This Month in History
By: Luci Sullivan
Today may seem like just another day, but the majority of historical events occurred on dates that seem normal years later. Turns out there’s more to November than just Thanksgiving. November 1st: In 1512, Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited; in 1604, Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was first presented, and his romantic comedy Tempest was presented in 1611. November 2nd: Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1914; Sunday Express published the first British crossword puzzle in 1924; and, in 1955, the polio virus was discovered by Clarton-Schwerdt and Schaffer. November 3rd: In 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Dominica; in 1796, John Adams was elected as president of the United States; and in 1762, Britain and Spain signed the treaty of Paris. November 4th: The first wagon train arrived in California in 1841; in 1846, Benjamin Palmer patented the artificial leg; and the University of Washington was founded in Seattle in 1861. November 5th: The First Post Office in the colonies was set up in Massachusetts in 1639; the first US patent for a gasoline driven auto was granted in 1895; and Adolf Hitler informed his military leaders of his intentions of going to war during a secret meeting in 1937. November 6th: A supernova was observed in the constellation Cassiopeia in 1572; Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860; and in 1918, the Republic of Poland was proclaimed. November 7th: In 1805, Lewis and Clark sighted the Pacific Ocean; in 1929, New York City’s Museum of Modern Art opened; and in 1933, Pennsylvania voters overturned the blue law by permitting Sunday sports. November 8th: German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen produced and detected electromagnetic waves, now known as X-rays, in 1895; Montana was admitted as the 41st state of the Union in 1889; and in 1933, FDR was elected president for the first time. November 9th: In 1620, the Mayflower sighted land; in 1858, the New York Symphony Orchestra first performed; and the first airplane flight to last more than five minutes took place in 1904. November 10th: Congress formed the US Marine Corps in 1775; Granville T Woods patented the electric railway in 1891; and Walt Disney began reporting information on Hollywood troublemakers for the Los Angeles office of the FBI in 1940. November 11th: In 1647, the first compulsory school attendance law in the colonies was passed in Massachusetts; Alvan Clark patented the telescope in 1851; and in 1865, Mary Edward Walker, the first female surgeon, was awarded the Medal of Honor. November 12th: In 1923, Adolf Hitler was arrested for attempting to seize power on November 8th; in 1925, the United States and Italy signed a peace accord about war debts; and the first underwater tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, connecting New York and New Jersey opened in 1927. November 13th: The first US anti-slavery party convened in New York in 1839; Mt Rainier erupted in Washington in 1843; and the Disney film Fantasia, was released in 1940. November 14th: In 1851, Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick was published; New York World reporter Nellie Bly began her journey around the world (in less than 80 days) in 1889; and in 1908, Albert Einstein presented his Quantum Theory of Light. November 15th: The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Continental Congress in 1777; in 1806, the first issue of the first US college magazine was published; and the Walt Disney Art School was created in 1932. November 16th: In 1824, New York City’s Fifth Avenue opened for business; in 1840, New Zealand became a British colony; and in 1973, the Skylab 4 is launched into Earth orbit. November 17th: Congress held its first session in Washington DC in 1800; Lincoln began his first draft of the Gettysburg Address in 1863; and in 1928, Boston Garden officially opened. November 18th: Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting illegally in 1872; in 1902, toymaker Morris Michton named the teddy bear after president Teddy Roosevelt; and in 1911, Britain’s first seaplane flew. November 19th: In 1620, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod and explored the coast; in 1805, Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean; and Frederick E. Blaisedell patented the pencil in 1895. November 20th: The first municipally owned airport in the United States opened in Tucson, Arizona in 1919; Garrett Morgan invented and patented the traffic signal in 1923; and in 1947, the first permanent television was installed on a seagoing vessel. November 21st: In 1789, North Carolina ratified the Constitution and became the 12th state of the United States; in 1871, the first human cannonball, Emilio Onra, was shot; and in 1935, a commercial airplane crossed the Pacific Ocean for the first time. November 22nd: Mount St Helens erupted in 1842; the first snowmobile patent was granted to Carl Eliason in 1927; and the Human Society formed in 1954. November 23rd: In 1897, the pencil sharpener was patented by J. L. Love; in 1909, the Wright brothers formed a million dollar corporation to manufacture airplanes; and Japan bombed Port Darwin, Australia in 1942. November 24th: Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859; the FBI Crime Lab officially opened in 1932; and in 1969, Apollo 12 returned to Earth. November 25th: The first English patent was granted to an American (for processing corn) in 1715; in 1817, the first sword swallower in the U.S. performed; and Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer appeared on music charts in 1949. November 26th: In 1778, Captain Cook discovered Maui in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii); in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland was published in the United States; and the first meteor photograph was taken in 1885. November 27th: In 1895, Alfred Nobel’s will established Nobel Prizes; New York’s Penn Station opened as the world’s largest railway terminal in 1910; and an audience threw vegetables at actors for the first recorded time in US history in 1911. November 28th: Blackbeard captured a French merchant vessel, La Concorde, which he would later rename the Queen Anne’s Revenge in 1717; Panama declared its independence from Spain in 1821; and in 1853, Olympia formed as capital of Washington territory. November 29th: In 1847, Native Americans killed Washington pioneers Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in Walla Walla; in 1877, Thomas Edison demonstrated his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time, and the United States received rights to Pearl Harbor in 1887. November 30th: Britain signed an agreement recognizing US independence in 1782; Pike Place Market in Seattle was dedicated in 1907; and in 1886, the first commercially successful AC power plant opened in Buffalo, New York. |
Random Acts of Kindness in the News
By: Luci Sullivan
In modern society, the bad news is reported much more often than the positive. Oil spills, market crashes, wars, climate change, are the norm nowadays. What the media doesn’t always cover is the small things that people do to help others and make their day better. In the middle of rush hour in a downtown Chicago McDonald’s, when an elderly, disabled customer approached a cashier working his shift, asking for help with eating his meal, the McDonald’s employee shut down his cash register and went to help the man, even though the restaurant was busy. He could have easily handed off the task to another employee who wasn’t occupied, or just ignored the man altogether. He could have been punished for leaving his register but the kind worker did it anyway. Although the handicapped man was very grateful, the only person in the crowded restaurant who noticed this act of kindness was another customer waiting in line to order. As one woman at a bus stop was unloading luggage from a rental car which she needed to return, mentally challenged daughter in tow, a young woman exiting another bus came and helped them unload. The woman left her daughter waiting in line at the bus stop with the luggage, and drove over to the rental car office to drop off the car, intending to walk the block-and-a-half back to the bus stop. After she left the keys in the lobby box, she turned and saw the same young lady, who asked if she was going to walk back. When she said yes, the young woman replied, “No, you are not- I will ride you.” Then she went to get her car from a garage and drove the woman back to meet her daughter at the bus station. In the parking lot of a veterinary clinic, as an elderly woman with a cane was attaching a leash to the collar of her Yorkie, the dog slipped its head out of the collar and jumped out of the car. Before long, the small dog was across the parking lot, almost in the traffic. The owner tried get the dog back by calling it and chasing after it as fast as possible, but was not successful. The dog was out in the street when two women stopped traffic, and got out of their cars. One deftly scooped the dog up and handed it to its owner. These acts of kindness were simple for the people doing them, but they meant the world to those on the receiving end. For more stories, inspirational quotes, and ideas for kind acts, go to www.randomactsofkindness.org. |