On this day: November 27
Alfred Nobel establishes the Nobel Prize, Baby Face Nelson dies in a shootout with the FBI, Harvey Milk is assassinated, MTV bans Madonna, and Tiger Woods crashes his SUV, all on this day.
1095: Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont in France. The primary goal of the First Crusade was responding to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for help in repelling invading Turks. However, the prime objective soon became the Christian reconquest of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which was accomplished in July 1099.
1095: Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont in France. The primary goal of the First Crusade was responding to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for help in repelling invading Turks. However, the prime objective soon became the Christian reconquest of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which was accomplished in July 1099.
1701: Inventor and astronomer Anders Celsius, who in 1742 would propose the temperature scale that bears his name, is born in Uppsala, Sweden.
1779: The College of Pennsylvania becomes the University of Pennsylvania. Penn considers itself the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, as well as the first university in the United States with both undergraduate and graduate studies.
1826: English pharmacist John Walker invents the first practical, strike-anywhere, friction match using three-inch splints of wood tipped with potassium chlorate, antimony sulphide and gum arabic. Walker would go on to sell his matches in April 1827, although he refused to patent his creation.
1868: In the Battle of Washita River, United States Army Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on reservation land near present day Cheyenne, Okla. According to a modern account by the United States Army Center of Military History, the battle left 21 U.S. Army men killed and 13 wounded, with perhaps 50 Cheyenne killed and as many wounded.
1874: Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist leader and first president of the state of Israel, is born in the village of Motal, Belarus, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. He's seen here, second from right, with Albert Einstein in 1921.
1895: At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, France, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies. Nobel would die a little more than a year later, on Dec. 10, 1896.
1901: The U.S. Army War College is established at Washington Barracks, now called Fort Lesley J. McNair, in Washington, D.C. The college, which is now based in Carlisle, Pa., caters to high-level military personnel and civilians and prepares them for strategic leadership responsibilities.
1916: Francis "Chick" Hearn, who would go on to become the long-time play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers, is born in Aurora, Ill. Hearn is remembered for inventing phrases such as "slam dunk," "air ball" and "no harm, no foul," and for broadcasting 3,338 consecutive Lakers games from 1965 to 2001.
1924: In New York City, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held. The inflatable balloons the parade is known for today would come along in 1927. The parade, originally known as the Macy's Christmas Parade, is tied for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.
1934: Bank robber Lester Gillis, better known as Baby Face Nelson, dies following a shootout with the FBI in Barrington, Ill., outside of Chicago. Nelson initially survived the shootout, fatally wounding two FBI agents in the process, but died from gunshot wounds at a Wilmette, Ill., safe house later that night.
1940: Actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, who would go on to become one of the most influential martial artists of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, is born at the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco's Chinatown. He is particularly noted for his roles in five feature-length films: "The Big Boss" (1971), "Fist of Fury" (1972), "Way of the Dragon" (1972), "Enter the Dragon" (1973) and "The Game of Death" (1978).
1941: Country singer-songwriter Eddie Rabbitt, who would begin his career by writing such hits as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974, is born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He would later capitalize on his songwriting success by recording his own hits, including "I Love a Rainy Night," "Drivin' My Life Away," "Suspicions" and "Every Which Way but Loose."
1942: Guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who would become best known for songs such as "Purple Haze," "Foxy Lady" and his take on "The Star-Spangled Banner," is born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle, Wash.
1951: Film director Kathryn Bigelow, best known for directing movies such as "Near Dark," "Point Break" and "The Hurt Locker," is born in San Carlos, Calif. In 2009, she would become the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for "The Hurt Locker," which was also nominated for Best Picture.
1953: American writer Eugene O'Neill, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936 and is well known for plays such as "Long Day's Journey into Night," "Anna Christie" and "The Iceman Cometh," dies from a rare form of brain deterioration called cerebellar cortical atrophy at the age of 65 in Boston, Mass.
1953: Actor Curtis Armstrong, best known for playing the character "Booger" in the "Revenge of the Nerds" movies as well as appearing in the movies "Risky Business" and "Ray" and the TV series "Moonlighting," is born in Detroit, Mich.
1955: Science educator, engineer and broadcaster Bill Nye, better known as "The Science Guy" from his Disney/PBS children's science show "Bill Nye the Science Guy," is born in Washington, D.C.
1957: Journalist and attorney Caroline Kennedy, the only living child of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, is born in New York City.
1960: Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings becomes the first NHLer to score 1,000 points in a career. A year later, on Nov. 27, 1961, he would also become the first player to play in 1,000 NHL games. When he retires in 1980, Howe, seen here in 1966, will have racked up 1,850 points in 1,767 games in his career.
1963: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson makes his first address to Congress as president following the assassination of John F. Kennedy five days prior, saying, "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights Bill for which he fought so long."
1964: Actress Robin Givens, best known for her role on the TV sitcom "Head of the Class" and for her tumultuous marriage to boxer Mike Tyson, is born in New York City.
1965: The Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" is released. The song would reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in early 1966.
1967: Capitol Records releases The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album in the United States. The album would be released on Dec. 8, 1967, in the United Kingdom. The soundtrack to the movie of the same name, the album would prove to be a critical and commercial success, reaching No. 1 in the U.S. and earning a Grammy nomination, despite widespread criticism of the movie itself.
1968: Penny Ann Early becomes the first woman to play major professional basketball, participating in one play during an ABA game between the Kentucky Colonels and the Los Angeles Stars. Early had earlier in the year become the first licensed female jockey in the United States and the Colonels' owners signed her as a promotional ploy. Toward the beginning of the game, Early took the ball out of bounds and inbounded it to teammate Bobby Rascoe, who quickly called a timeout as Early left the game to a standing ovation.
1970: Pope Paul VI suffers a slight chest wound during an assassination attempt at Manila International Airport in the Philippines by dagger-wielding Bolivian painter Benjamin Mendoza Y Amor, who was disguised as a priest. The painter, who shouts "death to superstition" before he is wrestled to the ground, would serve a four-year prison sentence for attempted murder.
1970: George Harrison releases "All Things Must Pass," his first solo album since the breakup of The Beatles. The triple album, which included the single "My Sweet Lord," would prove to be a commercial and critical hit, with long stays at No. 1 in both the United States and United Kingdom and selling more than six million copies.
1971: The Soviet space program's Mars 2 orbiter releases a descent module. It malfunctions and crashes, but becomes the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars. Pictured is a model of the Mars 2 lander module at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Russia.
1973: The United States Senate votes 92-3 to confirm House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as vice president of the United States, replacing Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering on Oct. 10, 1973. The House would vote 387-35 to confirm Ford on Dec. 6, 1973, marking the first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been implemented.
1974: MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends George Steinbrenner for two years after the New York Yankees owner pled guilty earlier in the year to making illegal contributions to President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, and to a felony charge of obstruction of justice. However, the suspension would later be commuted to 15 months.
1976: The drama "Network," starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch (pictured) and Robert Duvall, and directed by Sidney Lumet, premieres in New York City. The movie would go on to win four Academy Awards, in the categories of Best Actor (Finch), Best Actress (Dunaway), Best Supporting Actress (Beatrice Straight), and Best Original Screenplay. Finch, who died before the 1977 Academy Awards, would become the only performer to win a posthumous Oscar until Heath Ledger won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2009.
1976: Actor Jaleel White, best known for playing the character Steve Urkel on the 1990s TV sitcom "Family Matters," is born in Pasadena, Calif. White's other credits include voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as other characters for the "Sonic the Hedgehog" animated series, making guest appearances on shows such as "House," "Psych" and "NCIS," and hosting the SyFy Channel game show "Total BlackOut."
1978: In San Francisco, Calif., Mayor George Moscone and openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated in City Hall by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back. Despite his short career in politics, Milk, who was the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States, would become an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community. White was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter and would commit suicide in 1985, a little more than a year after his release from prison.
1980: Dave Williams of the Chicago Bears becomes the first player in NFL history to return a kick for touchdown in overtime, doing so to give the Bears the win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Chad Morton of the New York Jets would become the only other NFL player to do so in a game against the Buffalo Bills in 2002.
1988: Actor John Carradine, one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history, dies of multiple organ failure at the age of 82 in Milan, Italy. The patriarch of the Carradine acting family, four of Carradine's five sons would become actors: David, Robert, Keith and Bruce. David Carradine, who starred in the TV series "Kung Fu," would also see his own daughter, Calista, join Robert's daughter Ever and Keith's son Cade and daughter Martha Plimpton as actors.
1990: MTV bans Madonna's "Justify My Love" video due to its imagery of sadomasochism, voyeurism, and bisexuality. The controversy would turn out to be a publicity and financial coup for the singer, with the single spending two consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in early 1991.
1990: Actor David White, best known for playing Larry Tate on the 1964-72 TV sitcom "Bewitched," dies of a heart attack at the age of 74 in Los Angeles, Calif.
1991: The United Nations Security Council adopts Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
2005: In Amiens, France, Isabelle Dinoire becomes the first person to undergo a partial face transplant after being mauled by a dog earlier in the year. In a 15-hour operation, surgeons use tissues, muscles, arteries and veins from a brain-dead woman to rebuild Dinoire's face.
2007: American physician Robert Cade, who led the research team that formulated Gatorade while working as a professor at the University of Florida in 1965, dies of kidney failure at the age of 80 in Gainesville, Fla.
2007: Washington Redskins free safety Sean Taylor dies at the age of 24 after being shot the day before by intruders at his Miami, Fla., area home. His death would lead to an outpouring of national support and sympathy, especially in the Washington, D.C., area, where Taylor had been a fan favorite, and in the Miami area, where Taylor had starred for the Miami Hurricanes in college. Five suspects were arrested in connection with the burglary and shooting, with one of them pleading guilty and receiving a 29-year prison sentence in May 2008. The four remaining suspects are still awaiting trial.
2009: Golfer Tiger Woods crashes his SUV outside his Florida mansion, sparking widespread attention to reports of marital infidelity. Woods is treated for minor facial lacerations and receives a ticket for careless driving. Following intense media speculation about the accident, Woods would release a statement on his website taking sole responsibility for the accident, calling it a "private matter" and crediting his wife, Elin Nordegren, for helping him from the car. On Dec. 2, following the release by US Weekly of a voicemail message allegedly left by Woods for a mistress, he released another statement in which he admitted "transgressions." Woods and Nordegren would divorce on Aug. 23, 2010.
2010: Film director Irvin Kershner, whose movies included "The Empire Strikes Back," "Never Say Never Again" and "RoboCop 2," dies of lung cancer at the age of 87 in Los Angeles, Calif. He's seen here at far left on the set of "The Empire Strikes Back" with George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan.
