Today's Highlight in History:
On November 12th, 1942, the World War Two naval¹ Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Americans ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)

On this date:
In 1920, baseball got its first "czar（沙皇，独裁者）" as Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected commissioner² of the American and National Leagues.

In 1921, representatives of nine nations gathered for the start of the Washington Conference for Limitation of Armaments.

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet³ Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled（驱逐，开除） from the Communist Party.

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

In 1948, former Japanese premier⁴（总理，首相） Hideki Tojo and several other World War Two Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal（法院，法庭）.

In 1954, Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.

In 1975, Supreme⁵ Court Justice William O. Douglas retired⁶ because of failing health, ending a record 36-and-a-half-year term.

In 1980, the US space probe "Voyager One" came within 77-thousand miles of Saturn⁷.

In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.

In 1993, former Nixon White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 67.

Ten years ago: Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum⁸ Throne. Actress Eve Arden died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 82.

Five years ago: Israel's ruling Labor⁹ Party unanimously approved Shimon Peres as its new leader, replacing slain¹⁰ Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The space shuttle "Atlantis" blasted off on a mission to dock（停靠） with the Russian space station "Mir."

One year ago: President Clinton signed a sweeping¹¹ measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products. An earthquake struck western Turkey, killing¹² at least 834 people.