Today is Saturday, Nov. 16, the 321st day of 2024. There are 45 days left in the year.
Today in history: On Nov. 16, 2001, the first film in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (U.S.
title: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”) debuted in theaters around the world. Also on this date: In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union. In 1914, the newly created Federal Reserve Banks opened in 12 cities.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of an 800-mile oil pipeline from the Alaska North Slope to the port city of Valdez. In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players. In 1988, Benazir Bhutto was voted prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman to be elected to lead a Muslim-majority country.
In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador. In 2001, investigators found a letter addressed to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont containing anthrax; it was the second letter bearing the deadly germ known to have been sent to Capitol Hill.
In 2006, after midterm elections that saw Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi was nominated by the Democratic caucus to become speaker of the House.
(Pelosi would officially become speaker by House vote the.