This Day in History
In Alaska
• In 1898, the weekly Douglas Island News was established in Douglas and operated there until 1921.
• In 1924, the Northern Commercial Co. in Fairbanks dropped the price of gasoline four cents to 40 per gallon.
• In 1939, the first (and only) annual Gold Bowl football game was played in Juneau.
• In 1980, a roaming dog killed three caribou calves at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The caribou had been the subject of nutrition and metabolism studies.
In the nation
• In 1765, Frederick County, Md., repudiated the British Stamp Act.
• In 1804, the 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, was born in Hillsboro, N.H.
• In 1903, singer Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in "Rigoletto."
• In 1936, Life, the magazine created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.
• In 1945, most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ended.
• In 1959, the musical "Fiorello!," with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, opened on Broadway.
• In 1963, President Johnson proclaimed Nov. 25 a day of national mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy.
• In 1993, President Clinton signed legislation lifting remaining U.S. sanctions against South Africa, and announced an initiative to spur investment in South Africa's black private sector.
• In 1998, Whitewater figure Susan McDougal was acquitted in Santa Monica, Calif., of embezzling from conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife - a case McDougal said had been trumped up to pressure her to testify against President Clinton.