TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – NOV 17
0375 Enraged by the insolence of barbarian envoys, Valentinian, the Emperor of the West, dies of apoplexy in Pannonia in Central Europe.
1278 680 Jews arrested (293 hanged) in England for counterfeiting coins
1558 The Church of England is re-established.
1558 Elizabeth I aged 25 ascends the English throne upon death of her half sister Queen “Bloody” Mary
1800 The Sixth Congress (2nd session) convenes for the first time in Washington, D.C.
1869 The Suez Canal is formally opened.
1903 Vladimir Lenin’s efforts to impose his own radical views on the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits the party into two factions, the Bolsheviks, who support Lenin, and the Mensheviks.
1918 Influenza deaths reported in the United States have far exceeded World War I casualties.
1951 Britain reports development of the world’s first nuclear-powered heating system.
1968 NBC cut away from the final minutes of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game to begin a TV special, “Heidi,” on schedule. The Raiders came from behind to beat the Jets 43-32.
1970 Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse
1973 Tough times for Nixon… President Nixon said “I am not a crook.”
1979 Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
1986 Renault President Georges Besse is shot to death by leftists of the Direct Action Group in Paris.
1989 Student demonstration in Prague put down by riot police, leading to an uprising (the Velvet Revolution) that will topple the communist government on Dec. 29.
1993 US Congress votes for NAFTA
1990 A mass grave was discovered by the bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand. The bodies were believed to be those of World War II prisoners of war.
1997 62 people were killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt. The attackers were killed by police.
2010 Reasearchers trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms. It was the first time humans had trapped antimatter.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
