TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – NOV 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.
1865 Mark Twain’s first story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is published in the New York Saturday Press.
1883 Canadian and American railroads adopt time zones
1903 The U.S. and Panama signed a treaty that granted the U.S. rights to build the Panama Canal.
1906 Anarchists bomb St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
1916 General Douglas Haig finally calls off 1st Battle of the Somme (WWI) – over 1 million killed or wounded
1921 New York City considers varying work hours to avoid long traffic jams.
1922 – Italy / Mussolini Comes To Power He received strong support from the Parliament at this time, and served in the premier position until 1943.
1928 Mickey mouse makes his film debut in Steamboat Willie, the first animated talking picture.
1939 The Irish Republican Army explodes three bombs in Piccadilly Circus.
1940 George P. Metesky ( New York Mad Bomber ) leaves his first bomb on a Consolidated Edison power plant window sill which failed to go off. Between 1940 and 1956, he planted at least 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded, injuring 15 people before he was caught.
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.
1973 Arab oil companies have announced a shortage of supply. However, they have decided that Europe will not be affected
1978 Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones leads his followers to a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after cult member killed Congressman Leo J. Ryan of California.
1983 Argentina announces its ability to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
1984 The Soviet Union helps deliver American wheat during the Ethiopian famine.
1985 A two-day summit was planned with Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan present. The main order of concern during this meeting was to find a way to “relieve mankind of the treat of nuclear war.”
1985 Joe Theismann (Washington Redskins) broke his leg after being hit by Lawrence Taylor (New York Giants). The injury ended Theismann’s 12 year National Football League (NFL) career.
1987 The U.S. Congress issued the Iran-Contra Affair report. The report said that President Ronald Reagan bore “ultimate responsibility” for wrongdoing by his aides.
1988 U.S. President Reagan signed major legislation provided the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.
1991 Terry Waite the special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, is released by Shiite Muslims after more than four years of captivity. Prior to his kidnapping he had secured the release of missionaries in Iran, British hostages in Libya and American hostages in Lebanon.
1993 The U.S. House of Representatives joined the U.S. Senate in approving legislation aimed at protecting abortion facilities, staff and patients.
1999 A giant bonfire at Texas A&M University self-proclaimed to be the world’s largest prior to their school’s annual football game against their arch rival, the University of Texas collapsed and buried a number of students killing 12 students and injuring another 27.
2002 UN weapons inspectors under Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
2002 the federal government ruled government wire tapping as legal for appropriate reasons They began to use phone-tapping and surveillance equipment in order to track suspected terrorists.
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.
2005 A series of suicide bombings in Iraq have killed at least 60 people and injured 60 more as insurgents attacked a prominent Baghdad hotel, an apartment block in Baghdad and two mosques 90 miles north-east of the capital.
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”.
2011 The Pentagon has tested a long-range missile that is able to travel at five times the speed of sound
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
