TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – NOV 14
1680 Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680 (Kirch’s Comet/Newton’s Comet)
1812 As Napoleon Bonaparte’s army retreats form Moscow, temperatures drop to 20 degrees below zero.
1832 The first streetcar went into operation in New York City, NY. The vehicle was horse-drawn and had room for 30 people.
1851 Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick is published in New York.
1881 Charles J. Guiteau’s trial began for the assassination of U.S. President Garfield. Guiteau was convicted and hanged the following year.
1882 Billy Clairborne, a survivor of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, loses his life in a shoot-out with Buckskin Frank Leslie.
1896 Power plant at Niagara Falls begins operation
1908 Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light.
1921 The Cherokee Indians ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review their claim to 1 million acres of land in Texas.
1923 According to a report originating from Munich, Germany a revolt was planned by student rebels. Over 50,000 young men volunteered to demonstrate in a march against machine guns.
1930 Right-wing militarists in Japan attempt to assassinate Premier Hamagushi.
1934 The most ambitious slum clearance in New York City has been agreed today by the PWA ( Public Works Administration ) and New York City with 20 acres on a 12 square block area in Williamsburg identified for the building of low cost housing and is estimated that it will house 2,500 families in two and three story apartment complexes when completed.
1935 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the Philippine Islands a free commonwealth after its new constitution was approved. The Tydings-McDuffie Act planned for the Phillipines to be completely independent by July 4, 1946.
1957 After years of speculation about a Mafia National Crime Syndicate controlling gambling, casinos and narcotics countrywide the existence of the Syndicate is confirmed when law enforcement officials raid Mafia boss Joseph Barbara home in Apalachin, New York, where 100 Mafia crime bosses from the United States, Canada and Italy have gathered to socialize and resolve the Mafia affairs .
1960 New Orleans integrates two all-white schools.
1960 President Dwight Eisenhower orders U.S. naval units into the Caribbean after Guatemala and Nicaragua charge Castro with starting uprisings.
1961 President Kennedy increases the number of American advisors in Vietnam from 1,000 to 16,000.
1972 Blue Ribbon Sports became Nike.
1979 US President Jimmy Carter freezes all Iranian assets in the United States in response to Iranian militants holding more than 50 Americans hostage.
1990 A big dilemma was raised regarding whether or not to send European troops to Saudi Arabia or to send them home. In fact, an AFN station in Nurnberg, Germany hosted a call-in show during which time people expressed their views regarding this matter. Up to 10,000 military personnel were expected to be transferred from Germany to Saudi Arabia. One woman called in saying that America should think before deciding to send troops home. (Don’t send them home, if they are going to be required to return to battle shortly afterwards.) .
1991 America is demanding that Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi hand over Libyan intelligence officers indicted in the US on 193 charges over the Pan Am flight 103 Lockerbie bombing in December 1988.
1994 U.S. experts visited North Korea’s main nuclear complex for the first time under an accord that opened such sites to outside inspections.
1995 Budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress forces temporary closure of national parks and museums; federal agencies forced to operate with skeleton staff.
1999 The United Nations imposed sanctions on Afghanistan because the ruling Taliban refuse to hand over terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden
2002 Nancy Pelosi of California became the first woman to lead a party in Congress.
2002 The Extreme Terrorist Taliban group was forced to move its army south. This terrorist group had to contend with forces such as local tribal troops. The United States took part in bombing the route on which the Taliban group was moving.
2003 The most distant object ever found in our solar system, named Sedna, was discovered by astronomers at the Mount Palomar Observatory.
2012 Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
