Today is Tuesday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2020. There are 44 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Nov. 17, 1800, Congress held its first session in the partially completed U.S. Capitol building.

On this date:

In 1558, Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne upon the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary, beginning a 44-year reign.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

In 1889, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Oregon, as well as Chicago and San Francisco.

In 1911, the historically African-American fraternity Omega Psi Phi was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

In 1969, the first round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union opened in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1970, the Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon told Associated Press managing editors in Orlando, Florida: “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

In 1979, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 Black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 82. Singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio is 79. Movie director Martin Scorsese is 78. Actor Lauren Hutton is 77. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 76. “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 76. Former House Speaker John Boehner is 71. Entertainer RuPaul is 60. Actor Dylan Walsh is 57. Actor-model Daisy Fuentes is 54. Actor Rachel McAdams is 42. MLB outfielder Ryan Braun is 37.