massachusetts Bay Colony's fledgling New College led to the renaming of the school to Harvard College in his honor, is born in Southwark, England.
1716: The first lion to be exhibited in America goes on display at the house of Capt. Arthur Savage in Boston, Mass.
1789: A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.
1825: At Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., a group of college students form Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.
1842: The University of Notre Dame is founded by Father Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross on land donated by the bishop of Vincennes, Ind. Sorin and eight Holy Cross brothers start the school in an old log chapel on the site with two students.
1853: Bat Masterson, who would become known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. marshal, Army scout, gambler, frontier lawman and journalist in the Old West, is born in Henryville, Canada East, in what is Quebec today.
1863: Thanksgiving Day is held as set by President Abraham Lincoln in a national proclamation on Oct. 3, 1863. The proclamation called for Thanksgiving to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November (since 1941, on the fourth Thursday).
1865: The book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll is published in the United States for the first time.
1883: American abolitionist and women's right activist Sojourner Truth dies at the age of 86 in Battle Creek, Mich. Truth was born into slavery under the birth name Isabella Baumfree but escaped to freedom as an adult with her infant daughter in 1826. A year later, she went to court to recover her son, becoming the first black woman to win such a case against a white man.
1896: The first large indoor football game takes place as the University of Chicago beats the University of Michigan 7-6 at the Chicago Coliseum. The last portion of the game, to decide the Western Conference (later to be known as the Big Ten Conference) championship, was also played under electric lights.
1917: The National Hockey League is formed after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association. The Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs and Toronto Arenas are the NHL's first teams.
1922: Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in more than 3,000 years.
1922: Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, who would go on to create the Peanuts comic strip in 1950, is born in Minneapolis, Minn.
1926: Firearms designer and inventor John Browning, arguably the most important figure in the development of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms, dies of heart failure at the age of 72 in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Browning invented or made significant improvements to single-shot, lever-action and slide-action rifles and shotguns and his telescoping bolt design is now found on nearly every modern semi-automatic pistol, as well as several modern fully automatic weapons.
1933: Actor and singer Robert Goulet, who would launch an award-winning stage and recording career with his Broadway debut in 1960's "Camelot," is born in Lawrence, Mass.
1939: Singer and actress Tina Turner, whose career has spanned more than half a century, earning her widespread recognition and numerous awards, is born under the birth name Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tenn.
1942: In the midst of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders nationwide gasoline rationing, beginning December 1.
1942: The movie "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, premieres at the Hollywood Theater in New York City. The movie would be nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three, including Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Curtiz and Best Adapted Screenplay.
1943: The HMT Rohna, a troop ship carrying U.S. troops, is sunk by a Luftwaffe air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria, killing 1,138 men. The sinking is the largest loss of U.S. troops at sea in a single incident.
1945: Musician John McVie (far right), best known as the bassist for the band Fleetwood Mac, is born in London, England. The band would take its name from a combination of his last name and that of drummer Mick Fleetwood.
1950: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the Korean War.
1956: The game show "The Price Is Right" debuts on television. The show, hosted by Bill Cullen, would run until Sept. 3, 1965, with a new version, hosted by Bob Barker, launching in 1972.
1956: Jazz musician and bandleader Tommy Dorsey, who had a run of 286 Billboard chart hits from the 1930s into the 1950s, dies from choking in his sleep at the age of 51 in Greenwich, Conn. Dorsey's bands had 17 No. 1 hits including "On Treasure Island," "Indian Summer" and "Dolores." He also had two more No. 1 hits in 1935 with his brother Jimmy Dorsey as the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, "Lullaby of Broadway" and "Chasing Shadows." His biggest hit was "I'll Never Smile Again," featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, which was No. 1 for 12 weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1940.
1958: Maurice "The Rocket" Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scores his 600th NHL career goal.
1965: In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1, on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.
1968: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
1968: The British supergroup Cream gives its last concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
1976: The Sex Pistols release their debut single "Anarchy In The U.K." The song, featured on the band's only album, "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols," would peak at No. 38 on the U.K. singles chart.
1981: Singer Natasha Bedingfield, who sold 2.3 million copies of her 2004 Grammy-nominated debut album "Unwritten," is born in Sussex, England.
1986: U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints a commission headed by former U.S. Sen. John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff after the Iran-Contra affair.
1988: The U.S. denies an entry visa to Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat, who was seeking permission to travel to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly. The assembly would later vote to move the meeting to Geneva, Switzerland.
2000: Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certifies Republican George W. Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in the state's presidential balloting by 537 votes.
2003: The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.
2004: A male Po'ouli (black-faced honeycreeper) dies of avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii, before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct. The bird remains listed as "critically endangered" by BirdLife International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature until additional surveys can confirm its extinction.
2008: A string of 11 coordinated shooting and bombing terrorist attacks across Mumbai, India, begin. The attacks, conducted by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant organization, would last until Nov. 29, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.
2011: NBA team owners and players reach a tentative agreement to end the league's lockout, then at 149 days. The tentative agreement cleared the way for owners to allow players to have voluntary workouts at team sites starting Dec. 1. After the deal was ratified on Dec. 8, training camps, trades and free agency would begin the next day, with the shortened 66-game NBA season beginning on Christmas Day.
2011: The robotic Mars Science Laboratory, the largest rover ever sent to Mars, is launched by NASA. The rover, Curiosity, would land in Gale Crater on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, with a goal of finding evidence of past or present life on the planet.
