TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: NOVEMBER 18
1477 First English dated printed book “Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers” by William Caxton
1626 St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome is officially dedicated.
1820 Captain Nathaniel Palmer discovered Antarctica.
1861 The first provisional meeting of the Confederate Congress is held in Richmond, Virginia.
1883 Canadian and American railroads adopt time zones. Prior to this, most cities had their own local time, making it difficult for railways to be on time and confusing passengers
1903 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty signed between Panama and the US. The treaty created the Panama Canal Zone and set up the terms for the construction of the Panama Canal. Until 1979, the Panama Canal Zone was a territory of the United States.
1906 Anarchists bomb St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
1916 British General Douglas Haig finally calls off the 1st Battle of the Somme in World War I after more than 1 million soldiers had been killed or wounded
1921 New York City considers varying work hours to avoid long traffic jams.
1928 Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” released, first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon
1939 The Irish Republican Army explodes three bombs in Piccadilly Circus.
1950 The Bureau of Mines discloses its first production of oil from coal in practical amounts.
1963 Push button phones are used for the first time
1966 U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays.
1976 Spain’s parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.
1978 In Jonestown, Guyana, 918 members of the Peoples Temple are murdered or commit suicide under the leadership of cult leader Jim Jones
1984 The Soviet Union helps deliver American wheat during the Ethiopian famine.
1993 The U.S. House of Representatives joined the U.S. Senate in approving legislation aimed at protecting abortion facilities, staff and patients.
1993 Twenty-one political parties approve a new constitution for South Africa that expands voter rights and ends the rule of the country’s white minority.
2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules the state’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional; the legislature fails to act within the mandated 180 days, and on May 17, 2004, Massachusetts becomes the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage.
2007 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suggested an end to the trading of oil in US dollars, and called the currency “a worthless piece of paper”. The call came at the end of the Opec summit, and was opposed by Saudi Arabia.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
