SPEEKERBOXX

 What Happened Today... November 1st

1512 - Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome were revealed to the public for the first time. Michelangelo painted the frescoes, considered some of the finest pictorial images of all time, while lying on his back on a scaffolding high above the chapel floor.

1755 - An earthquake felt across the European continent destroyed Lisbon. The earthquake caused the destruction of property, fires, and a tsunami. Most of the over 60,000 people that died drowned in the enormous tidal wave.

1894 - The magazine Billboard began publication, devoting itself at the time to the "interests of advertisers, poster printers, bill posters, advertising agents and secretaries of fairs." It evolved from a 19th-century trade paper covering current issues to an international newsweekly of music and home entertainment.

1936 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed the Rome-Berlin Axis after a visit to Berlin by Italian foreign secretary Ciano.

1952 - The United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.

1968 - George Harrison’s soundtrack LP, "Wonderwall", the first solo album by a Beatle, was released. The album was the first on the new Apple label.

1993 - The Maastricht Treaty came into effect, creating a new "European Union."

1995 - South Africans voted in their first all-race local government elections, completing the destruction of the apartheid system.

1997 - James Cameron's romantic tragedy, Titanic, made its world premiere at the Tokyo International film festival.

What Happened Today... November 2nd

1721 - Peter I was proclaimed Emperor of All the Russias.

1783 - General George Washington issued his ``Farewell Address to the Army'' near Princeton, New Jersey.

1785 - The first lifeboat was patented by London coachbuilder Lionel Lukin.

1841 - Following the British occupation of Kabul, Afghans revolted and murdered Sir Alexander Burnes and 23 others heralding the start of the second Afghan War.

1917 - Arthur James Balfour, British foreign secretary, submitted a declaration of intent, known as the Balfour Declaration, to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

1929 - The Embassy Theatre, a new type of motion-picture theatre specializing only in newsreels, opened in New York City. It was the first of its kind in film history.

1931 - The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware announced DuPrene, the first synthetic rubber.

1936 - The first public regular high definition television service was inaugurated by the BBC at Alexander Palace on this day using 240 and 405 lines.

1938 - Hungary annexed southern Slovakia following the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia at the Munich agreement in September.

1950 - Playwright George Bernard Shaw died in England, at age 94, of a kidney bladder infection.

1953 - Pakistan's parliament declared the country "the Islamic Republic of Pakistan."

1962 - During the Cuban Missile Crisis, United States President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet missile bases in Cuba were being dismantled.

1978 - Two Soviet cosmonauts returned to earth from the Salyut 6 space station after setting a new endurance record of 139 days, 14 hours. 

1983 - United States president Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

1986 - In New York City, a record price was set for a poison apple when the 12-by-16-inch celluloid, from Disney’s "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", was sold for $30,800.

1995 - The immensely popular Seinfeld episode, "The Soup Nazi", first aired on NBC.

1995 - The Argentine Supreme Court ordered the extradition to Italy of former SS captain Erich Priebke to face trial for a World War II massacre of prisoners in the Ardeatine Caves.

What Happened Today... November 3rd

 1493 - Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Dominica. Also on this day, the country became independent in 1978.

1507 - Leonardo DaVinci was commissioned to paint the portrait that became known as the Mona Lisa.

1534 - England's Parliament met and passed an Act of Supremacy which made King Henry VIII head of the English church -- a role formerly held by the Pope.

1591 - The Lord of Leitrim in Ireland, Sir Brian O'Rourke, was executed for sheltering Spaniards from the defeated Armada.

1900 - The autoware from 31 car makers went on display for the first National Automobile Show, which opened in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1918 - Part of the German fleet mutinied at Kiel.

1942 - In Egypt, the German Afrika Korps and Italian forces under Rommel began a retreat westwards after a renewed campaign by the allies under Montgomery.

1952 - For the first time, frozen bread was sold. The bread could be found at a supermarket in Chester, New York. It was an invention of a local baker using the quick-freeze technology Clarence Birdseye of frozen food developed.

1957 - A mongrel dog named Laika became the first animal to be launched into space. Laika, projected inside the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2, died after a few days in orbit because the craft was not designed for recovery and the batteries of her life-support system eventually went down. 

1979 - Five radicals were killed when gunfire erupted during an anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Greensboro, North Carolina, after a caravan of Klansmen and Nazis had driven into the area.

1982 - Up to 1,000 Soviet soldiers and Afghan civilians died in an accident in the Salang tunnel in Afghanistan when a tanker exploded near Soviet military convoys.

1991 - Israeli and Palestinian representatives held their first face-to-face talks.

1992 - Bill Clinton was elected as the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President Bush.

What Happened Today... November 4th

1307 - The Swiss Confederation declared itself independent of Austria.

1605 - In London, Guy Fawkes was arrested under the House of Commons preparing gunpowder to blow up the building when Parliament re-assembled the next day.

1846 - B.F. Palmer of Meredith, New Hampshire patented an artificial leg.

1854 - Florence Nightingale and a team of 38 nurses arrived in the Crimea to set up a hospital for British troops at Scutari.

1862 - The first rapid-fire machine gun was patented by Richard Jordan Gatling in Indianapolis, and named after him.

1879 - The first cash register was patented by James J. Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.

1890 - The first electrified underground railway system was officially opened in London.

1918 - The allied powers in World War I agreed on peace terms for Germany based on United States President Wilson's "Fourteen Points."

1922 - English archaeologist Howard Carter found the first signs of what proved to be King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Tombs of Kings in Egypt.

1942 - British troops defeated the Germans under General Rommel at El Alamein after a 12-day battle.

1946 - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was formed.

1956 - Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian uprising. Imre Nagy was ousted as prime minister and replaced by Janos Kadar.

1966 - The worst floods in Italy's history affected a third of the country. Florence was cut off and many of the city's art treasures were damaged. 

1977 - The United Nations imposed a mandatory ban on arms supplies to South Africa in an effort to force the country out of Namibia.

1979 - Iranian militants seized the United States embassy in Tehran and captured 90 hostages; 52 were held captive for 444 days.

1982 - The United Nations passed a resolution calling on Argentina and Britain to discuss sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

1984 - Rockstar Prince started his fall tour in Detroit, Michigan, breaking the record for sold-out performances at the 20,000-seat Joe Louis Arena. The previous record-holder was Neil Diamond in 1983.

1997 - In one of the largest religious gatherings in United States history, hundreds of thousands of men attended a Promise Keepers rally at the Mall in Washington, D.C.

What Happened Today... November 5th

1605 - The Gunpowder Plot failed when Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

1733 - Printer and journalist John Peter Zenger published the first issue of the "New York Weekly Journal".

1854 - In the Crimean War, British and French armies defeated a Russian force of 50,000 at the battle of Inkerman; 12,000 Russians were killed in the battle.

1872 - Suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in a presidential election.

1895 - George Seldon got a patent for the automobile, which he sold four years later, for $200,000.

1911 - Italy announced the annexation of Libya, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.

1911 - The first transcontinental flight across the United States ended at Pasadena. Pilot C.P. Snow took off from Sheepshead Bay, New York, on September 17 and covered a distance of 3,417 miles.

1928 - Mount Etna in Sicily erupted, destroying a large area. The village of Mascali was completely buried.

1935 - The game "Monopoly" was introduced by the Parker Brothers Company.

1955 - Formally opened today was the Vienna State Opera House in Austria, celebrating the close of 17 years of foreign occupation.

1956 - In the Suez Crisis, British and French troops began to land at Port Said, Egypt.

1965 - Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith declared a state of emergency in preparation for his unilateral declaration of independence from Britain.

1978 - Iranian Prime Minister Jaafar Sharif-Emami resigned following riots and demonstrations against the Shah.

1987 - In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, former leader of the African National Congress, was released from prison after 23 years.

1990 - Meir Kahane, an American-born rabbi who advocated expelling all Arabs from Israel, was shot dead in New York.

1995 - Former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti was charged with complicity in murder.

1996 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin came through seven hours of open heart surgery. He resumed full presidential duties the next day.

1996 - Democrat Bill Clinton was re-elected United States president, defeating Republican Bob Dole.

What Happened Today... November 6th

1429 - Henry VI was crowned king of England, seven years after acceding to the throne at the age of eight months.

1860 - The New Princess's Theatre opened in London with the performance of Hamlet, with Edwin Booth, the distinguished and famous actor-brother of John Wilkes Booth, as the Prince of Denmark.

1913 - Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested as he led a march of Indian miners in South Africa.

1928 - Jacob Schick patented the first electric razor.

1932 - In German elections, the Nazis lost 34 seats and two million votes but still remained the largest party in the Reichstag with 196 seats.

1943 - After more than two years of German rule, the Russians recaptured Kiev.

1955 - Police dispersed soccer fans in Naples, Italy, who tried to kill an umpire for awarding a tying penalty kick to the visiting Bologna team. The brawl claimed 152 casualties.

1975 - King Hassan launched the "Green March" with 350,000 unarmed Moroccans waving flags and copies of the Koran crossing into Western Sahara. Spain agreed days later to transfer administration to Morocco and Mauritania.

1986 - A Chinook helicopter carrying oil workers crashed into the North Sea; 45 of the 47 on board died.

1991 - Kuwait celebrated the dousing of the last of the oil fires ignited by Iraq during the Persian Gulf War.

1995 - Israel buried Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by a fellow Jew who opposed peace with Palestinians.

1996 - Croatia became the 40th member of the Council of Europe.

1996 - More than 2,000 people were killed or lost at sea when a cyclone struck India's major crop-growing state of Andhra Pradesh.

What Happened Today... November 7th

1659 - The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed, ending the Franco-Spanish war of 1648-59.

1872 - The United States cargo ship Mary Celeste set sail from New York on a journey which ended when it was found mysteriously abandoned the following month.

1876 - Albert H. Hook of New York City patented the cigarette manufacturing machine.

1917 - Russian Bolsheviks under Lenin overthrew the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky in Petrograd.

1946 - In New York a coin-operated television receiver was displayed. To see various test patterns and a model of Felix the Cat, folks paid a quarter.

1951 - Singer/actor Frank Sinatra and film actress Ava Gardner were married in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

1972 - United States President Richard Nixon was re-elected for a second term, in a landslide over Democrat George McGovern. He became the first president to resign office.

1973 - United States and Egypt announced restoration of full diplomatic links for the first time since the 1967 Six-Day War.

1985 - Troops stormed Colombia's Palace of Justice to end a 24-hour siege by gunmen of the M-19 guerrilla movement; 95 people were killed.

1988 - Sugar Ray Leonard knocked out Donny Lalonde in Las Vegas to win both the WBC light heavy-weight and super middleweight titles. He, and Thomas Hearns, were the only two boxers to hold five separate world crowns in their careers.

1989 - The East German government resigned after pro-democracy protests.

1990 - Mary Robinson was elected in Ireland's first presidential election in 17 years, becoming the country's first woman president.

1991 - A San Francisco Superior Court judge scheduled a trial date in a $6.2-million suit against comedian Robin Williams, which was filed five years earlier by ex-lover Michelle Tish Carter. Carter claimed that Williams gave her herpes in 1982.

1992 - Alexander Dubcek, Czech leader who sought to install "socialism with a human face" in the Prague Spring of 1968, died from injuries suffered in a car crash.

1992 - Bill Clinton was elected as the 42nd president of the United States, defeating President Bush.

What Happened Today... November 8th

1520 - King Christian II ordered the massacre of Swedish bishops and nobles in what became known as the "Stockholm Bloodbath," helping to incite a Swedish war of liberation against Danish rule.

1793 - In Paris, the Louvre Museum opened. 

1917 - In Russia, the Council of People's Commissars was established as the new government of Russia, and it named Lenin as chairman, Trotsky as foreign commissar and Stalin as commissar of nationalities.

1923 - Adolf Hitler attempted to start a putsch in Munich's largest beer hall but was arrested two days later.

1939 - Frank Sinatra had his last recording session with the Harry James Band. "Every Day of My Life" and "Ciribiribin" were recorded.

1942 - Allied forces began landings in North Africa, beginning the Algeria-Morocco Campaign of World War II.

1960 - John F. Kennedy was elected United States president, with Lyndon Johnson as his vice president.

1967 - John Lennon’s "How I Won the War" opened in the United States. The film marked the first solo movie by a Beatle.

1972 - West and East Germany ended 23 years of Cold War antagonism by initialing a good-neighbour treaty which pledged mutual respect for the existence of two sovereign German states.

1984 - The first rescue attempt made on two crippled satellites occurred when space shuttle "Discovery" lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The mission's goal was accomplished on November 14th.

1987 - 11 people were killed when a bomb ripped through a crowd gathered for a Remembrance Day service at a war memorial in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

1998 - About 350,000 people rallied in Berlin against racist violence.

What Happened Today... November 9th

1872 - A fire destroyed nearly 1,000 buildings in Boston.

1911 - Applying for a patent on neon advertising signs was George Claude of Paris, France. You may have seen his handiwork for advertisers appearing on the Eiffel Tower at various times.

1938 - This night into the early morning hours of the next day saw store and house windows smashed throughout Germany's Jewish neighborhoods. Thousands of books including volumes of history, philosophy, poetry and religion became fuel for bonfires set throughout the ghettoes. Synagogues and the Torah scrolls inside burned to the ground during the destruction. 91 Jews were killed and over 30,000 arrested on what came to be called Kristallnacht (Crystal Night), a sign of the unconscionable death and destruction to come at the hands of the Nazis.

1963 - In Japan, about 450 miners were killed in a coal-dust explosion.

1984 - Frederick Hart's sculpture "Three Servicemen", was unveiled in Washington, DC as the final addition to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The statue faces the wall of names listing over 58,000 Americans who were either killed or reported missing in action during the Vietnam War.

1986 - Racecar driver Bobby Rahal won his first national auto racing driving title. During his career he earned $300,000 for six victories, including an Indy 500 win.

1989 - The Berlin Wall, the 27.9-mile-long symbol of the Cold War, that kept East and West Germany apart for 28 years, was opened. German citizens from both sides celebrated their freedom as once again they could walk freely between the two states.

1990 - Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a non-aggression treaty with Germany.

What Happened Today... November 10th

1483 - Martin Luther, German religious reformer who began the Protestant Reformation, born.

1801 - In the United States the state of Tennessee outlawed the practice of dueling.

1885 - Paul Daimler became the world's first motor-cyclist when he rode his father Gottlieb's new invention for six miles.

1917 - 41 suffragists were arrested in front of the White House.

1939 - At the Auto Show in Chicago, Illinois, the first air-conditioned automobiles were displayed.

1942 - Buoyant after the desert victory at El Alamein, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

1960 - Britain and Romania signed a financial agreement providing for final settlement of British claims arising from their 1947 peace treaty.

1969 - Sesame Street premiered on PBS, featuring Jim Henson's Muppet characters and lie actors and cartoons. The teachings and antics of Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster filled the minds and hearts of thousands of preschool children, and the award-winning educational series was a tremendous success. Sesame Street was produced by the Children's Television Workshop.

1975 - The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution equating Zionism with racism. However, the world body repealed the resolution in December 1991.

1993 - John Wayne Bobbitt was acquitted on the charge of marital sexual assault against his wife who sexually mutilated him. Lorena Bobbitt was later acquitted of malicious wounding her husband.

What Happened Today... November 11th

1918 - An armistice for World War I was signed between Allies and Germany.

1940 - The Jeep made its debut.

1942 - During World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France.

1944 - Frank Sinatra began his long, successful career with Columbia Records.

1964 - Food shortages in India provoked riots in Kerala State.

1967 - Clinton Shaw set the world’s distance roller skating record. He arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland from Victoria, British Columbia after a trip of 4,900 miles to start his skating venture on April Fool’s Day. 

1973 - Egypt and Israel signed a cease-fire agreement sponsored by the United States, and began discussions to carry out the pact.

1987 - Boris Yeltsin, who criticized what he called the slow pace of Soviet reform, was removed as Moscow Communist Party chief.

1990 - China told Saddam Hussein it will not veto a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing military action to force Iraq out of Kuwait.

1992 - For the first time the Church of England allowed women to become priests. The Church of England was the only one of 28 Anglican state churches throughout the world to vote in favour of women.

1994 - A 72-page manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci's scientific diagrams and notes was sold at auction in New York for a record amount.

What Happened Today... November 12th

1859 - A flying trapeze act was performed for the first time in a circus.

1867 - A major eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy began and lasted for several months.

1918 - Austria was declared an independent republic, one day after the end of World War I.

1919 - The first flight from England to Australia, flown by Ross and Keith Smith, took off from Hounslow, near London. They landed at Darwin on December 13. 

1923 - In Germany, Adolf Hitler was arrested for failed attempt to seize power.

1927 - Joseph Stalin became ruler of the Soviet Union. 

1946 - The first drive-up bank facility, with ten teller windows with slide-out drawers, opened at the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, Illinois.

1954 - Ellis Island, the United States immigration station in New York harbor, closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants to the United States since 1892.  

1968 - The United Nations General Assembly voted against admission of Communist China.

1974 - South Africa was suspended from the United Nations General Assembly over its racial policies.

1979 - After Islamic students seized the United States Embassy in Tehran on November 4, President Jimmy Carter announced an immediate halt to all imports of Iranian oil.

1981 - The space shuttle Columbia was launched for the second time; it was the first space vehicle to be used more than once.

1996 - 349 people were killed when a Saudi Arabian jumbo jet and a Kazakh airliner collided in mid-air over India.

1997 - The United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on Iraq for constraints being placed on United Nations arms inspectors.

What Happened Today... November 13th

1887 - Socialist demonstrators rioted at London's Trafalgar Square in what was the first "Bloody Sunday."

1907 - The first helicopter to achieve free flight carrying a man, designed by Paul Cornu, rose six feet above the ground at Lisieux, France.

1930 - In Plainsboro, New Jersey, the first revolving milk platform was used, allowing 1,680 cows to be milked in seven hours.

1945 - General Charles De Gaulle was elected president of the French provisional government with the vote of all 555 deputies.

1970 - Hafez al-Assad seized power in Syria in a bloodless military coup.

1973 - A state of emergency was declared in Britain after power workers and coal miners began industrial action.

1973 - The "cod war" between Britain and Iceland subsided when the Icelandic parliament approved terms of settlement.

1985 - In Colombia, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted; an estimated 25,000 people died.

1989 - The Pakistani cabinet resigned, giving Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto a free hand to form a new government.

1994 - Swedes voted by 52.2 percent in a referendum to join the European Union.

1995 - Israel began pulling troops out of the West Bank city of Jenin to end 28 years of occupation.

1998 - United States President Bill Clinton agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000, without an apology or admission of guilt, to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit.

What Happened Today... November 14th

1851 - Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby Dick, was published in New York by Harper and Brothers.

1889 - Newspaper reporter Nellie Bly set off on her quest to voyage around the world in less then 80 days.

1940 - An air raid by about 500 German warplanes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry.

1951 - The first world lightweight boxing title fight was telecast across the United States. In Los Angeles, California, Jimmy Carter beat Art Aragon.

1963 - A new island was created off the Icelandic coast by an undersea volcanic eruption.

1966 - Boxing’s largest indoor crowd gathered at the Houston Astrodome in Texas to see Cassius Clay defeat and TKO Cleveland William.  

1988 - Pablo Picasso's "Motherhood" sold for $24.8 million in New York City, a record for a 20th-century piece of art and the third-highest price in history paid for a single artwork.

1991 - Michael Jackson's worldwide television premiere of his Black or White music video outraged thousands of home viewers with its gratuitous violence and sexual innuendo. During a 4-minute dance segment at the end of the video, Jackson simulated masturbation, smashed a car with a crowbar, and grabbed his crotch repeatedly. Following the weighty criticism from parents and religious organizations, Jackson released a formal apology through his press agent, and announced that he would delete the offensive footage. The music video, which was directed by John Landis and used an extensive amount of computer graphics, cost $4 million to produce.

1994 - The first fare-paying passengers on the new rail service traveled through the Channel Tunnel linking England and France.

What Happened Today... November 15th

1889 - Brazil became a republic.

1901 - Miller Reese of New York, patented the first hearing-aid. Unlike the hearing aids that we know today - this original was not portable.

1904 - The first razor with disposable blades was patented by King Camp Gillette. 

1920 - The League of Nations met for the first time.

1956 - Elvis Presley's first film, "Love Me Tender", premiered.

1966 - The flight of Gemini 12 ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic.

1969 - Bird's Eye frozen peas were the subject of the first color television advertisement in Britain.

1980 - West Germany has its first papal visit in 200 years.

1982 - Funeral services were held in Moscow's Red Square for the late Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev.

1985 - Britain and Ireland signed an accord giving Dublin an official consultative role in governing Northern Ireland.

What Happened Today... November 16th

1901 - In Brooklyn, New York, Henry Fournier drove a mile in 51 4/5 seconds, making him the first auto racer to drive over a mile-a-minute in competition.

1918 - After the break up of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Hungary was proclaimed an independent republic.

1965 - The Soviet Union launched its Venus III spacecraft en route to Venus. It arrived in March 1966; the first spacecraft to land on another planet. .

1986 - Gerber Products had a first for the baby food industry when it announced intentions to produce baby food in plastic jars, instead of glass.

1988 - Estonia's parliament declared the Baltic republic ``sovereign,'' but stopped short of complete independence.

1989 - Six Jesuit priests and two other people were slain by uniformed gunmen at the Jose Simeon Canas University in El Salvador. The attack later was blamed on Salvadoran army troops.

1995 - United Nations tribunal charged Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic with genocide.

What Happened Today... November 17th

1558 - Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.

1869 - The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.

1941 - Less than a month before Pearl Harbor, Japanese Prime Minister General Tojo outlined a three-point plan he said was aimed at peace in East Asia.

1941 - Ernst Udet, head of the German Luftwaffe Ordnance Department, committed suicide after disagreements with the Nazi leadership.

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

1986 - In Paris the managing director of the car firm Renault, Georges Besse, was shot dead by "Action Directe" terrorists.  

1993 - Judges from 11 nations were sworn in at the inaugural session of the United Naitons Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal -- the first such forum since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials judged World War II criminals.

1994 - Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds resigned to avoid defeat in parliament over his government's handling of a child sex-abuse case.

1994 - Francisco Martin Duran was indicted on a charge of trying to assassinate President Bill Clinton.

1999 - Israel's parliament overwhelmingly approved the Wye River land-for-peace accord with the Palestinians.

What Happened Today... November 18th

1189 - William II, the last Norman king of Sicily, died and was succeeded by Tancred the Bastard.

1477 - William Caxton produced the first printed book in the English language, "The Dictes and Sayengis of the Phylosophers."

1883 - The United States adopted standard time and divided the country into four time-zones.

1916 - General Douglas Haig called off the first Battle of the Somme in Europe after five months of futile battle, which included the first use of tanks in battle. The Allied advance of just 125 square miles claimed 420,000 British and 195,000 French casualties. German losses were over 650,000.

1918 - The Latvian National Council proclaimed the independent Republic of Latvia, with Janis Cakste as president.

1932 - For the first time the Oscars had a tie for the Best Actor Academy Award. Wallace Beery and Fredric March were separated by only one vote so the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ruled it a tie, giving both actors an Oscar. March thought funny the two were honored for "best male performance of the year" when they had each adopted a child that year.

1935 - Economic sanctions imposed on Italy by the League of Nations for its invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) took effect.

1936 - Germany under Adolf Hitler and Italy under Benito Mussolini both recognized General Francisco Franco's provisional government in Spain.  

1970 - West Germany and Poland initialed a treaty recognizing the Oder-Neisse line as a common border and pledging each other to territorial integrity.

1974 - Frank Sinatra left retirement to do a television special with dancer Gene Kelly. The show was a hit, reviving Sinatra’s career.

1976 - Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.  

1993 - Black and white leaders in South Africa approved the new democracy constitution, which gave blacks the right to vote and ended white minority rule.

1995 - The Vatican said the Roman Catholic ban on the ordination of women as priests was a definitive, infallible and unquestionable part of the Church's doctrine.

What Happened Today... November 19th

1895 - Frederick E. Blaisdell of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania patented the paper pencil, which was a pencil that writes on paper.

1941 - The Australian warship Sydney engaged the German raider Kormoran in a fierce battle in the Indian Ocean some 300 miles off the western coast of Australia. The Sydney sailed off and was never seen again, with 645 presumed dead.

1942 - Soviet Red Army troops began a massive counter-offensive against the Germans at Stalingrad.

1946 - The first UNESCO conference opened in Paris at which the organization attained full status as an agency.

1949 - Prince Rainier was sworn in as 30th ruling Prince of Monaco.

1959 - After 2 years and 110,847 cars, the last Edsel rolled off the assembly line. Ford Motor Company stopped production of the vehicle because of poor sales.

1972 - West German Chancellor Willy Brandt won a second term with an increased majority.

1985 - President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

1996 - A historic first meeting in the Vatican took place between the pope and veteran revolutionary Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

1997 - Iowa seamstress Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to four boys and three girls - only the second set of septuplets known to be born alive.

What Happened Today... November 20th

1789 - The United States Constitution's Bill of Rights was ratified.

1873 - In Hungary, the rival cities of Buda and Pesth were joined together to form the capital of the country.

1914 - Photographs became a requirement on passports from the United States State Department.

1941 - General Rommel with his Afrika Korps checked an advance of British armor at the battle of Sidi Rezegh.

1945 - The Allied Control Commission approved the transfer of six million Germans from Austria, Hungary and Poland back to West Germany.

1945 - The war crimes trials of 24 German World War II leaders began in Nuremberg.

1962 - President John F. Kennedy agreed to lift the American blockade of Cuba, ending the Cuban missile crisis.

1969 - In Rio de Janeiro, soccer star Pelé collected his 1,000th career goal.

1979 - Some 300 armed Shi'ite rebels seized the Great Mosque at Mecca and occupied it until December 4 when they were driven out by the army with many casualties.

1984 - The largest crowd to see the unveiling of a Hollywood Walk-of-Fame star watched as Michael Jackson's star took its place right in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California. With this event, ‘The Gloved One’ became star number 1,793 on the walk.

1992 - 20 paintings by Adolf Hitler went unsold at an auction after they failed to attract a single bid.

1998 - Afghanistan's Taliban militia offered safe haven to Osama bin Laden, accused of planning two United States Embassy bombings in Africa.

What Happened Today... November 21st

1877 - Thomas A. Edison, his ‘talking machine’ (phonograph). On February 19, 1878, Edison received a patent for it.

1920 - The Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot and killed 14 British soldiers in what became known as the country's first "Bloody Sunday."

1953 - The British Museum published a scientific report proving that the Piltdown Man discovery by Charles Dawson in 1912 was a hoax.

1980 - The "Who Shot J.R?" episode of the prime time drama, Dallas, aired and captured the highest television rating ever recorded at that time: a 53.3 rating and a 76 percent share of the total viewing audience. Internationally, over 100 million people watched the telecast. CBS charged advertisers a record $500,000 per 60-second commercial, a price tag matched only by the Super Bowl advertisers.  

1992 - The Anglican Church of Australia voted to allow women to become ordained as priests.

1995 - Parties at the Bosnia peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, agreed to an accord ending the bloody Balkan conflict.

What Happened Today... November 22nd

1497 - Portugal's Vasco Da Gama became the first navigator to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in his search for a sea route to India.

1842 - Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington erupted and became the the first volcano to erupt in America for which a date could be established.

1906 - Delegates atthe International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin, Germany voted to use SOS (...---...) as the letters for the new international signal. It stands for "Save Our Souls". SOS pads are named after a patented process, Soap on Steel.

1943 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, United States President Franklin Roosevelt and Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the war against Japan.

1943 - After 23 years of French rule, Lebanon achieved independence.

1963 - President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

1965 - The "Man of LaMancha", including the "The Impossible Dream", opened for the first of 2,328 performances in New York City.

1967 - The United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 242, calling for Israel to withdraw from territories it captured in 1967.

1975 - King Juan Carlos was sworn in as King of Spain, the first Spanish monarch since Alfonso XIII went into exile in 1931. General Francisco Franco, who had ruled Spain since 1939, died two days earlier.

1977 - The Anglo-French Concorde began regular flights to New York from London and Paris.

1986 - Mike Tyson, only 20 years and 4 months old, became the youngest to wear the world heavyweight boxing crown when he knocked out Travor Berbick in Las Vegas, Nevada.

What Happened Today... November 23rd

1859 - Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species," a revolutionary work on evolution, was published.

1906 - Singing-great Enrico Caruso was found guilty of molesting a young woman, Hannah Graham, in the Central Park Zoo monkey house. He had touched her left forearm with his right elbow. Caruso was fined $10 for the offense.  

1948 - Dr. Frank G. Back of New York City patented the Zoom lens, which was first used by NBC television in April of 1947.

1963 - The longest-running science-fiction show in television history, Dr. Who, debuted in England. It aired for the first time in the United States ten years later on PBS.

1983 - The Soviet Union walked out of arms limitation talks in Geneva in protest of the deployment of United States cruise missiles in Europe.

1995 - Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic forced Bosnian Serb hardliners to accept a United States-sponsored peace deal, the key to ending 3 1/2 years of United Nations sanctions on rump Yugoslavia

What Happened Today... November 24th

1642 - Abel Tasman discovered Van Diemen's land, named after his captain and later renamed Tasmania.

1874 - Joseph Farwell Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois patented barbed wire.

1922 - Robert Erskine Childers, Irish author and nationalist, was executed for his support of the republican cause.

1944 - Strasbourg was re-captured by a French armoured division under Leclerc with help from the United States Seventh Army.

1950 - Frank Loesser's musical comedy, "Guys and Dolls", opened at the 46th Street Theatre in New York City. The show ran for 1,200 performances.

1952 - Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" opened in London.

1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of President Kennedy, was shot dead by Jack Ruby at Dallas Police headquarters.

1991 - Flamboyant British rock star, Freddie Mercury, died in his sleep in England at age 45, just one day after he publicly announced he was suffering from AIDS. The charismatic lead singer of the group Queen, Mercury's death was the result of bronchopneumonia brought on by the AIDS virus. His sudden death stunned the rock world.

1995 - Ireland voted in a referendum on whether to end a 70-year-old ban on divorce. It passed 50.28 percent to 49.72 percent. 

What Happened Today... November 25th

1783 - The last British troops left New York City at the end of the American War of Independence.

1884 - J.B. Meyenberg, of St. Louis, Missouri patented evaporated milk.  

1936 - The Anti-Comintern Pact, an agreement between Japan and Germany to collaborate in opposition to the spread of Communism, was signed.

1941 - The British battleship Barham was sunk by a German U-boat off Sollum killing 848.

1949 - "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" hit the music charts, becoming THE musical hit for the Christmas season. Gene Autry’s rendition is the most popular, but 80 different versions of the song have been recorded, with almost 20,000,000 copies sold.

1952 - England suffered their first ever soccer defeat at Wembley stadium, losing 6-3 to Hungary.

1963 - United States President John F. Kennedy was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, three days after his assassination.

1971 - Denmark and Norway became the first NATO members to establish full diplomatic relations with North Vietnam.  

1974 - The Irish Republican Army was outlawed in Britain following the deaths of 21 people in a pub bombing in Birmingham three days previously.

1992 - The Czech parliament voted to split the country into separate Czech and Slovak republics from January 1, 1993.

1995 - Ireland voted to legalize divorce in the closest result in the nation's polling history, a margin of less than 1 percent.

What Happened Today... November 26th

1864 - Charles L. Dodgson, pen named Lewis Carroll, sent a handwritten manuscript to Alice Liddel, titled "Alice’s Adventures Underground", as an early Christmas present to the 12-year-old. The manuscript was later renamed "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass".

1914 - The British battleship Bulwark, carrying 750 men, blew up as it was loading ammunition; there were only 12 survivors.

1922 - Lord Carnarvon of England and Howard Carter of the United States discovered the tomb of The Boy King, Tutankhamen, in Egypt. The find was called, "The greatest archaeological discovery of all time." People in America shortened his name to Tut.

1940 - Germany began walling off the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, sealing in its 400,000 inhabitants.

1944 - The port of Antwerp was reopened and the Germans began attacking it with their new V-1 and V-2 rockets.

1950 - China entered the Korean conflict, launching a counter-offensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the United States and South Korea.

1965 - France launched its first satellite into orbit.

1966 - French President Charles De Gaulle opened the world's first tidal power station at the Rance estuary in Brittany.  

1970 - Pope Paul VI was attacked with a dagger by a Bolivian artist dressed as a priest at Manila airport, but was unhurt.

1988 - The United States, citing terrorist attacks on Americans, denied a request by PLO leader Yasser Arafat for a visa so he could address a session of the United Nations in New York.

1989 - In a national referendum, voters decided that Hungary's next president would be chosen by parliament, following free elections.

What Happened Today... November 27th

8 BC - The Latin poet Horace, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, died. He composed his "Satires" in 35 BC and the three books of "Odes" in 19 BC.

1701 - Anders Celsius was born in Sweden. Inventor of the Celsius temperature scale and the Celsius thermometer, he became professor of astronomy at the University of Uppsala in 1730.

1967 - French President Charles de Gaulle ruled out negotiations for an early British entry into the European Common Market. 

1975 - Ross McWhirter, co-editor and compiler of the Guinness Book of World Records, was shot dead by Irish Republican Army gunmen at his home.

1998 - Answering 81 questions put to him three weeks earlier, President Clinton wrote the House Judiciary Committee that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was "not false and misleading."

What Happened Today... November 28th

1520 - Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan passed through the strait, which bears his name to the Pacific Ocean.

1905 - The Irish political party Sinn Fein was founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith.  

1932 - Groucho Marx gave his first radio performance. With his fast-paced, ingenious patter, he gave birth to a new form of comedy.

1943 - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin gathered at Tehran for their first meeting to chart the future Allied course for World War II.

1963 - United States President Lyndon Johnson changed the name of Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Cape Kennedy, in honor of his assassinated predecessor. Residents changed the name back to Cape Canaveral in 1973.

1994 - Convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was clubbed to death in prison as he was cleaning a toilet.

1995 - Prime Ministers John Major of Britain and John Bruton of Ireland unveiled a new initiative for all-party talks on the future of the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland.

What Happened Today... November 29th

1932 - In New York City, Cole Porter's musical, "The Gay Divorcee," opened. It featured the classic, "Night and Day".

1944 - Albania was liberated from Nazi control.

1947 - The United Nations General Assembly allowed for a Jewish state in Palestine.  

1963 - United States President Lyndon Johnson named a commission, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination of President John Kennedy.

1974 - A bill to outlaw the Irish Republican Army became law in Britain.

1975 - Graham Hill, Formula One World Champion in 1962 and 1968, and father of champion racer Damon Hill, was killed in a light plane crash.

1990 - The United Nations Security Council voted to authorize military action against Iraq if Baghdad failed to withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991.

What Happened Today... November 30th

30 B.C. - Cleopatra died.

1936 - London's famed Crystal Palace was destroyed in a fire.

1939 - The Soviet Union invaded Finland.

1954 - In London, England, Sir Winston Churchill celebrated his 80th birthday. The festivities were supposedly the greatest ever held for a British subject.

1966 - Barbados gains independence from Britain.

1967 - Yemen, then Aden, gains independence from Britain.

1991 - Archaeologists unearthed a statue of Pharaoh Ramses II in Akhimim, Egypt.

1995 - Bill Clinton became the first United States president to visit Northern Ireland. He was greeted like a hero by protestants and Roman Catholics alike and said: "The time has come for the peacemakers to triumph in Northern Ireland."