Today's Highlight in History:
On November 16th, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the Civil War.

On this date:
In 1776, British troops captured Fort Washington during the American Revolution.

In 1885, Canadian rebel Louis Riel was executed for high treason（叛国罪）.

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.

In 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations.

In 1959, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway.

In 1961, House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn died in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms.

In 1966, Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted（释放） in his second trial of charges he'd murdered his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.

In 1973, "Skylab Three," carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an 84-day mission.

In 1973, President Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.

In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.

Ten years ago: Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev told an angry Soviet legislature he would fire government and military officials blocking his reform plans. Four of the so-called "Keating Five" went before the Senate Ethics Committee to deny any wrongdoing in helping failed savings-and-loan owner Charles H. Keating Junior.

Five years ago: Refusing to yield（让步，迁就）, President Clinton threatened anew to veto（否决） the latest Republican offer to end a three-day partial government shutdown; Democrats savaged House Speaker Newt Gingrich for claiming Clinton had snubbed（冷落，不理睬） him recently aboard Air Force One. Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed she has Parkinson's disease.

One year ago: Nathaniel Abraham, at 13 one of the youngest murder defendants in US history, was convicted in Pontiac, Michigan, of second-degree murder for shooting a stranger outside a convenience store（便利店） with a rifle when he was eleven. (Nathaniel was sentenced to juvenile（青少年） detention, with a deferred（延期的） decision on whether he will serve adult prison time.)