TODAY IN HISTORY

Friday, November  30, 2012 AP Highlight in History:  On Nov. 30, 1874, British statesman Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1782 The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War. 1804 Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase went on trial, accused of political bias. (He was acquitted by the Senate.) 1835 Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Mo. 1929 Producer and "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y. 1962 U Thant of Burma was elected secretary-general of the United Nations, succeeding the late Dag Hammarskjold. 1966 The former British colony of Barbados became independent. 1979 The album "The Wall" by Pink Floyd was released. 1982 Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the best-selling album of all time, was released by Epic Records. 1993 President Bill Clinton signed into law the Brady bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers. AP Photo Marcy Nighswander 1993 Authorities in California arrested Richard Allen Davis, who confessed to abducting and killing 12 year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma. 1995 President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Northern Ireland. 1999 The opening of a 135-nation trade gathering in Seattle was disrupted by at least 40,000 demonstrators, some of whom clashed with police. AP Photo/Peter Dejong 2004 Ken Jennings' streak of 74 wins on the TV game show "Jeopardy!" came to an end. 2010 Pentagon leaders called for scrapping the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" ban after releasing a survey about the prospect of openly gay troops.		Video HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS DAY IN HISTORY Today's Birthdays: Actress Kaley Cuoco ("The Big Bang Theory") turns 27 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Name Profession Age Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Actor 94 Robert Guillaume Actor ("Benson") 85 G. Gordon Liddy Radio talk show host 82 Ridley Scott Director ("Gladiator," "Black Hawk Down") 75 Terrence Malick Writer, director 69 David Mamet Playwright 65 Mandy Patinkin Actor, singer 60 Lawrence Summers Former Treasury secretary, Harvard president 58 Richard Burr U.S. senator, R-N.C. 57 Billy Idol Rock singer 57 Colin Mochrie Comedian ("Who's Line Is It Anyway?") 55 Margaret Spellings Former secretary of education 55 Bo Jackson Pro athlete 50 Sandra Oh Actress ("Grey's Anatomy") 42 Ivan Rodriguez Baseball player 41 Mindy McCready Country singer 37 Clay Aiken Singer ("American Idol") 34 Shane Victorino Baseball player 32 Elisha Cuthbert Actress ("24") 30 Actor-director Ben Stiller turns 47 years old today. AP Photo/Joel Ryan