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This day in history

Monday, Nov. 12, is the 317th day of 2012. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today's birthdays: Rhythm-and-blues singer Jimmy Hayes (Persuasions) is 69. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. the MGs) is 68. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 68. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 67. Actress Megan Mullally is 54. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 51. Former MLB player Sammy Sosa is 44. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 42. Actress Cote de Pablo is 33. Actor Ryan Gosling is 32. Actress Anne Hathaway is 30. Pop singer Omarion is 28.

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

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In 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over Japanese forces.)

In 1969, news of the My Lai Massacre in South Vietnam in March 1968 was broken.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy airport, killing 265 people.

In 2002, in a taped message, a voice purported to be that of Osama bin Laden praised terrorist strikes in Bali and Moscow and threatened Western nations over any attack on Iraq.