— From wire reports

It’s Thursday, Nov. 14, the 318th day of 2013. There are 47 days left in the year.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is 91. Britain’s Prince Charles is 65. Pianist Yanni is 59. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is 59. Presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett is 57. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling is 47. Actor Josh Duhamel is 41.

Highlight: In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln gave the go-ahead for Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s plan to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond; the resulting Battle of Fredericksburg proved a disaster for the Union.

In 1851, Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale” was first published in the United States.

In 1881, Charles Guiteau went on trial for assassinating President James Garfield. (Guiteau was convicted and hanged the following year.)

In 1889, inspired by Jules Verne, New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) set out to travel around the world in less than 80 days. (She made the trip in 72 days.) Jawarharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, was born.

In 1910, Eugene B. Ely became the first aviator to take off from a ship as his Curtiss pusher rolled off a sloping platform on the deck of the scout cruiser USS Birmingham off Hampton Roads, Va.

In 1922, the British Broadcasting Co. began its domestic radio service.

In 1940, during World War II, German planes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry.

In 1944, Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded “Opus No. 1” for RCA Victor.

In 1969, Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon.

In 1970, a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 crashed while trying to land in Huntington, W.Va., killing all 75 people on board, including the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff.

In 1972, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 1,000 level for the first time, ending the day at 1,003.16.

In 1986, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a $100 million penalty against inside-trader Ivan Boesky and barred him from working again in the securities industry.

In 1997, a jury in Fairfax, Va., decided that Pakistani national Aimal Khan Kasi should get the death penalty for gunning down two CIA employees outside agency headquarters.

Ten years ago: John Kerry became the second Democratic hopeful to opt out of public financing for his presidential run, following the example of rival Howard Dean.

Five years ago: A lunar probe from India made a planned crash-landing onto the surface of the moon. Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into the night sky, bound for the International Space Station.

One year ago: President Barack Obama held his first news conference since winning a second term. He challenged congressional Republicans to let taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans, saying that would ease the threat of another recession as the nation faced the “fiscal cliff” of expiring tax breaks and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect at the start of 2013.