Today is Thursday, November 12, the 316th day of 2009. There are 49 days left in the year.
324 B.C. _ Origin of Era of Alexander
1859 _ Jules Leotard performs first Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris). He also designed the garment that bears his name
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
1984 _ Space shuttle astronauts snared a satellite first space salvage
1989 _ Brazil holds first free presidential election in 29 years