WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Today is Wednesday, November 12, the 317th day of 2008. There are 49 days left in the year.

324 B.C. _ Origin of Era of Alexander

1910 _ First Movie stunt: man jumps into Hudson river from a burning balloon

1918 _ Emperor Karl of Austria-Hungary abdicates, Austria becomes a republic

1927 _ Trotsky expelled from Soviet Communist Party; Stalin becomes undisputed dictator

1933 _ First known photo of Loch Ness monster (or whatever) is taken

1933 _ Nazis receive 92 percent of vote in Germany

1948 _ Japanese premier Hideki Tojo sentenced to death by war crimes tribunal

1956 _ Largest observed iceberg, 208 by 60 miles, first sighted

1979 _ U.S. halts Iranian oil imports and freezes Iranian assets

1989 _ Brazil holds first free presidential election in 29 years