Glancing Backward 11/25

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 25, the 329th day of 2009. There are 36 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 25, 1783, the British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States during the Revolutionary War.

Glancing Backward Locally:

50 years ago - 1959

"The voice" of the Commonwealth Telephone Company, Mrs. Grace Persun of North Towanda, is celebrating her birthday today.

Three nurses joined the Robert Packer Hospital staff: Mrs. Marilyn Gemmill of Randolph, N.Y., Miss Betty Steinbacher of Towanda, and Mrs. Donna Pietro of Sayre.

The Towanda Recreation Program for adults in folk and square dancing will be competing in a dance contest after their application was accepted by the Farm Show Association.

Elsewhere on this date:

In 1758, during the French and Indian War, the British captured Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh.

In 1881, Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli near Bergamo, Italy.

In 1908, the first issue of The Christian Science Monitor was published.

In 1947, movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the "Hollywood Ten" who'd been cited for contempt of Congress the day before.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a slight stroke.

In 1963, the body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1973, Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted in a bloodless military coup.

In 1984, William Schroeder of Jasper, Ind., became the second man to receive a Jarvik-7 artificial heart, at Humana Hospital Audubon in Kentucky. (He lived 620 days on the device.)

In 1986, the Iran-Contra affair erupted as President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels.

In 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its chief.

Ten years ago: Five-year-old Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida. (Elian was one of three survivors from a boat carrying 14 Cubans that had sunk two days earlier in the Atlantic Ocean; his rescue set off an international custody battle between relatives in Miami and Elian's father that eventually resulted in Elian being returned to Cuba.)

Five years ago: Leading Sunni Muslim politicians in Iraq urged postponement of the Jan. 30, 2005 national elections. (However, the elections ended up taking place as scheduled.) A man with a knife broke into a high school dormitory in Ruzhou, China, killing nine boys as they slept. (Chinese authorities later executed a 21-year-old man who confessed to the attack.)

One year ago: President-elect Barack Obama said economic recovery efforts would trump deficit concerns after he took office in January; at the same time, Obama pledged a "page-by-page, line-by-line" budget review to root out unneeded spending. Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to a Virginia dogfighting charge, receiving a three-year suspended sentence. Flights in and out of Bangkok, Thailand, were grounded when anti-government demonstrators occupied the international airport. Playwright William Gibson ("The Miracle Worker") died in Stockbridge, Mass., at age 94. TV personality Brooke Burke and professional partner Derek Hough won "Dancing with the Stars."

Today's Birthdays: Actress Noel Neill is 89. Playwright Murray Schisgal is 83. Actress Kathryn Crosby is 76. Actor Matt Clark is 73. Playwright Shelagh Delaney is 70. Singer Percy Sledge is 69. NFL Hall of Fame coach and NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs is 69. Author, actor and game show host Ben Stein is 65. Singer Bob Lind is 65. Actor John Larroquette is 62. Actor Tracey Walter is 62. Movie director Jonathan Kaplan is 62. Author Charlaine Harris is 58. Retired baseball All-Star Bucky Dent is 58. Singer Amy Grant is 49. Rock musician Eric Grossman (K's Choice) is 45.

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