By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Nov. 12, the 317th day of 2020. There are 49 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On Nov. 12, 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

On this date:

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1929, Grace Kelly — the future movie star and Princess of Monaco — was born in Philadelphia.

In 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over Japanese forces.)

In 1975, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36-year term.

In 1977, the city of New Orleans elected its first Black mayor, Ernest ìDutchî Morial (MAWí-ree-al), the winner of a runoff.

In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov (ahn-DROHí-pawf) was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Partyís Central Committee.

In 1987, the American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person had AIDS or was HIV-positive. In 1990, Japanese Emperor Akihito (ah-kee-hee-toh) formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne. Actor Eve Arden died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 82.

In 1994, Olympic track-and-field gold medalist Wilma Rudolph died in Brentwood, Tennessee, at age 54.

In 1996, a Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin (il-YOOí-shin)-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New Yorkís John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

In 2009, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (nih-DAHLí mah-LEEKí hah-SAHNí) was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting rampage. (Hasan was later convicted and sentenced to death; no execution date has been set.)

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama arrived in Japan from South Korea to attend a regional economic summit; it was the fourth and final stop on the presidentís 10-day tour of Asia. The Supreme Court allowed the Pentagon to continue preventing openly gay people from serving in the military while a federal appeals court reviewed the ìdonít ask, donít tellî policy. (The policy was rescinded in 2011.)

Five years ago: President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Florent Groberg, an Army captain who shoved a suicide bomber to the ground and away from his security detail in Afghanistan. (Four people were killed in the attack; Groberg survived with severe injuries.) Twin suicide bombings killed at least 43 people in a southern Beirut suburb that was a stronghold of the militant Shiite Hezbollah group; Islamic State claimed responsibility.