â–º Today’s birthdays: Broadway composer Jerry Bock (“Fiorello!’’) is 81. Former secretary of labor William E. Brock is 79. Actor Franco Nero is 68. Actress Susan Anspach is 67. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is 65. Actor Steve Landesberg is 64. Actor-comedy writer Bruce Vilanch is 62. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is 59. Singer Bruce Hornsby is 55. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is 54. Actor Maxwell Caulfield is 50. Actor John Henton is 49. TV personality Robin Roberts (“Good Morning America’’) is 49. Rock singer-musician Ken Block (Sister Hazel) is 43. Actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield is 42. Actor Oded Fehr is 39. Rapper-actor Kurupt (Tha Dogg Pound) is 37. Actress Kelly Brook is 30. Actor Lucas Grabeel is 25. Actress-singer Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana’’) is 17.
â–º In 1804, the 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, was born in Hillsborough, N.H.
â–º In 1889, the first jukebox made its debut in San Francisco, at the Palais Royale Saloon.
â–º In 1903, singer Enrico Caruso made his US debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, in Verdi’s “Rigoletto.’’
â–º In 1936, Life, the photojournalism magazine created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.
â–º In 1943, during World War II, US forces seized control of Tarawa and Makin atolls from the Japanese.
â–º In 1959, the musical “Fiorello!’’ starring Tom Bosley as legendary New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, opened on Broadway.
â–º In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed Nov. 25 a national day of mourning after the assassination of President Kennedy.
â–º In 1971, the People’s Republic of China was seated in the UN Security Council.
â–º In 1980, some 2,600 people were killed by earthquakes that devastated southern Italy.
â–º In 1996, a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crashed off the Comoros Islands, killing about two-thirds of the 175 people on board.
â–º In 2004, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner of Ukraine’s disputed presidential election and took a symbolic oath of office. (He won a court-ordered revote in December 2004.)
â–º In 2008, the government unveiled a bold plan to rescue Citigroup, injecting a fresh $20 billion into the troubled firm as well as guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets.
