November 28 is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 33 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 1095 – On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appoints Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
• 1443 – Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in Middle Albania and raise the Albanian flag.
• 1520 – After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
• 1582 – In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage license.
• 1627 – The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy has its greatest and last victory in the Battle of Oliva.
• 1660 – At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.
• 1666 – At least 3000 men of the Scottish Royal Army led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns defeat about 900 Covenanter rebels in the Battle of Rullion Green.
• 1729 – Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.
• 1785 – The Treaty of Hopewell is signed.
• 1811 – Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.
• 1814 – The Times in London is for the first time printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.
• 1821 – Panama Independence Day: Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.
• 1843 – Ka Lā Hui: Hawaiian Independence Day – The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.
• 1862 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General James G. Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates.
• 1885 – Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria.
• 1893 – Women vote in a national election for the first time: the New Zealand general election.
• 1895 – The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
• 1905 – Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.
• 1907 – In Haverhill, Massachusetts, scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer opens his first movie theater.
• 1909 – Sergei Rachmaninoff makes the debut performance of his Piano Concerto No. 3, considered to be one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.
• 1910 – Eleftherios Venizelos, leader of the Liberal Party, wins the Greek elections again.
• 1912 – Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
• 1914 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
• 1917 – The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia.
• 1918 – Bukovina votes for the union with the Kingdom of Romania.
• 1919 – Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. (Countess Markievicz, the first to be elected, refused to sit.)
• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: Kilmichael Ambush - The Irish Republican Army ambush a convoy of British Auxiliaries and kill seventeen.
• 1925 – The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee as WSM Barn Dance.
• 1942 – In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 491 people.
• 1943 – World War II: Tehran Conference – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran to discuss war strategy.
• 1958 – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.
• 1960 – Mauritania becomes independent of France.
• 1964 – Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippines President Elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.
• 1966 – Michel Micombero overthrows the monarchy of Burundi and makes himself the first president.
• 1971 – Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation is severely beaten by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers; he dies two days later.
• 1971 – Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• 1972 – Last executions in Paris, of the Clairvaux Mutineers, Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet, guillotined at La Sante Prison. (Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice is condemned to death anyway.) The chief executioner is Andre Obrecht.
• 1975 – East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.
• 1979 – Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 operated sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.
• 1980 – Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid – Over 70% of Iraqi Navy was destroyed by Iranian Navy in The Persian Gulf. The Iranian Navy's Day.
• 1981 – Our Lady of Kibeho: Schoolchildren in Kibeho, Rwanda, experience the first of a series of Marian apparitions.
• 1987 – South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on-board.
• 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution – In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.
• 1991 – South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
• 2002 – Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air-missiles.

Births[link]

• 1118 – Manuel I Komnenos, Greek Byzantine Emperor (d. 1180)
• 1489 – Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland (d. 1541)
• 1570 – James Whitelocke, English judge (d. 1632)
• 1598 – Hans Nansen, Danish statesman (d. 1667)
• 1628 – John Bunyan, English cleric and author (d. 1688)
• 1632 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, French composer (d. 1687)
• 1640 – Willem de Vlamingh, Flemish sea captain (d. c. 1698)
• 1661 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey (d. 1723)
• 1681 – Jean Cavalier, French Protestant rebel leader (d. 1740)
• 1700 – Nathaniel Bliss, English astronomer (d. 1764)
• 1700 – Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1770)
• 1757 – William Blake, British poet (d. 1827)
• 1772 – Luke Howard, British meteorologist (d. 1864)
• 1785 – Victor de Broglie, Prime Minister of France (d. 1870)
• 1792 – Victor Cousin, French philosopher (d. 1867)
• 1793 – Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, Swedish romantic poet (d. 1866)
• 1805 – John Stephens, American archeologist (d. 1852)
• 1810 – William Froude, British naval architect (d. 1879)
• 1820 – Friedrich Engels, German philosopher (d. 1895)
• 1829 – Anton Rubinstein, Russian composer (d. 1894)
• 1837 – John Wesley Hyatt, American inventor (d. 1920)
• 1853 – Helen Magill White, first American woman to earn a PhD (d. 1944)
• 1857 – King Alfonso XII of Spain (d. 1885)
• 1864 – James Allen English writer (d. 1912)
• 1864 – Lindley M. Garrison, American Secretary of War (d. 1932)
• 1866 – Henry Bacon, American architect (d. 1924)
• 1876 – Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (d. 1946)
• 1880 – Alexander Blok, Russian poet (d. 1921)
• 1881 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (d. 1942)
• 1887 – Ernst Röhm, Nazi official (d. 1934)
• 1891 – Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist & politician (d. 1949)
• 1894 – Henry Hazlitt, Libertarian philosopher, economist (d. 1993)
• 1895 – José Iturbi, Spanish pianist (d. 1980)
• 1896 – Dawn Powell, American writer (d. 1965)
• 1896 – Lilia Skala, Austrian actress (d. 1994)
• 1904 – James Eastland, American politician (d. 1986)
• 1904 – Nancy Mitford, English writer (d. 1973)
• 1907 – Rose Bampton, American opera singer (d. 2007)
• 1907 – Alberto Moravia, Italian writer (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Nigerian politician (d. 1997)
• 1908 – Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist (d. 2009)
• 1911 – Václav Renč, Czech poet (d. 1973)
• 1912 – Morris Louis, American painter (d. 1962)
• 1915 – Evald Okas, Estonian painter (d. 2011)
• 1915 – Yves Thériault, Canadian author (d. 1983)
• 1916 – Mary Lilian Baels, Princess of Rethy, Belgium (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (d. 1981)
• 1923 – James Karen, American actor
• 1924 – Dennis Brutus, South African poet
• 1925 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (d. 1978)
• 1927 – Chuck Mitchell, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1928 – John Coleman, Australian rules footballer (d. 1973)
• 1928 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist (d. 1980)
• 1928 – Piet Steenbergen, Dutch footballer (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Berry Gordy Jr., American record company owner
• 1931 – Dervla Murphy, Irish cyclist and author
• 1931 – Tomi Ungerer, French graphic artist
• 1932 – Gato Barbieri, Argentinian saxophonist
• 1932 – Terence Frisby, English novelist
• 1933 – Joe Knollenberg, American politician
• 1933 – Hope Lange, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1935 – Prince Hitachi, Japanese royalty
• 1935 – Randolph Stow, Australian author
• 1936 – Gary Hart, American politician
• 1936 – Celin Romero, Spanish guitarist
• 1940 – Bruce Channel, American singer
• 1941 – Laura Antonelli, Italian actress
• 1942 – Paul Warfield, American football player
• 1943 – Randy Newman, American composer
• 1944 – R.B. Greaves, Guyanan singer
• 1944 – Timothy Krajcir, American serial killer
• 1946 – Joe Dante, American film director and producer
• 1947 – Michel Berger, French songwriter (d. 1992)
• 1947 – Maria Farantouri, Greek singer
• 1947 – Panayotis Varotsos, Greek physicist
• 1948 – Beeb Birtles, Dutch-Australian musician (Little River Band)
• 1948 – Dick Morris, American political figure, author
• 1949 – Alexander Godunov, Russian ballet dancer (d. 1995)
• 1949 – Paul Shaffer, Canadian orchestra leader
• 1950 – Ed Harris, American actor
• 1950 – Russell Alan Hulse, American physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1952 – S. Epatha Merkerson, American actress
• 1953 – Sixto Lezcano, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1955 – Alessandro Altobelli, Italian footballer
• 1955 – Jeffrey Byron, American actor
• 1955 – Adem Jashari, Albanian freedom fighter
• 1956 – Richard Bean, English playwright
• 1957 – David Van Day, British singer (Dollar)
• 1958 – Dave Righetti, American baseball player
• 1958 – Kriss Akabusi, British athlete and television presenter
• 1959 – Judd Nelson, American actor
• 1960 – John Galliano, British fashion designer
• 1960 – Andy Ritchie, English footballer
• 1960 – Kenny Wharton, English football coach
• 1961 – Martin Clunes, British actor
• 1961 – Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican film director
• 1961 – John Fenty, English football coach
• 1961 – Jane Sibbett, American actress
• 1962 – Paul Dinello, American comedian and actor
• 1962 – Jon Stewart, American comedian
• 1962 – Matt Cameron, American drummer (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam)
• 1962 – Davey Boy Smith, English professional wrestler (d. 2002)
• 1963 – Walt Weiss, American baseball player
• 1963 – Armando Iannucci, Scottish comedian
• 1963 – Johnny Newman, American basketball player
• 1963 – Jesus Ledesma Aguilar, Mexican convicted killer (d. 2006)
• 1964 – Michael Bennet, American politician
• 1964 – John Burkett, American baseball player
• 1964 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player
• 1965 – Erwin Mortier, Belgian author
• 1965 – Matt Williams, American baseball player
• 1966 – Sam Seder, American comedian
• 1966 – Helen Fospero, British television presenter and newsreader
• 1967 – Anna Nicole Smith, American television personality (d. 2007)
• 1967 – Stephnie Weir, American comedian
• 1967 – José del Solar, Peruvian footballer
• 1968 – Dawn Robinson, American singer (En Vogue)
• 1969 – Robb Nen, American baseball player
• 1969 – Lexington Steele, American adult film actor
• 1970 – Álex López Morón, Spanish tennis player
• 1971 – Rob Conway, American professional wrestler
• 1971 – Fenriz, Norwegian musician (Darkthrone)
• 1972 – Paulo Figueiredo, Angolan footballer
• 1972 – Anastasia Kelesidou, Greek discus thrower
• 1972 – Jesper Strömblad, Swedish guitarist (In Flames)
• 1973 – Jade Puget, American musician (AFI)
• 1974 – András Tölcséres, Hungarian footballer
• 1974 – Styles P, American rapper
• 1974 – Kristian Schmid, Australian actor
• 1974 – apl.de.ap, Filipino-American rapper
• 1975 – Eka Kurniawan, Indonesian writer
• 1975 – Sunny Mabrey, American actress
• 1975 – Park Sung-Bae, South Korean football player
• 1975 – Takashi Shimoda, Japanese footballer
• 1975 – Sigurd Wongraven, Norwegian musician (Satyricon)
• 1976 – Ryan Kwanten, Australian actor
• 1977 – Marlon Broomes, English footballer
• 1977 – Fabio Grosso, Italian footballer
• 1977 – Gavin Rae, Scottish footballer
• 1977 – Greg Somerville, New Zealand rugby union footballer
• 1977 – DeMya Walker, American basketball player
• 1978 – Brent Albright, American professional wrestler
• 1978 – Aimee Garcia, American actress
• 1978 – Freddie Mitchell, American football player
• 1978 – Mehdi Nafti, Tunisian footballer
• 1978 – Michael Simpkins, English football player
• 1978 – Haytham Tambal, Sudanese footballer
• 1979 – Olcay Çetinkaya, Turkish footballer
• 1979 – Chamillionaire, American rapper
• 1979 – Daniel Henney, Korean-American model-actor
• 1979 – Joel Maximo, American professional wrestler
• 1979 – Katarzyna Strączy, Polish tennis player
• 1980 – Lisa Middelhauve, German singer (Xandria)
• 1980 – Stuart Taylor, English footballer
• 1981 – Jacqui Ainsley, British model
• 1981 – Brian Tevreden, Dutch footballer
• 1982 – Leandro Barbosa, Brazilian basketball player
• 1982 – Chris Harris, British speedway rider
• 1983 – Nelson Haedo Valdez, Paraguayan footballer
• 1984 – Andrew Bogut, Australian basketball player
• 1984 – Marc-Andre Fleury, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Joross Gamboa, Filipino actor
• 1984 – Trey Songz, American recording artist
• 1984 – Mary Elizabeth Winstead, American actress
• 1985 – Caitlin McClatchey, Scottish swimmer
• 1986 – Mouhamadou Dabo, French footballer
• 1987 – Karen Gillan, Scottish actress
• 1987 – Craig Kieswetter, English cricketer
• 1988 – Scarlett Pomers, American actress
• 1988 – Christopher Stringini, American singer
• 1989 – Laura Alleway, Australian footballer
• 1990 – Dedryck Boyata, Belgian footballer
• 1991 – Jessica Robinson, English singer and actress
• 1992 – Adam Hicks, American actor
• 1994 – Lola Sanchez, Australian actress
• 1997 – Thor Salden, Belgian singer

Deaths[link]

• 741 – St. Gregory III
• 1170 – Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd (b. c. 1100)
• 1262 – Shinran, Japanese religious leader (b. 1173)
• 1290 – Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I of England (b. 1241)
• 1574 – Georg Major, German Protestant theologian (b. 1502)
• 1585 – Hernando Franco, Spanish composer (b. 1532)
• 1667 – Jean de Thévenot, French traveller and scientist (b. 1633)
• 1675 – Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh, English Civil War soldier (b. c. 1608)
• 1675 – Leonard Hoar, American President of Harvard University (b. 1630)
• 1680 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian baroque sculptor (b. 1598)
• 1680 – Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1606)
• 1694 – Matsuo Bashō, Japanese poet (b. 1644)
• 1695 – Giovanni Paolo Colonna, Italian composer (b. c. 1637)
• 1695 – Anthony Wood, English antiquarian (b. 1632)
• 1698 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France (b. 1622)
• 1763 – Naungdawgyi, King of Burma (b. 1734)
• 1785 – William Whipple, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1730)
• 1794 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (b. 1730)
• 1801 – Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, French geologist (b. 1750)
• 1815 – Johann Peter Salomon, German violinist, impresario, and composer (b. 1745)
• 1852 – Ludger Duvernay, French printer and newspaper publisher (b. 1799)
• 1852 – Emmanuil Xanthos, figure of the Greek War of Independence, co-founder of Filiki Eteria (b. 1772)
• 1859 – Washington Irving, American writer (b. 1783)
• 1870 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter (b. 1841)
• 1872 – Mary Fairfax Somerville, British scientific writer (b. 1780)
• 1878 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader (b. 1805)
• 1880 – Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, (Portuguese) Archbishop of Goa (b. 1837)
• 1890 – Jyotirao Phule, Indian social reformer.
• 1907 – Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist, poet, painter, and architect (b. 1869)
• 1912 – Walter Benona Sharp, American oil tycoon (b. 1870)
• 1915 – Mubarak Al-Sabah "The Great", Emir of Kuwait (b. 1896)
• 1917 – Mikelis Avlichos, Greek poet (b. 1844)
• 1921 – `Abdu'l-Bahá, Persian leader of the Bahá'í Faith (b. 1844)
• 1930 – Greek Orthodox Patriarch Constantine VI of Constantinople (b. 1859)
• 1935 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist (b. 1877)
• 1939 – James Naismith, Canadian creator of basketball (b. 1861)
• 1945 – Dwight F. Davis, U.S. Secretary of War and donor of the Davis cup (b. 1879)
• 1947 – Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, French general (b. 1902)
• 1954 – Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1901)
• 1960 – Richard Wright, American author (b. 1908)
• 1960 – Tsunenohana Kan'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 31st Yokozuna (b. 1896)
• 1962 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (b. 1880)
• 1963 – Karyn Kupcinet, American actress (b. 1941)
• 1967 – Leon M'ba, Gabonese politician (b. 1902)
• 1968 – Enid Blyton, British children's author (b. 1897)
• 1971 – Wasfi Tel, Jordanian Prime Minister (b. 1920)
• 1972 – Havergal Brian, British composer (b. 1875)
• 1973 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (b. 1886)
• 1976 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (b. 1907)
• 1977 – Trevor Bardette, American actor (b. 1902)
• 1977 – Bob Meusel, American baseball player (b. 1896)
• 1978 – Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Argentine football executive (b. 1902)
• 1983 – Christopher George, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1986 – Herb Vigran, American actor (b. 1910)
• 1987 – Choh Hao Li, Chinese biochemist (b. 1913)
• 1992 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (b. 1917)
• 1993 – Jerry Edmonton, Canadian drummer (Steppenwolf) (b. 1946)
• 1993 – Garry Moore, American entertainer (b. 1915)
• 1994 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (b. 1960)
• 1994 – Buster Edwards, English train robber (b. 1932)
• 1994 – Jerry Rubin, American activist (b. 1938)
• 1997 – Georges Marchal, French actor (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Kerry Wendell Thornley, co-founder of Discordianism (b. 1938)
• 2000 – Liane Haid, Austrian actress (b. 1895)
• 2001 – Kal Mann, American lyricist (b. 1917)
• 2001 – William Reid, British aviator awarded the Victoria Cross (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Dave "Snaker" Ray, American blues musician (b. 1943)
• 2003 – Ted Bates, English footballer (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Antonia Forest, British children's author (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Marc Lawrence, American actor (b. 1910)
• 2006 – Lyubov Polishchuk, Russian actress (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Robert Volpe, Artist,Art Theft Detective (b. 1942)
• 2007 – Gudrun Wagner, co-director of the Bayreuth Festival (b. 1944)
• 2009 – Gilles Carle, Canadian screenwriter and film director (b. 1928)
• 2009 – Takeo Kajiwara, Japanese Go player (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Giorgos Fountas, Greek actor (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Ascension of `Abdu'l-Bahá (Bahá'í Faith)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Catherine Labouré
  • Feast of the Holy Sovereigns (Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii)
  • Herman of Alaska, the anniversary of his actual death. Eastern Orthodox
  • Pope Gregory III
• Independence Day / National Day / Flag Day, celebrate the independence of Albania from Turkey in 1912, the first Albanian flag raise by Skanderbeg in 1443, and for the new parliamentary constitution in 1998.
• Independence Day, celebrate the independence of Mauritania from France in 1960.
• Independence Day, celebrate the independence of Panama from Spain in 1821.
• Navy Day (Iran)
• Republic Day (Burundi)
• Republic Day (Chad)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: November 28

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2010)

Gerry Dee
Born	(1968-12-31) December 31, 1968 (age 43) Scarborough, Ontario
Occupation	Actor, Comedian
Website
http://www.gerrydee.com/ gerrydee.com

Gerry Dee (born Gerard Donoghue^[1] on December 31, 1968 in Scarborough, Ontario) is a Canadian stand-up comedian.^[2] Prior to his comic career, he was a physical education teacher and hockey coach at De La Salle College (Toronto) "Oaklands", a private co-ed high school in Toronto. He also attended and graduated from De La Salle in high school.

Early life[link]

Dee is of Scottish descent.^[3] He was also a University Varsity hockey and golf player during his college years. His earlier education was at St. Gabriel Catholic School (Bayview/Sheppard); he later studied Kinesiology at York University and Education at St. Francis Xavier University. His father was a bus driver for the TTC in Toronto for over 20 years.

Comedy career[link]

Dee was already relatively successful long before being on Last Comic Standing. He had already had his own comedy special on The Comedy Network in Canada, appeared on the Comedy Network special "The Nubian Disciples", and performed at the world famous Montreal Just for Laughs International Comedy Festival, having his segment aired on Just For Laughs. He has appeared in television commercials and has performed at many comedy clubs, including Just For Laughs and Yuk Yuks. Dee also had a role in the minor hit Trailer Park Boys: The Movie where he played the role of Donny.

Dee might be best known for placing third on the fifth season of Last Comic Standing. Gerry Dee had tried out for Last Comic Standing during the second and fourth seasons, but never advanced to the finals. He missed the birth of his daughter while appearing on the show.

Since late 2007, Dee has been the star of his own segment on Canadian cable channel The Score. These segments, entitled Gerry Dee: Sports Reporter, have Dee conducting humorous interviews and segments. The interviews have included such sports personalities as Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Cito Gaston and Randy Couture, Chris Bosh

Dee also has also appeared in television commercials for Rogers, Wisers, KFC and Nissan, and is currently making guest appearances on CBC's "The Hour". He also played former Boston Bruins Winger Wayne Cashman in a CBC Mini series called Canada Russia '72.

He won a 2008 Canadian Comedy Award in the Best Male Stand-Up comic category.^[4]

In January 2012, his sitcom Mr. D premiered on CBC Television. It has been renewed for a second season.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Dee is married to Heather Donoghue, a teacher at De La Salle, and has two young daughters.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• "Gerry Dee Sports Reporter" page on TheScore.com
• Gerry Dee at the Internet Movie Database

Li Keqiang 李克强
9th First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 March 2008
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Preceded by	Wu Yi (Acting)
Member of the National People's Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 March 1993
Constituency	Anhui At-large (93–98) Henan At-large (98-08) Liaoning At-large (08-)
11th Communist Party Committee Secretary of Liaoning
In office December 2004 – October 2007
Deputy	Zhang Wenyue
Preceded by	Wen Shizhen
Succeeded by	Zhang Wenyue
12th Communist Party Committee Secretary of Henan
In office December 2002 – December 2004
Deputy	Li Chengyu
Preceded by	Chen Kuiyuan
Succeeded by	Xu Guangchun
First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China
In office May 1993 – June 1998
Preceded by	Song Defu
Succeeded by	Zhou Qiang
Personal details
Born	(1955-07-01) 1 July 1955 (age 56) Dingyuan, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Cheng Hong
Alma mater	Peking University
Signature

Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is the Executive Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, the seventh ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the People's Republic of China's de facto highest decision-making body. As Premier Wen Jiabao's top lieutenant, Li's official portfolio includes economic development, price controls, finance, climate change, and macroeconomic management.

Li rose through the ranks of the Communist Youth League. From 1998 to 2004, Li served as the Governor of Henan and the province's CPC party chief, and then the Liaoning party chief, an office that made him first-in-charge in that province. Li is speculated as the likely successor to Wen Jiabao as Premier in the "fifth generation" (Xi-Li Administration) of CPC leadership.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Li Keqiang was born in Dingyuan County, Anhui on 1 July 1955. His father was a local official in Anhui. Li graduated from high school in 1974, during the Cultural Revolution, and was sent for rural labour in Fengyang County, Anhui, where he eventually joined the Communist Party of China and made his way to becoming the party head of the local production team. He was awarded with the honour of Outstanding Individual in the Study of Mao Zedong Thought during this time.^[1]

He refused his father's offer of grooming him for the local county's party leadership and entered the School of Law at Peking University, where he received his LLB and became the President of the University's Student Council. He would go on to acquire a PhD in Economics. In 1980 he became the Communist Youth League Secretary at Peking University. He entered the top leadership of the Communist Youth League (CYL) in 1982 as a member of its Secretariat, and has worked closely with current General Secretary Hu Jintao, who also rose through the ranks of the CYL, ever since. Li became the organization's General Secretary in 1993, and served until 1998. He is a representative member of the first generation to have risen from the CYL leadership.

Provincial tenures[link]

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2012)

Li became China's youngest governor when appointed to the position of Governor of Henan, one of China's most populous provinces, in June 1998, at the age of 43. Knowing the complicated situation Henan was in, and the issues associated with networking in the province, Li consciously left his family in Beijing to head to Zhengzhou alone. In addition, according to provincial government officials working with him at the time, Li refused to participate in any banquets or large fancy events not related to government activities.^[2] During his time as governor a public sense of his ‘bad luck’ grew due to the occurrence of three major fires in the province.^[3]

He is known to be outspoken, and led economic development in the central province, transforming the poor inland region into an attractive area for investment. Li did not waste time pursuing superficial projects, but rather trekked all regions of Henan trying to search for a comprehensive solution to the province's growing problems. Henan jumped in national GDP rankings from 28th in the early 1990s to 18th in 2004, when Li left Henan. However,he was unable to control the widespread of AIDS in the province during his governing, which has been proved to be disastrous.

He was transferred to work as the CPC Committee Secretary in Liaoning in December 2004. In Liaoning he is known for the "Five-points to one Line" project, where he linked up Dalian and Dandong, as well as a series of other ports into a comprehensive network.

National politics[link]

Predictions he would eventually advance to the national level at the 17th Party Congress proved correct when he was elected to the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in October 2007. He was succeeded in his provincial post by Governor Zhang Wenyue. Li has been touted as a possible successor to Hu Jintao, whose second term as General Secretary, expected to be his last, will end in 2012. At the 2008 National People's Congress, he was elected Vice-Premier, first in rank. This position makes it seem more likely that he will succeed Premier Wen Jiabao. As a result of this it is considered that he has lost out to Xi Jinping in the internal power struggle.^[3]

Since his ascendancy to the PSC, Li has taken on the most important portfolios in the Chinese government, ostensibly being groomed for his upcoming premiership. Li's first major appearance internationally was at the 2010 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The event was seen as an "acid test" for Li, whereby he succinctly presented China's long-term vision for development in front of world business and political leaders.^[4] In particular, Li briefed the WEF on China's commitment to sustainable development, green energy, decrease the income gap, and the modernization of key strategic industries.^[4] While reiterating China's commitment to peaceful development and its focus in increasing domestic demand in the face of external pressures during the global financial crisis, Li also warned against protectionism, saying "opening up can be both bilateral and multilateral... in this sense, one plus one is more often than not bigger than two." He also touched upon the importance of international development, and international financial reform. He called for a global governance structure that was "more reflective of the changes in the global political and economic landscape."^[5]

In February 2010, Li gave a speech to ministerial and provincial-level leaders about the importance of changing the economic structure of the country to be better poised for future growth. The speech was published with minor omissions in the 1 June issue of Qiushi, the Communist Party's political theory publication. Li said that China has come to a historical juncture whereby a change in the economic structure must take place for the country to continue its path of growth. Li particularly emphasized the need to boost domestic consumption, and said that urbanization is crucial in this phase.^[6] Li also emphasized that China should be moving towards a more middle class-oriented society with an "olive"-shaped wealth distribution, with the majority of the country's population and wealth belonging to the middle class.^[7]

He has also reiterated the importance of industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization in China in order to improve its competitiveness, food security, energy security, affordable housing and healthcare.^[8]

In August 2011, Li went on an official visit to Hong Kong, including a trip to the University of Hong Kong. The political sensitivities and heightened security surrounding the event resulted in the Hong Kong 818 incident, an event that caused controversy in the territory.

Personal life[link]

Li is married to Cheng Hong, a professor at Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing. His father-in-law was once the vice-secretary of the Communist Youth League Central Committee.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Li Keqiang

• 中国政治明星李克强甩掉河南“穷帽子” (Chinese)
• A Louie & Associates Articles: President Hu's Top 4 Aides (2007)
• 胡錦濤愛將李克強的仕途和足跡 (Chinese)
• 李克强出身非平民，成长靠恩师 (Chinese)

v t e Members of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China General Secretary 1. Hu Jintao Other members 2. Wu Bangguo 3. Wen Jiabao 4. Jia Qinglin 5. Li Changchun 6. Xi Jinping 7. Li Keqiang 8. He Guoqiang 9. Zhou Yongkang

v t e First Vice Premiers of the People's Republic of China Chen · Lin · Deng · Wan · Yao · Zhu · Li L. · Huang · Wu (acting) · Li K. List of Vice premiers of the People's Republic of China

v t e Senior members of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Premier Wen Jiabao Vice Premiers Li Keqiang Hui Liangyu Zhang Dejiang Wang Qishan State Councilors Liu Yandong Liang Guanglie Ma Kai Meng Jianzhu Dai Bingguo Secretary-General Ma Kai

Saint Francis of Assisi
Painting by Jusepe de Ribera
Mystic, Confessor, and Founder
Born	1181/1182 Papal States
Died	3 October 1226 (aged 43-45) Assisi, Papal States
Honored in	Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church, Old Catholic Church
Canonized	July 16, 1228, Assisi by Pope Gregory IX
Major shrine	Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
Feast	October 4
Attributes	Cross, Dove, birds, animals, wolf at feet, Pax et Bonum, Poor Franciscan habit, Stigmata, Tau Cross ("T-shaped")
Patronage	animals; the environment; Italy; merchants; stowaways;[1] cub scouts

A series of articles on Christian mysticism
Articles Aspects of meditation • Christian meditation • Contemplative prayer • Hesychasm • Mystical theology • Reflection on the New Age Early period Gregory of Nyssa • Bernard of Clairvaux • Guigo II 13th and 14th centuries Francis of Assisi • Dominic de Guzmán • Bonaventure • Catherine of Siena 15th and 16th centuries Ignatius of Loyola • Francisco de Osuna • John of Avila • Teresa of Avila • John of the Cross 17th and 18th centuries Francis de Sales • Pierre de Bérulle 19th century Therese of Lisieux • Gemma Galgani • Conchita de Armida 20th century Maria Valtorta • Faustina Kowalska • Thomas Merton

Saint Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone; 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226)^[2] was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis.^[3] St. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.^[3]

Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi.^[4] While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life.^[4] On a pilgrimage to Rome, he begged with the beggars at St. Peter's.^[4] The experience moved him to live in poverty.^[4] Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. His order was endorsed by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which was an enclosed order for women, as well as the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the order. Once his organization was endorsed by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas manger scene.^[4] In 1224, he received the stigmata,^[4] making him the first recorded person to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion.^[5] He died in 1226 while preaching Psalm 141.

On July 16, 1228, he was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and one of the two patrons of Italy (with Catherine of Siena), and it is customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October.^[6]

Early life[link]

Francis of Assisi was one of seven children born to Pietro di Bernardone, a rich cloth merchant, and his wife Pica, about whom little is known except that she was originally from France.^[7] Pietro was in France on business when Francis was born, and Pica had him baptised as Giovanni di Bernardone^[6] in honor of Saint Albert Renner, in the hope he would grow to be a religious leader.^[8] When his father returned to Assisi, he took to calling him Francesco ("the Frenchman"), possibly in honor of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French.^[9] According to another account^[who?], it was due to the boy being able to speak and sing in French fluently and effortlessly because of his French mother teaching him.^{[citation needed]} Either way, the name Francesco soon replaced his baptismal name.

As a youth, Francesco—or Francis in English—became a devotee of troubadours and was fascinated with all things French.^[2][9] Although many hagiographers remark about his bright clothing, rich friends, and love of pleasures,^[7] his displays of disillusionment toward the world that surrounded him came fairly early in his life, as is shown in the "story of the beggar." In this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms. At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his pockets. His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his act of charity. When he got home, his father scolded him in rage.^[10]

In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, spending a year as a captive.^[11] It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life and in 1204, a serious illness led to a spiritual crisis. In 1205, Francis left for Puglia to enlist in the army of the Count of Brienne. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening.^[2]

According to the hagiographic legend, thereafter he began to avoid the sports and the feasts of his former companions; in response, they asked him laughingly whether he was thinking of marrying, to which he answered "yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen," meaning his "lady poverty." He spent much time in lonely places, asking God for enlightenment. By degrees he took to nursing lepers, the most repulsive victims in the lazar houses near Assisi. After a pilgrimage to Rome, where he begged at the church doors for the poor, he said he had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ in the Church of San Damiano just outside of Assisi, in which the Icon of Christ Crucified said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He took this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, and so he sold some cloth from his father's store to assist the priest there for this purpose.^[2][12]

His father Pietro, highly indignant, attempted to change his mind, first with threats and then with beatings. After legal proceedings before the bishop, Francis renounced his father and his patrimony, laying aside even the garments he had received from him. For the next couple of months he lived as a beggar in the region of Assisi. Returning to the countryside around the town for two years this time, he restored several ruined churches, among them the Porziuncola, a little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels just outside the town, which later became his favorite abode.^[12]

Founding of the Franciscan Order[link]

Francis considered his stigmata part of the imitation of Christ.^[13][14]

At the end of this period (on February 24, 1209, according to Jordan of Giano), Francis heard a sermon that changed his life. The sermon was about Matthew 10:9, in which Christ tells his followers they should go forth and proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven was upon them, that they should take no money with them, nor even a walking stick or shoes for the road.^[2] Francis was inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty.^[2]

Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the Gospel precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance.^[2] He was soon joined by his first follower, a prominent fellow townsman, the jurist Bernardo di Quintavalle, who contributed all that he had to the work. Within a year Francis had eleven followers. Francis chose never to be ordained a priest and the community lived as "lesser brothers," fratres minores in Latin.^[2] The brothers lived a simple life in the deserted lazar house of Rivo Torto near Assisi; but they spent much of their time wandering through the mountainous districts of Umbria, always cheerful and full of songs, yet making a deep impression upon their hearers by their earnest exhortations.^[2]

Francis' preaching to ordinary people was unusual since he had no license to do so.^[3] In 1209 he composed a simple rule for his followers ("friars"), (the Regula primitiva or “Primitive Rule”) which came from verses in the Bible. The rule was “To follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps.” In 1209, Francis led his first eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious order.^[15] Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company Giovanni di San Paolo, the Cardinal Bishop of Sabina. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. Reluctantly, Pope Innocent agreed to meet with Francis and the brothers the next day. After several days, the pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official admittance. The group was tonsured.^[16] This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and prevented his following from possible accusations of heresy, as had happened to the Waldensians decades earlier. Though Pope Innocent initially had doubts, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the Basilica of St. John Lateran (the bishopric seat of the Pope and cathedral of Rome, thus the 'home church' of all Christendom), he decided to endorse Francis' order. This occurred, according to tradition, on April 16, 1210 and constituted the official founding of the Franciscan order.^[3] The group, then the "Lesser Brothers" (Friars Minor or Franciscan Order), preached on the streets and had no possessions. They were centered in Porziuncola, and preached first in Umbria, before expanding throughout Italy.^[3]

Missions work[link]

Pope Innocent III has a dream of St. Francis of Assisi supporting the tilting church (attributed to Giotto)

From then on, his new order grew quickly with new vocations.^[17] When hearing Francis preaching in the church of San Rufino in Assisi in 1209, Clare of Assisi became deeply touched by his message and she realized her calling.^[17] Her brother Rufino also joined the new order.

On Palm Sunday, March 28, 1211, Francis received Clare at the Porziuncola and hereby established the Order of Poor Ladies, later called Poor Clares.^[17] This was an order for women, and he gave a religious habit, or dress, similar to his own to the noblewoman later known as St. Clare of Assisi, before he then lodged her and a few companions in the church of San Damiano.^[3] There they were joined by many other women of Assisi. For those who could not leave their homes, he later formed the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. This was a lay fraternity whose members neither withdrew from the world nor took religious vows. Instead, they carried out the principles of Franciscan life.^[3] Before long this order grew beyond Italy.

Determined to bring the Gospel to all God’s creatures, Francis sought on several occasions to take his message out of Italy. In the late spring of 1212, he set out for Jerusalem, but he was shipwrecked by a storm on the Dalmatian coast, forcing him to return to Italy. On May 8, 1213, he was given the use of the mountain of La Verna (Alverna) as a gift from the count Orlando di Chiusi who described it as “eminently suitable for whoever wishes to do penance in a place remote from mankind.”^[18][19] The mountain would become one of his favorite retreats for prayer.^[19] In the same year, Francis sailed for Morocco, but this time an illness forced him to break off his journey in Spain. Back in Assisi, several noblemen (among them Tommaso da Celano, who would later write the biography of St. Francis) and some well-educated men joined his order. In 1215, Francis went again to Rome for the Fourth Lateran Council. During this time, he probably met Dominic de Guzman^[1] (later to be Saint Dominic, the founder of the Friars Preachers, another Catholic religious order). In 1217 he offered to go to France. Cardinal Ugolino of Segni (the future Pope Gregory IX), an early and important supporter of Francis, advised him against this and said that he was still needed in Italy.

St. Francis before the Sultan — the alleged trial by fire (fresco, Giotto attrib.)

In 1219, accompanied by another friar and hoping to convert the Sultan of Egypt or win martyrdom in the attempt, Francis went to Egypt where a Crusader army had been encamped for over a year besieging the walled city of Damietta two miles (3.2 kilometers) upstream from the mouth of one of the main channels of the Nile. The Sultan, al-Kamil, a nephew of Saladin, had succeeded his father as Sultan of Egypt in 1218 and was encamped upstream of Damietta, unable to relieve it. A bloody and futile attack on the city was launched by the Christians on 29 August 1219, following which both sides agreed to a ceasefire which lasted four weeks.^[20] It was most probably during this interlude that Francis and his companion crossed the Saracen lines and were brought before the Sultan, remaining in his camp for a few days.^[21] The visit is reported in contemporary Crusader sources and in the earliest biographies of Francis, but they give no information about what transpired during the encounter beyond noting that the Sultan received Francis graciously and that Francis preached to the Saracens without effect, returning unharmed to the Crusader camp.^[22] No contemporary Arab source mentions the visit.^[23] One detail, added by Bonaventure in the official life of Francis (written forty years after the event), concerns an alleged challenge by Francis offering trial-by-fire in order to prove the veracity of the Christian gospel.^[24] Although Bonaventure does not suggest as much, subsequent biographies went further, claiming that a fire was kindled which Francis unhesitatingly entered without suffering burns. Such an incident is depicted in the late 13th c. fresco cycle, attributed to Giotto, in the upper basilica at Assisi (see accompanying illustration).^[25] According to some late sources, the Sultan gave Francis permission to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land and even to preach there. All that can safely be asserted is that Francis and his companion left the Crusader camp for Acre, from where they embarked for Italy in the latter half of 1220. Drawing on a 1267 sermon by Bonaventure, later sources report that the Sultan secretly converted or accepted a death-bed baptism as a result of the encounter with Francis.^[26] The Franciscan Order has been present in the Holy Land almost uninterruptedly since 1217 when brother Elias arrived at Acre. It received concessions from the Mameluke Sultan in 1333 with regard to certain Holy Places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and (so far as concerns the Catholic Church) jurisdictional privileges from Pope Clement VI in 1342.^[27]