Updated November 20, 2012, 1:28 pm
On Nov. 21, 1964 New York’s Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened.
On Nov. 21, 1904, Coleman Hawkins, the pioneering American jazz saxophonist, was born. Following his death on May 19, 1969, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1789 North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. 1922 Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. 1969 The Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth. 1973 President Richard Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate. 1980 A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas killed 87 people. 1985 Former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (He later pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence.) 1989 The proceedings of Britain’s House of Commons were televised live for the first time. 1991 The U.N. Security Council chose Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt to be secretary-general. 1995 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 5,000 for the first time. 2000 The Florida Supreme Court granted Democrat Al Gore’s request to keep the presidential election recount going. 2001 A 94-year-old Connecticut woman died of inhalation anthrax, the last of five people killed in the anthrax attacks. 2002 NATO invited seven former communist countries to join the alliance: Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria. 2004 The NBA suspended Indiana’s Ron Artest for the rest of the season following a brawl in the stands during a game against the Detroit Pistons. 2005 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke away from the hardline Likud with the intention of forming a new party. 2007 Officials announced the recall of more than a half-million pieces of Chinese-made children’s jewelry contaminated with lead. 2010 Debt-struck Ireland applied for a massive EU-IMF loan to stem the flight of capital from its banks. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Musician Dr. John turns 72 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Journalist-editor Tina Brown turns 59 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
1920 Stan Musial, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 92 1937 Marlo Thomas, Actress (“That Girl”), turns 75 1944 Richard Durbin, U.S. senator, D-Ill., turns 68 1944 Earl Monroe, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 68 1944 Harold Ramis, Writer, actor, turns 68 1945 Goldie Hawn, Actress, turns 67 1950 Livingston Taylor, Singer, turns 62 1952 Lorna Luft, Actress, turns 60 1956 Cherry Jones, Actress, turns 56 1963 Nicollette Sheridan, Actress (“Desperate Housewives”), turns 49 1965 Bjork, Rock singer, actress, turns 47 1966 Troy Aikman, Football Hall of Famer, sportscaster, turns 46 1969 Ken Griffey Jr., Baseball player, turns 43 1971 Michael Strahan, Football player, talk show host, turns 41 1984 Jena Malone, Actress, turns 28 1985 Carly Rae Jepsen, Singer, turns 27
Historic Birthdays
Coleman Hawkins 11/21/1904 – 5/19/1969 American jazz musician.Go to obituary »
83 Francois Voltaire 11/21/1694 – 5/30/1778
French writer67 William Beaumont 11/21/1785 – 4/25/1853
American army surgeon77 Sir Samuel Cunard 11/21/1787 – 4/28/1865
British shipbuilder80 Hetty Green 11/21/1834 – 7/3/1916
American financier81 Sir Harold Nicolson 11/21/1886 – 5/1/1968
English author and diplomat68 Rene Magritte 11/21/1898 – 8/15/1967
Belgian painter69 Eleanor Powell 11/21/1912 – 2/11/1982
American dancer81 Sid Luckman 11/21/1916 – 7/5/1998
American football coach
