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

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

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s 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 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.)

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Brian Hyland is 77. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 76. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 76. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 75. Actor Megan Mullally is 62. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 59. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 52. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 50. Actor Ryan Gosling is 40. Actor Anne Hathaway is 38. NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook is 32.