November 19th, 2008

Today in History

1985:
Pennzoil wins a US$10.53 billion verdict against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in U.S. history, stemming from Texaco establishing a signed contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.)

1969:
Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.

1954:
Sammy Davis, Jr. loses his left eye in an automobile accident in San Bernardino, California.

1942:
Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.

1941:
World War II: The Royal Australian Navy cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.