From wikipedia.org:
Events
1782 - American Revolutionary War: In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized in the Treaty of Paris (1783))
1803 - At the Cabildo building in New Orleans, Spanish representatives Governor Manuel de Salcedo and the Marqués de Casa Calvo officially transfer Louisiana Territory to French representative Prefect Pierre Clément de Laussat (just 20 days later, France transferred the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase)
1804 - The Jeffersonian Republican-controlled United States Senate begin an impeachment trial against Federalist-partisan Supreme Court of the United States Justice Samuel Chase (he was charged with political bias but was acquitted by the Senate of all charges on March 1, 1805)
1872 - First ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Scotland
1886 - Folies Bergère stages its first revue
1902 - American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years hard labor
1936 - In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed in a fire (it had been built for the 1851 Great Exhibition)
1954 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, an 8.5 pound sulfide meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a Mrs. Elizabeth Hodges in her living room after bouncing off her radio, giving her a bad bruise (this is the only unequivocally known case of a human being hit by a space rock)
1960 - Production of the De Soto automobile brand ceases
1979 - Rock band Pink Floyd release the mega-selling rock opera The Wall
Births
539 - Gregory of Tours, bishop and historian (d. 594)
1466 - Andrea Doria, Italian naval leader (d. 1560)
1508 - Andrea Palladio, master builder (d. 1580)
1667 - Jonathan Swift, writer, satirist (d.1745)
1835 - Mark Twain, writer (d. 1910)
1874 - Sir Winston Churchill , British political leader, writer (d. 1965)
1874 - Lucy Maud Montgomery, author (d. 1942)
1915 - Brownie McGhee, musician (d.1996)
1918 - Efrem Zimbalist Jr., actor
1924 - Allan Sherman, comedian (d. 1973)
1927 - Richard Crenna, actor (d. 2003)
1927 - Robert Guillaume, actor
1929 - Dick Clark, television host
1952 - Mandy Patinkin, actor, singer
1962 - Bo Jackson, American football and baseball star
Deaths
1016 - King Ethelred the Unready
1718 - King Charles XII of Sweden
1830 - Pope Pius VIII (b. 1761)
1900 - Oscar Wilde, writer (b. 1854)
Holidays & observances
Saint Andrew’s day
30 November 2004
Today in History
29 November 2004
Could DNA Tests Solve the Mystery Of Miles Standish?
On wsj.com recently:
Could DNA Tests Solve the Mystery Of Miles Standish?
Thanks to Dick Eastman’s EOGN (Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter) for the pointer.
Today in History
From wikipedia.org:
Events
1777 - San Jose, California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California
1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time
1890 - In West Point, New York, the United States Navy defeats the United States Army 24 to 0 in the first Army-Navy football game
1929 - US Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole
1944 - World War II: Albania is liberated from German occupation
1944 - The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas
1948 - The children's television program Kukla, Fran and Ollie debuts
1961 - Mercury-Atlas 5 is launched with Enos the chimp aboard (the spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed-down off the coast of Puerto Rico)
1963 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
1965 - Canadian Satellite Alouette 2 is launched
Births
1797 - Gaetano Donizetti, opera composer (d. 1848)
1803 - Christian Doppler, physicist (d. 1853)
1832 - Louisa May Alcott, writer (d. 1888)
1849 - Sir Ambrose Fleming, physicist (d. 1945)
1898 - C. S. Lewis, writer (d. 1963)
1917 - Merle Travis, country music singer (d. 1983)
1927 - Vin Scully, baseball announcer
1933 - John Mayall, blues musician
Deaths
1268 - Pope Clement IV
1643 - Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer
1924 - Giacomo Puccini, composer
1954 - Enrico Fermi, physicist
1975 - Graham Hill, automobile racer
1979 - Zeppo Marx, actor, comedian (b. 1901)
On This Day
From the BBC:
1975: Graham Hill killed in air crash
1993: Secret meetings with IRA revealed
28 November 2004
Windows Strikes Again
From theregister.co.uk last Friday:
DWP kills 60k PCs in Windows XP upgrade lash-up
Now This Is Pretty Sad and Sorry
On theregister.com.uk tomorrow morning:
Woman blows $950k on Amex card (and sues AmEx)
It won’t be long before this shows up in This Is True; I can’t wait to hear Randy’s “take”.
Yoo Hoo, Feds: Get the H*ll Out of States’ Business!!
From the Christian Science Monitor’s Web site tomorrow morning:
Showdown over medical marijuana
Nothing Major. Yet.
From TechNewsWorld today:
Technology News: Science: Mount St. Helens Crater Shaken by Earthquake
Today in History
From wikipedia.org:
Events
1095 - On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appointed bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land
1520 - After navigating through the South American strait, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
1582 - In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a 40-pound bond for their marriage license
1660 - At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society
1895 - First American Automobile race. 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in about 10 hours
1905 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party whose goal is the independence for all of Ireland
1907 - In Haverhill, Massachusetts, scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer opens his first movie theater
1912 - Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire
1914 - World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading
1920 - The Mask of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. opens.
1925 - Country-variety show Grand Ole Opry makes its radio debut on station WSM
1964 - Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars
1984 - Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States
1995 - US President Bill Clinton signs a highway bill that ends the federal 55 mph speed limit
Births
1628 - John Bunyan, cleric, author (Pilgrim’s Progress) (d. 1688)
1632 - Jean-Baptiste Lully, composer (d. 1687)
1757 - William Blake, poet, painter (d. 1827)
1943 - Randy Newman, composer, musician
1949 - Alexander Godunov, composer, ballet dancer (d. 1995)
1988 - Scarlett Pomers, actress (Star Trek: Voyager, Reba)
Deaths
741 - St. Gregory III, Pope
1170 - Owain Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd
1939 - James A Naismith, creator of basketball
1945 - Dwight Davis, donator of the Davis cup
1954 - Enrico Fermi, physicist
1962 - Queen Mother Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
On This Day
From the BBC:
1967: Racing is latest victim of foot-and-mouth
1971: Farmer cracks “major smuggling ring”
1999: Nude swordsman attacks churchgoers
27 November 2004
Stupid Person Trick
On newsday.com tomorrow morning:
Allentown gunman steals Salvation Army Red Kettle
And as if that weren’t enough, WANE-TV’s Web site has this to say about the Salvation Army and Target: Salvation Army Predicts $9 Million Less Collected
If you’re so inclined, here’re the 2004 kettle locations, and here’s the online Red Kettle.
Take That, er, Them, Los Angeles!
on latimes.com today:
‘Outsourcing’ of Homeless Stirs Intercity Debate
What Comes Around…
On USATODAY.com today:
Father arrested after attempt to discipline daughter backfires
Here’s a Dad With His Act Together!
From Annie’s Mailbox, 5 October 2004:
Dear Annie: I had to respond to the letter from “Confused in California,” who asked if it was acceptable if her fiancé registered for their wedding at Home Depot for tools and gardening supplies. Thanks for saying it was OK.
I held a “man’s shower” for my son, asking the men to bring a tool to help him get started in his new home. They also had to explain how the tool was used and tell a story about it. It was enlightening, to say the least. My son received both knowledge and a good start on his tool collection. -- Dad of the Tool Man
Dear Dad: Sounds like fun, and we bet our readers will think so, too.
