MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Today is Monday, November 9, the 313th day of 2009. There are 52 days left in the year.

1799 _ Napoleon becomes dictator (first consul) of France

1858 _ First performance of NY Symphony Orchestra

1904 _ First airplane flight to last more than five minutes

1918 _ Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates after German defeat in WW I

1927 _ Giant Panda discovered, China

1953 _ Cambodia (now Kampuchea) gains independence within French Union

1963 _ 450 die in a coal-dust explosion and 160 die in train crash (Japan)

1976 _ U.N. General Assembly condemns apartheid in South Africa

1984 _ Vietnam Veterans Memorial (``Three Servicemen") completed

1989 _ East Berlin opens its borders