November 19th, 2008

Today in History

2004:
The largest brawl in the history of American professional sports breaks out between fans and NBA players during a game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers. The melee is instigated after an altercation between Detroit's Ben Wallace and Indiana's Ron Artest when a fan throws a cup of beer and hits Artest in the chest.

1994:
In Britain, the first National Lottery draw was held. A £1 ticket gives a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.

1977:
Transportes Aereos Portugueses Boeing 727 crashes in Madeira islands killing 130

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.

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.