TODAY IN HISTORY - NOVEMBER 20TH

1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

1805 – Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio premieres in Vienna.

1892 – James Collip, Canadian biochemist and academic, co-discovered insulin (d. 1965) is born.

1900 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist and author, created Dick Tracy (d. 1985) is born.

1910 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian author and playwright (b. 1828) dies.

1910 – Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosí, denouncing Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.

1925 – Robert F. Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (d. 1968) is born.

1942 – Joe Biden, American lawyer and politician, 47th Vice President of the United States is born.

1954 – Steve Dahl, American radio host and actor is born.

1954 – Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and engineer, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation (b. 1879) dies.

1956 – Bo Derek, American actress and producer is born.

1959 – United Nations General Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of the Child; annual anniversary observed as Universal Children's Day.

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.

1968 – A total of 78 miners are killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company’s No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia in the Farmington Mine disaster

1969 – Occupation of Alcatraz: Native American activists seize control of Alcatraz Island until being ousted by the U.S. Government on June 11, 1971.

1974 – The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.

1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.

1990 – Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, is arrested; he eventually confesses to 56 killings.

1992 – In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage.

1998 – The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.

2001 – In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.