Today is Friday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2021. There are 49 days left in the year.
Today in history
On Nov. 12, 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over Japanese forces.)
Also 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 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., giving the green light to traffic.
In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.
In 1969, news of the My Lai Massacre carried out by U.S. forces in South Vietnam in March 1968 was broken by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.
In 1975, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36-year term.
Fun fact
Leaving milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve became popular in the United States during the Great Depression.
Fitness factoids
1. According to a Northwestern University psychology professor, the human brain has the capacity to store as much as 2.5 petabytes of data. That’s the equivalent of three million hours of TV shows.
2. A study found that while children between the ages of 5 and 7 remembered 60 percent or more of their early life events, 8- and 9-year-olds recalled less than 40 percent of the same memories.
bestlifeonline.com
Trending words
“Truncate:” verb; (TRUNG-kayt). Definition: To shorten by or as if by cutting off.
— Merriam-Webster
Today’s birthdays
Singer Brian Hyland is 78. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 78. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 77. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 77. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 76. Rock musician Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 74. Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 71. Actor Megan Mullally is 63. Actor Vincent Irizarry is 62. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 60. Rock musician David Ellefson is 57. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 53. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 51. Actor Rebecca Wisocky is 50. Actor Radha Mitchell is 48. Actor Lourdes Benedicto is 47. Actor Tamala Jones is 47. Actor Angela Watson is 47. Singer Tevin Campbell is 45. Actor Ashley Williams is 43. Actor Cote de Pablo is 42. Actor Ryan Gosling is 41. Actor Anne Hathaway is 39. Pop singer Omarion is 37. NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook is 33. Actor Macey Cruthird is 29.
The Edge is compiled by Dallas Marshall. She can be contacted at dmarshall@lmtribune.com.
