Unix Timestamp: 1164499200
Sunday, November 26. 2006, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, the most elaborate Martian exploration vehicle to date, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. It lands on Mars on August 5, 2012.

NASA launches the robotic Mars Science Laboratory, the largest rover yet sent to Mars, with the aim of finding evidence for past or present life on Mars. //www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15904408 (BBC)

China warns the U.S. against performing any military acts within their exclusive economic zone, ahead of joint South Korean-U.S. military exercises aimed at threatening North Korea. //www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AP1S620101126 (Reuters)

All pleas to halt British hacker Gary McKinnon being extradited to the United States to face trial for breaking into NASA and military computers looking for UFO evidence fail as UK Home Secretary orders his extradition. //www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6663920/Gary-McKinnon-set-to-be-sent-to-America-after-Alan-Johnson-says-he-cannot-block-extradition.html ("The Daily Telegraph")

At least 80 people are dead and over 250 wounded in coordinated terrorist strikes across Mumbai, India. //timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Terrorists_strike_Mumbai_16_dead_many_hurt/articleshow/3761410.cms ("The Times of India")

Vitaly Karayev, the mayor of Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia-Alania in Russia is assassinated. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7749500.stm (BBC)

November 29 – A series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India by Pakistan-based Islamic militants who lay siege over a hotel for 2 days, results in 195 casualties, and over 250 injured.

The Greenlandic self-government referendum passes with 75% approval. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7749427.stm (BBC)

A coal mine explosion in China kills over 150.

A group of Iraqi political leaders, primarily from Sunni and Kurdish parties, advocate a 6-month delay in popular elections scheduled for January 2005.

A male Po\\'o-uli dies of avian malaria at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda before it can breed, making the species in all probability extinct.

Ricardo Lagos, President of Chile, promises economic compensation to 28,000 torture victims of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship.

India and Pakistan announce a ceasefire in the Kashmir region. //www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnewsid=1377.

U.S. President George W. Bush signs ithe Terrorism Risk Insurance Act into law, creating a federal backstop for insurance claims related to acts of terrorism.

Legislation by the European Court of Human Rights and Law Lords, ruling in favour of convicted murderer Anthony Anderson, ends the right of the Home Secretary to set minimum terms for convicted murderers.

An earthquake and tsunami strike Vanuatu.

U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments.

The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas is imploded to make way for the Venetian Hotel.

Widespread student pro-democracy protests are broken up in Burma.

National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities according to their Azeri names.

Iran-Contra Affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that on December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will serve as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission). Reagan denies involvement in the scandal.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan sells the rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.

Brink\'s-MAT robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly UK£26 million are taken from the Brink's-MAT vault at Heathrow Airport. Only a fraction of the gold is ever recovered, and only 2 men are convicted of the crime.

The 1975 cult classic movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show came out in America.

Vietnam War: United States Air Force First Lieutenant and Bell UH-1F helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire, earning a Medal of Honor for his bravery.

Major floods hit Lisbon, Portugal, killing 462.

In Vancouver, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 54th Grey Cup.

Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned major sweep operations to neutralize Viet Cong forces during the next year are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam will have to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.

At the Hammaguira launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, "Asterix-1" on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.

Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters picket the White House, then march on the Washington Monument.

The British Governor of Cyprus declares a State of Emergency on the island.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger and is arrested, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott.

The Montgomery Improvement Association is formed in Montgomery, Alabama, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other Black ministers to coordinate a Black people's boycott of all city buses.

The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge to become the AFL-CIO.

The International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations was founded in Luxembourg.

Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia

Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations.

Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launched a massive counterattack against South Korean and United Nations forces at the Ch'ongch'on River and the Chosin Reservoir, dashing any hopes for a quick end to the conflict.

Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launched a massive counterattack against South Korean and United Nations forces at the Ch'ongch'on River and the Chosin Reservoir, dashing any hopes for a quick end to the conflict.

The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution //lawmin.nic.in/coi.htm.

The movie "Casablanca" premières at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.

WWII ndash Attack on Pearl Harbor: A fleet of 6 aircraft carriers commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo leaves Hitokapu Bay for Pearl Harbor under strict radio silence

A group of young men stop traffic on U.S. Highway 99 south of Yreka, California, handing out fliers proclaiming the establishment of the State of Jefferson.

WWII: Germans reach their closest approach to Moscow. They are subsequently frozen by cold weather and attacks by the Soviets.

The Anti-Comintern Pact is signed by Germany and Japan.

In the Soviet Union, Politburo member Sergei Kirov is shot and killed at the Communist Party headquarters in Leningrad by Leonid Nikolaev (it is widely thought that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered this murder).

Bolivian President Daniel Salamanca deposed.

Universal Pictures releases the first film version of Fannie Hurst's novel, ""'Imitation of Life""', starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers. It gives Beavers, usually featured in small roles as a maid, her best screen role, and features the largest supporting role played by a black person in a Hollywood film up till then. Its storyline partially revolves around a young mulatto girl rejecting her mother and trying to pass for white. It is the first Hollywood film to seriously deal with this subject.

In Mexico, Lázaro Cárdenas is inaugurated as President of that country.

A running gun battle between FBI agents and bank robber Baby Face Nelson results in the death of one FBI agent and the mortal wounding of special agent Samuel P. Cowley, who was still able to mortally wound Nelson.

Mount Vesuvius erupts.

All Italian Communistdeputies are arrested.

In Williamsburg, Virginia, the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg begins.

Prajadhipok (Rama VII) is crowned as King of Siam.

Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3,000 years.

The Podgorica Assembly votes for a union of the people, declaring its union with the Kingdom of Serbia.

The National Hockey League is formed in Montreal as a replacement for the recently disbanded National Hockey Association.

A 2-day blizzard known as the Portland Gale piles snow in Boston, Massachusetts, and severely impacts the Massachusettsfishing industry and several coastal New England towns.

Battle of Papudo: The Spanish ship "Covadonga" is captured by the Chileans and the Peruvians, north of Valparaíso, Chile.

American Civil War ndash Mine Run: Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Meade's forces can not find any weaknesses in the Confederate lines and give up trying after 5 days).

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is opened.

A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.

The Roman Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States is established.

In the Hawaiian Islands, Capt. James Cook becomes the first European to land on Maui.

Phillips Academy, the most prestigious secondary boarding school in the United States, is founded by Samuel Phillips Jr.

First Iron bridge.

The first settlement is made in the area of what is now Louisville, Kentucky by 13 families under ColonelGeorge Rogers Clark.

The term thoroughbred is first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick.

Hearing that William of Orange has landed in England, Louis XIV declares war on the Netherlands. Perhaps revealingly, he does not attack the Netherlands but instead strikes at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire with about 100,000 soldiers. The Nine Years\' War begins in Europe and America.

Hearing that William of Orange has landed in England, Louis XIV declares war on the Netherlands. Perhaps revealingly, he does not attack the Netherlands but instead strikes at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire with about 100,000 soldiers. The Nine Years' War begins in Europe and America.

The Signoria of Florence commissions both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to paint the walls of the Grand Council Chamber in the Palazzo Vecchio.

Aldus Manutius publishes his edition of Demosthenes in Venice.

Baber besieges and captures Kabul.

Venetian ambassadors suggest to Turkey the construction of a Suez Canal.

In Florence, Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli become involved in a scheme to divert the Arno River, cutting the water supply to Pisa to force its surrender: Colombino, the project foreman, fails to follow da Vinci’s design, and the project is a major failure.

Raphael paints "The Marriage of the Virgin", which exemplifies some major principles of High Renaissance art.

Juan de la Cosa begins his first independent voyage, to the Isthmus of Panama.

Isabella I of Castile, Catholic Queen of Castile and Aragon, dies, ending her patronage for Columbus. The Crown of Castile passes to her daughter Joanna.

Sheikh Ahmad, final leader of the Great Horde, is last heard of as a Lithuanian prisoner at Vilnius.

History of Sudan: A Funj leader, Amara Dunqas, founds the Sultanate of Sennar.

Matthias Grünewald paints a "Crucifixion".

Vlad III the Impaler manages to become reigning Prince of Wallachia for the third and last time, before later being killed by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Bucharest. His head is sent to his old enemy Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire.

A great earthquake strikes Japan. The people, houses, temples, shrines and domestic animals are greatly damaged.

Pope Pelagius II succeeds Pope Benedict I as the 63rd pope. While November 26 is the official date, theologically, the pontificate began in August when he was ordained as Bishop of Rome.

Flavian I is acknowledged as legitimate bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome.

Anastasius I succeeds Siricius as the 39th pope. He seeks to reconcile the churches of Rome and Antioch. Anastasius also condemns the doctrine of Origen.

Pope Siricius dies at Rome after a 15-year reign in which he has commanded celibacy for priests, asserted papal authority over the entire Western Church, and threatened to impose sanctions who do not follow his dictates.