Today in History for Nov. 19, 2012

Today is Monday, Nov. 19, the 324th day of 2012. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

On this date:

In 1600, King Charles I of England was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.

In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay’s Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.

In 1831, the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was born in Orange Township, Ohio.

In 1887, American poet Emma Lazarus, who’d written “The New Colossus” to help raise money for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal, died in New York at age 38.

In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55 in favor, 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.

In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.

In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.

In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon.

In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

In 1990, the pop duo Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy Award because other singers had lent their voices to the “Girl You Know It’s True” album.

In 1997, Iowa seamstress Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to septuplets, four boys and three girls. The space shuttle Columbia zoomed into orbit on a two-week science mission.

Ten years ago: An oil tanker carrying 20 million gallons of fuel oil broke in two and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off northwest Spain. U.N. weapons inspectors wrapped up a two-day visit to Iraq. The Senate voted 90-9 to approve creation of the Department of Homeland Security. In a moment that drew criticism, singer Michael Jackson briefly held his youngest child, Prince Michael II, over a fourth-floor balcony rail at a Berlin hotel in front of dozens of fans waiting below. (Jackson later said he’d made a “terrible mistake.”)

Five years ago: In Pakistan, a Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term – solely as a civilian president. The FBI reported hate crime incidents had risen nearly 8 percent in 2006. President George W. Bush announced that Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser, was stepping down. Milo Radulovich, the Air Force Reserve lieutenant championed by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow when the military threatened to decommission him during the anti-communist crackdown of the 1950s, died in Vallejo at age 81. Actor Dick Wilson, who played the fussy, mustachioed grocer who told customers, “Please, don’t squeeze the Charmin,” died in Woodland Hills at age 91.

One year ago: Moammar Gadhafi’s former heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, was captured by revolutionary fighters in the southern desert just over a month after his father was killed, setting off joyous celebrations across Libya. British-born Canadian actor John Neville, who’d appeared in the TV series “The X-Files,” died in Toronto at age 86.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Alan Young is 93. Talk show host Larry King is 79. Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch is 77. Talk show host Dick Cavett is 76. Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 74. Singer Pete Moore (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles) is 73. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is 73. TV journalist Garrick Utley is 73. Actor Dan Haggerty is 71. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 71. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 70. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 63. Actor Robert Beltran is 59. Actress Kathleen Quinlan is 58. Actress Glynnis O’Connor is 57. Broadcast journalist Ann Curry is 56. Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins is 56. Actress Allison Janney is 53. Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 52. Actress Meg Ryan is 51. Actress-director Jodie Foster is 50. Actress Terry Farrell is 49. TV chef Rocco DiSpirito is 46. Actor Jason Scott Lee is 46. Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 46. Actress Erika Alexander is 43. Rock musician Travis McNabb is 43. Singer Tony Rich is 41. Country singer Jason Albert (Heartland) is 39. Country singer Billy Currington is 39. Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 39. Country musician Chad Jeffers is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lil’ Mo is 35. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug is 35. Actor Reid Scott is 35. Rapper Tyga is 23.

Thought for Today: “The facts are always less than what really happened.” — Nadine Gordimer, South African Nobel Prize-winning author.