TODAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, November  16, 2011 AP Highlight in History:  On Nov. 16, 1864, Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the Civil War.   AP Photo/Library of Congress
On this date in: 1907 Oklahoma became the 46th state. 1933 The United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. 1959 The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway. 1961 House Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, died at age 79. 1966 Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954. 1973 Skylab 4, carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission. 1973 President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law. 1982 An agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players. 1988 Estonia's parliament declared the Baltic republic sovereign. 1995 Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed that she had Parkinson's disease. 2001 Congress passed an aviation security bill mandating that airport screeners be federal employees. 2001 Investigators found a letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., containing anthrax. 2004 President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell. 2006 Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman died at age 94. 2008 Iraq's Cabinet overwhelmingly approved a security pact with the United States calling for American forces to remain in the country until 2012.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actress Martha Plimpton ("Raising Hope") turns 41 years old today. AP Photo/Peter Kramer Name Profession Age Elizabeth Drew Journalist 76 David Leisure Actor 61 Marg Helgenberger Actress ("C.S.I.") 53 Diana Krall Jazz singer 47 Lisa Bonet Actress ("The Cosby Show") 44 Missi Pyle Actress 39 Maggie Gyllenhaal Actress 34 Osi Umenyiora Football player 31 New York Knicks forward-center Amar'e Stoudemire turns 29 years old today.