By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2019. There are 45 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 16, 1914, the newly created Federal Reserve Banks opened in 12 cities.

On this date:

In 1776, British troops captured Fort Washington in New York during the American Revolution.

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

In 1939, mob boss Al Capone, ill with syphilis, was released from prison after serving 7 1/2 years for tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.

In 1960, Academy Award-winning actor Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59.

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 in Cleveland at his second trial of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.

In 1981, actor William Holden was found dead in his apartment in Santa Monica, California; he was 63.

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

In 2001, Investigators found a letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., containing anthrax; it was the second letter bearing the deadly germ known to have been sent to Capitol Hill.

In 2004, President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be his new secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell.

In 1997, China’s most prominent pro-democracy campaigner, Wei Jingsheng (way jeeng-shuhng), arrived in the United States after being released following nearly 18 years of imprisonment in his country.

In 2006, Democrats embraced Nancy Pelosi as the first woman House speaker in history, but then selected Steny Hoyer as majority leader against her wishes.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama, on his first-ever trip to China, gave his hosts a pointed, unexpected nudge to stop censoring Internet access, but the message was not widely heard in China, where the president’s words were blocked online and shown on only one regional television channel. A U.S. government health task force suggested most women wait until age 50 to get mammograms, conflicting with the American Cancer Society’s advice to start at 40. Space shuttle Atlantis blasted off with six astronauts and a full load of spare parts for the International Space Station. Actor Edward Woodward, 79, died in Cornwall, England.

Five years ago: The Islamic State group released a video featuring a masked militant standing over the severed head of Peter Kassig (KAS’-ihg), a former U.S. soldier-turned-aid worker in Syria; President Barack Obama denounced the killing as one of “pure evil.”

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