On This Day In History
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World War I: Battle of Beersheba in southern Palestine – “last successful cavalry charge in history” performed by the 4th Australian Light Horse
Today in History in 1917
Would You Believe?
Giacomo Casanova escapes from prison in Venice by climbing onto the roof
Today in History in 1756
November 1st
1755 Lisbon earthquake kills more than 50,000 in Portugal
1814 Congress of Vienna opens to re-draw the European political map after the defeat of France, in the Napoleonic Wars
1894 Vaccine for diphtheria announced by Dr Émile Roux of Paris
1916 Paul Miliukov delivers in the Russian State Duma the famous “stupidity or treason” speech, precipitating the downfall of the Boris Stürmer government
1952 “Ivy Mike”, the first thermonuclear weapon to utilize the H-bomb design of Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam, is detonated in the Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean
2012 Scientists detect evidence of light from the universe’s first stars, predicted to have formed 500 million years after the big bang
Did You Know?
First published reference to poker (as Mississippi riverboat game)
Today in History in 1834
Would You Believe?
Montreal Canadiens’ goal tender Jacques Plante becomes first NHL net-minder to wear a fibreglass protective face mask
Today in History in 1959
November 2nd
1875 Verney Cameroon reaches Benguela in Angola, from Africa’s east coast, 1st European to cross equatorial Africa
1917 Balfour Declaration proclaims support for a Jewish state in Palestine
1930 Coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen as Haile Selassie I, 225th Emperor of Ethiopian Solmonic Dynasty
1949 The Netherlands recognizes its former colony Indonesia as a sovereign state
1966 The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the US
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Cheerleading begins in the United States as Johnny Campbell leads the crowd cheering on the football team at the University of Minnesota
Today in History in 1898
Would You Believe?
The “Great Emu War” begins: Australian soldiers armed with Lewis Guns sought to cull the Emu population over crop destruction in Campion district, Western Australia
Today in History in 1932
November 3rd
644 Umar ibn al-Khattab, second Muslim caliph, is killed in Medina by Lu’lu, an enslaved Persian captive
1534 English parliament passes the Act of Supremacy making Henry VIII and all subsequent monarchs the Head of the Church of England
1620 Great Patent granted to Plymouth Colony
1640 English Long Parliament forms
1906 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Berlin selects “SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal as the worldwide standard for help
1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard, a mostly-Siberian husky, the 1st animal in space
1970 US President Richard Nixon promises gradual troop removal of Vietnam
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Turkey switches from Arabic to Roman alphabet
Today in History in 1928
Would You Believe?
The Times of India, world’s largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce
Today in History in 1838
November 4th
1576 Eighty Years’ War: In Flanders, Spanish defeat Walloon and capture Antwerp
1841 First wagon train arrives in California after a five and a half month and 1,730 mile journey over the Sierra Nevada from Missouri [1]
1845 First nationally observed uniform election day in the United States, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November
1862 American inventor Richard Jordan Gatling patents the hand cranked Gatling machine gun in Indianapolis
1879 African American inventor Thomas Elkins patents the Refrigerating Apparatus [1]
1922 Howard Carter discovers the intact tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun in Egypt
2008 Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States, defeating Republican candidate John McCain
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James Ritty patents first cash register, to combat stealing by bartenders in his saloon in Dayton, Ohio
Today in History in 1879
Would You Believe?
John Lennon utters his infamous line at a Royal Variety Performance “Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And for the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry…” in London
Today in History in 1963
November 5th
1492 Christopher Columbus learns how to grow and harvest maize (corn) from Cuba’s indigenous population
1556 Second Battle of Panipat: Hindu Emperor of north India Hem Chandra Vikramaditya defeated by forces of Mughal Emperor Akbar, who captures and later beheads Hem Chandra
1605 Gunpowder Plot: Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up King James I and the British Parliament. Plot discovered, Guy Fawkes caught, tortured and later executed along with seven others. Celebrated ever since as Guy Fawkes Day, where his effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, accompanied by fireworks.
1937 Adolf Hitler informs his military leaders in a secret meeting of his intentions of going to war
1956 Britain and France land airborne forces at Port Said in Egypt, escalating the Suez Crisis
1979 Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini describes the United States as “The Great Satan” amid accusations of imperialism and the sponsoring of corruption
Did You Know?
Parker Brothers launches the board game Monopoly
Today in History in 1935
Would You Believe?
Louisa Woosley first women to be ordained as a minister in any Presbyterian denomination (US Cumberland Presbyterian Church).
Today in History in 1889
November 7th
1492 Ensisheim Meteorite strikes a wheat field near the village of Ensisheim in Alsace, France. Oldest meteorite with a known date of impact.
1872 Cargo ship Mary Celeste sails from Staten Island for Genoa; mysteriously found abandoned four weeks later
1917 [OS Oct 25] October Revolution in Russia; Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power, capture the Winter Palace and overthrow the Provisional Government.
1931 Chinese People’s Republic proclaimed by Mao Zedong
2000 Controversial US presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore is inconclusive; the result, in Bush’s favor, is eventually resolved by the Supreme Court
2020 Former Vice-President Joe Biden declared the winner of the US Presidential race, four days after the US election, defeating sitting President Donald Trump
Did You Know?
1st cartoon depicting elephant as Republican Party symbol, by Thomas Nast
Today in History in 1874
Would You Believe?
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration discovers one of the country’s largest LSD labs inside a converted military missile silo in Wamego, Kansas
Today in History in 2000