November 12th: This Day in History

  

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history 

This day in the year 295 marked the origin of the Era of Ascension. In 764 on this day, Tibetan troops occupied Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days. In 1775 on this day, General Washington forbade recruiting officers to enlisting blacksJean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, was guillotined.on this day in 1793. On this day in 1948, Japanese war criminals were sentenced. Ellis Island officially closed on this day in 1954. In 1979 on this day, American President Jimmy Carter shut down oil imports from Iran. In 1990 on this day, Akihito became the Emperor of Japan.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

This day in the year 295 marked the origin of the Era of Ascension. On this day in 764, Tibetan troops occupied Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days. Lotharius became the King of France on this day in 954. Plymouth, England, became the first town incorporated by the English Parliament on this day in 1439. In 1555 on this day, the English Parliament re-established Catholicism. On this day in 1591, the Castilian army occupied Zaragoza. The Treaty of Xanten was signed on this day in 1614, Guliks-Kleefse War victory ended. Dutch troops under Willem III occupied Bonn on this day in 1673. On this day in 1682, Swedish King Karel XI established an absolute monarchy. France & Bavaria renewed a secret treaty on this day in 1727. On this day in 1775, General George Washington forbid recruiting officers to enlist blacks. Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, was guillotined on this day in 1793. Allied troops occupied Zwolle, Netherlands on this day in 1813. In 1823 on this day, Great North Holland Canal (Amsterdam) opened. Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, was the first to use chloroform as an anesthetic on this day in 1847. In 1859, Jules Leotard performed the first Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris). He also designed garment that bears his name. In 1873 on this day, Bay District Race Track opened. On this day in 1885, Montréal & Britannia Football Clubs (QRFU) defeated Ontario Combined Team (ORFU) 3-0 in CRFU Championship game. In 1893 on this day, the treaty of the Durand Line is signed between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Durand Line has gained international recognition as an international border between the two sister nations. On this day in 1899, British troops reached Durban, Natal, in present-day South Africa. In 1900 on this day, the World's Fair in Paris opened (ultimately having 50 million visitors). On this day in 1905 (November 12 & November 13), Norway held a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.

1906 - C W Gregory (NSW v Qld) starts day at 48*, is 366* at stumps

1910 - 1st Movie stunt: man jumps into Hudson river from a burning balloon

Naval Officer and Explorer Robert ScottNaval Officer and Explorer Robert Scott 1912 - Robert Scott's diary & dead body found in Antarctica

1914 - Turks sultan Jamal Pasja declares a German holy war

1915 - Britain annexes Gilbert & Ellice archipelago

1915 - Theodore W Richards is 1st American to win Nobel Prize in chemistry

1918 - Emperor Karl of Austria-Hungary abdicates, Austria becomes a republic

1919 - Ross & Keith Smith start a 1 month flight from London to Australia

1920 - Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis elected 1st baseball commissioner

1921 - Washington Conference for Limitation of Armaments

1922 - The Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority is founded on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1923 - In Germany, Adolf Hitler is arrested for attempt to sieze power Nov 8

1924 - Yeshivah Slobodka opens a branch in Chevron

1925 - US & Italy sign peace accord about war debts

1927 - 1st underwater tunnel, Holland Tunnel connecting NY to NJ opens

1927 - Notre Dame's Fighting Irish changes blue jerseys for green

1927 - Trotsky expelled from Soviet CP; Stalin becomes undisputed dictator

Russian Revolutionary Leon TrotskyRussian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky 1928 - British steamer "Vestris" capsizes & sinks off Virginia, kills 110

1931 - Maple Leaf Gardens opens in Toronto - Chic Blackhawks beat Leafs, 2-1

1931 - Sibelius/Ashton's ballet "Lady of Shalott," premieres in London

1932 - 24 killed at Lancashire mine explosion

1933 - 1st Sunday football game in Philadelphia (previously illegal)

1933 - 1st game at NFL Pitts Pirate's Forbes Field, lose to Bkln Dodgers 32-0

1933 - 1st known photo of Loch Ness monster (or whatever) is taken

1933 - Nazis receive 92% of vote in Germany

1936 - 1st TV Gardening show

1936 - Nobel for literature awarded to Eugene O'Neill

1936 - Oakland Bay Bridge opens

1936 - St Louis Browns sold to Donald L Barnes & William O DeWitt

1938 - Hermann Goering announces he wants Madagascar as a Jewish homeland

1939 - Jews in Lodz Poland ordered to wear yellow star of David

1940 - Blizzard strikes midwest, 154 die (69 on boat on Great Lakes)

Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann Goering 1941 - Germany's drive to take Moscow halted

1941 - WOV-AM & WNEW-AM in NYC swaps call letters

1942 - In World War II, battle of Guadalcanal began

1943 - Landwacht (NSB-political party) forms in Netherlands

1944 - RAF sink German battleship "Tirpitz" at Tromso Fjord Norway

1945 - Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Cordell Hull (establishing UN)

1946 - 1st "autobank" (banking by car) forms (Chicago)

1946 - Walt Disney's "Song Of South" released

1946 - A branch of the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, Illinois opens the first ten drive-up teller windows.

1947 - KPO-AM in San Francisco CA changes call letters to KNBC (now KNBR)

1947 - Schilderijenvervalser Han of Meegeren to 1 years jail sentenced

1948 - Japanese premier Hideki Tojo sentenced to death by war crimes tribunal

1950 - Gene Roberts sets NFL NY Giant rushing record (218 yds) vs Chic Cards

1951 - "Paint Your Wagon" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 289 performances

1952 - Phila A's pitcher Bobby Shantz wins AL MVP

1952 - White Sox place Jim Rivera on 1 year probation after cleared of rape

First Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-GurionFirst Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion 1953 - David Ben-Gurion, resigns as Prime Minister of Israel

1953 - US district Judge Grim, rules NFL can black out TV home games

1954 - Ellis Island, immigration station in NY Harbor, closed

1955 - 1st West German officers sworn in

1955 - E Arcaro, E Sande & G Woolf 1st inductees in Jockey hall of fame

1956 - Largest observed iceberg, 208 by 60 miles, 1st sighted

1958 - Bob Turley of Yankees wins Cy Young Award

1959 - White Sox 2B Nellie Fox wins AL's MVP

1960 - Coup against South Vietnam pres Ngo Dinh Diem fails

1960 - Mercury-Redstone 1 test launch fails at 10 cm altitude

1963 - Train crash in Japan, kills 164

1964 - Jean becomes Grand Duke of Luxembourg

1964 - Paula Murphy sets female land speed record 226.37 MPH

1965 - Ferdinand Marcos elected president of Philippines

1965 - General strike in Morocco against disappearance of Ben Barka

1965 - Mad Dog Vachon beats Crusher in Denver, to become NWA champ

1965 - Venera 2 launched by Soviet Union toward Venus

1966 - Dick The Bruiser beats Mad Dog Vachon in Omaha, to become NWA champ

1966 - Dodgers complete an 18-game tour of Japan with a 9-8-1 record

1966 - High schooler Robert Smith kills 7 for fame

1967 - Margie Masters wins LPGA Quality Chekd Golf Classic

1967 - Packers' Travis Williams returns 2 kickoffs for TDs against Browns, setting largest margin of Browns defeat (48), winning 55-7

1968 - KSEL (now KAMC) TV channel 28 in Lubbock, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting

1968 - Supreme Court declares Arkansas law banning teaching evolution in public schools unconstitutional

1969 - Author Alexander Solzhenitsyn expelled from Soviet Writers Union

1969 - Minnesota's Harmon Killebrew is voted AL MVP

1969 - US army announces investigating William Calley for alleged massacre of civilians at Vietnamese village of My Lai in March, 19

1969 - WJJY (now WJPT) TV channel 14 in Jacksonville, IL (ABC) 1st broadcast

1970 - 240 KPH cyclone hits East Pakistan (Bangladesh); 3-500,000 die

1970 - Cleveland Cavaliers 1st NBA victory (11th game), beating Portland 105-103

1970 - Scientists perform 1st artificial synthesis of a live cell

1973 - Dmitri Shostakovitch' 14th String Quartet premieres

1974 - South Africa suspended from UN General Assembly over racial policies

1975 - NY Mets Tom Seaver wins his 3rd Cy Young Award

1975 - Supreme Court Justice William O Douglas retired after 36 years

1977 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1977 - New Orleans elects 1st black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial

1978 - "Platinum" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 33 performances

1978 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Colgate Far East Golf Open

1979 - Pres Carter announces immediate halt to all imports of Iranian oil

1979 - Tony Franklin of Philadelphia Eagles kicks 59-yard field goal

1979 - US halts Iranian oil imports & freezes Iranian assets

1980 - Baltimore's Steve Stone wins AL Cy Young Award

1980 - NYC Mayor Ed Koch admits to trying marijuana

1980 - US space probe Voyager I approaches 77,000-mi (124,000 km) of Saturn

1981 - 1st balloon crossing of Pacific is completed (Double Eagle V)

1981 - 2nd shuttle mission-1st time spacecraft launched twice (Columbia 2)

1981 - Bill C Davis' "Mass Appeal," premieres in NYC

1981 - Billy Martin named AL Manager of Year (Oakland A's)

1981 - Great Britain performs nuclear test

1981 - Pilin Leon of Venezuela, crowned 31st Miss World

1982 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1982 - USSR KGB-chief Yuri V Andropov succeeds Leonid Brezhnev as USSR leader

1982 - Zaheer Abbas gets his 100th 100 in Test Cricket v India, goes to 215

1983 - 4 die in a train crash in Marshall Texas

1983 - NJ Devils 1st overtime game, lose to Calgary Flames 4-3

Musician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartneyMusician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartney 1984 - Paul McCartney releases "We All Stand Together"

1984 - Space shuttle astronauts snared a satellite 1st space salvage

1985 - R Hadlee takes 15-123 for Cricket match v Australia at Brisbane

1985 - STS 61-B vehicle moves to launch pad

1985 - Secretary in Ann Arbor Mich wounded by package bomb

1985 - Horse Racing Breeders' Cup Champs: Cozzene, Life's Magic, Pebbles, Precisionist, Proud Truth, Tasso, Twilight Ridge at Aqueduct

1986 - France performs nuclear test

1986 - Roger Clemens wins AL Cy Young Award unanimously

1987 - "Teddy & Alice" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 77 performances

1987 - Heavy snow closes schools from DC to Maine

1987 - Ulla Weigerstorfer of Austria, 20, crowned 37th Miss World

1988 - Japan beats MLB All-Star team 5-4 in Tokyo (Game 6 of 7)

1988 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1989 - "Grand Hotel" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 1018 performances

1989 - Brazil holds 1st free presidential election in 29 years

1989 - George Forest's musical "Grand Hotel," premieres in NYC

1990 - Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.

Computer scientist Tim Berners-LeeComputer scientist Tim Berners-Lee 1990 - Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

1991 - "Full House" 100th episode-twins are born

1991 - Atlanta Brave Tom Glavine wins NL Cy Young Award

1991 - Indonesian army shoots on funeral possession: 270-520 die

1991 - Dili Massacre, Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor.

1992 - NY Yankee pitcher Steve Howe is reinstated for 8th time

1995 - 25th NYC Women's Marathon won by Tegla Loroupe in 2:28:06

1995 - 26th NYC Marathon won by German Silva in 2:10:00

1995 - Last day of Test cricket for Martin Crowe

1995 - Marino breaks Tarkenton's NFL all-time passing yardage mark of 47,003

1995 - NY MTA raises subway & bus fares from $1.25 to $1.50

1995 - STS 74 (Atlantis 15), launches into orbit

1996 - Toronto's Pat Hentgen wins AL Cy Young Award

1997 - Dick Vitale signs with ESPN through year 2004

1997 - Pedro Martinez wins NL Cy Young Award

1998 - NY Islanders tie Detroit Red Wings 1-1, to end 10 game losing streak

1998 - Then Vice President of the United States Al Gore symbolically signs the Kyoto Protocol.

1999 - The Düzce earthquake strikes Turkey with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale.

2001 - 2001 Attack on Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.

2001 - In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 on its way to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.

2003 - With 501 km/h (311 mph) Shanghai Transrapid sets up a new world record for commercial railway systems.

2003 - Iraq war: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 Iraq war are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.

2006 - The former Soviet republic of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia.

2011 - Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy due, in large part, to the European sovereign debt crisis.

2012 - Into the Silence by Wade Davis wins the 2012 Samuel Johnson Prize

1799 - Andrew Ellicott Douglass witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys.   1815 - American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, NY.   1840 - Sculptor Auguste Rodin was born in Paris. His most widely known works are "The Kiss" and "The Thinker."   1859 - The first flying trapeze act was performed by Jules Leotard at Cirque Napoleon in Paris, France. He was also the designer of the garment that is named after him.   1892 - William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first professional football player when he was paid a $500 bonus for helping the Allegheny Athletic Association beat the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.   1915 - Theodore W. Richards, of Harvard University, became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry.   1918 - Austria and Czechoslovakia were declared independent republics.   1920 - Judge Keneshaw Mountain Landis was elected the first commissioner of the American and National Leagues.   1921 - Representatives of nine nations gathered for the start of the Washington Conference for Limitation of Armaments.   1927 - Joseph Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union. Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party leading to Stalin coming to power.   1931 - Maple Leaf Gardens opened in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was to be the new home of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL).   1933 - In Philadelphia, the first Sunday football game was played.   1940 - Walt Disney released "Fantasia."  Disney movies, music and books   1942 - During World War II, naval battle of Guadalcanal began between Japanese and American forces. The Americans won a major victory.   1944 - During World War II, the German battleship "Tirpitz" was sunk off the coast of Norway.   1946 - The first drive-up banking facility opened at the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, IL.   1948 - The war crimes tribunal sentenced Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo and six other World War II Japanese leaders to death.   1953 - The National Football League (NFL) policy of blacking out home games was upheld by Judge Allan K. Grim of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.   1954 - Ellis Island, the immigration station in New York Harbor, closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since 1892.   1964 - Paula Murphy set the female land speed record 226.37 MPH.   1972 - Don Shula, coach of the Miami Dolphins, became the first NFL head coach to win 100 regular season games in 10 seasons.   1975 - U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36½-year term.   1979 - U.S. President Carter ordered a halt to all oil imports from Iran in response to 63 Americans being taken hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran on November 4.   1980 - The U.S. space probe Voyager I came within 77,000 miles of Saturn while transmitting data back to Earth.   1982 - Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.   1984 - Space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snared the Palapa B-2 satellite in history's first space salvage.   1985 - In Norfolk, VA, Arthur James Walker was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a spy ring run by his brother, John A. Walker Jr.   1987 - The American Medical Association issued a policy statement that said it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person had AIDS or was HIV-positive.   1990 - Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne.   1991 - In the U.S., Robert Gates was sworn in as CIA director.   1995 - The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on a mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir.   1997 - Four Americans and their Pakistani driver were shot to death in Karachi, Pakistan. The Americans were oil company employees.   1997 - The UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on Iraq for constraints being placed on UN arms inspectors.   1997 - Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.   1998 - Daimler-Benz completed a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler AG.   2001 - American Airlines flight 587 crashed just minutes after take off from Kennedy Airport in New York. The Airbus A300 crashed into the Rockaway Beach section of Queens. All 260 people aboard were killed.   2001 - It was reported that the Northern Alliance had taken the Kabul, Afghanistan, from the ruling Taliban. The Norther Alliance at this point was reported to have control over most of the northern areas of Afghanistan.   2002 - Stan Lee filed a lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment Inc. that claimed the company had cheated him out of millions of dollars in movie profits related to the 2002 movie "Spider-Man." Lee was the creator of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil.



1920 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected the first commissioner of baseball. 1927 Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party and Joseph Stalin became the ruler of the Soviet Union. 1942 The World War II battle of Guadalcanal begins. 1954 Ellis Island stopped serving as the chief immigration station for the United States. Twenty million immigrants went through Ellis Island in its 62 years of operation. 1970 A cyclone and tidal wave hit East Pakistan, killing over 200,000 people. 1981 The space shuttle Columbia was launched for the second time. It was the first time a space vehicle was used more than once. 1990 Akihito becomes emperor of Japan. 1997 Ramzi Yousef, the man behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was convicted in New York.


The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/nov12.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

CFL 2024 Postseason: Review of the Eastern & Western Divisional Finals

       

Grey Cup/Coupe Grey

CFL Division Finals

The Grey Cup will be a rematch of the one we had two years ago. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers reached their fifth consecutive Grey Cup by sweeping aside the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Meanwhile, the Argos beat the Alouettes. 

Let's take a closer look: 

Eastern Division Final Review:

Toronto Argonauts 30, Montréal Alouettes 28

The Toronto Argonauts are going to the Grey Cup. They managed that by defeating the defending champion Alouettes in Montréal, exacting revenge on their own home loss to the Alouettes in last year's Eastern Division Final.

As it turns out, turnovers were numerous in the beginning of the game. Really, it seemed like this was going on right at the start. Montréal got an early interception after the defense was able to put quite a bit of pressure on Toronto. Yet they did not capitalize, and they had turnovers of their own soon enough. 

To be sure, if felt as if the Alouettes, who were the defending champions and raced out to an incredibly hot start this season, were losing momentum as the season wore on. That seemed particularly true against the Argos, which I pointed out in the preview. It seemed like Toronto clearly got the better of Montréal in the final two regular season meetings, and now the postseason game.

The Alouettes proved tough and opportunistic on defense at times, although they clearly also had some slips. In the end, they just did not have enough to get over the slight advantage that the Argos had seemingly throughout the game.

My pick: Inaccurate

CFL 2024 Recap: Toronto @ Montreal -  Eastern Final

Western Division Final Review:

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 38, Saskatchewan Roughriders 22

This one was not really as close as the final score suggests it was. If you look at the final score, it makes it seem like this was a decent shootout, with the Blue Bombers perhaps winning it in the end. 

In fact, Winnipeg had this game well in hand almost throughout. Indeed, they pretty well dominated this game almost from the first, and right to the end. 

Saskatchewan looked overwhelmed at times, and just had no answers for what the Blue Bombers were able to do, consistently, all game long. Really, this is one of those times where it felt like one team's superior experience was clearly in play and provided a pretty big advantage over the team with the clearly less valuable experience.

Winnipeg was able to produce plenty of points and looked like they were able to do pretty much what they wanted throughout. The Roughriders were able to get some points and make somewhat of a game of it. But they never actually were able to get back in the game once they fell behind. The Blue Bombers were bound for victory, and it was never really in much doubt.

So the Blue Bombers, incredibly, reach the Grey Cup for a fifth time, which puts them in truly elite category, historically speaking. Few teams have qualified for as many consecutive Grey Cups, with only one franchise (the Edmonton Eskimos, from 1977 to 1982) made it six straight times. They will get another crack at the Toronto Argonauts, the team that upset them two years ago.

My pick: Accurate

CFL 2024 Recap: Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg - Western Final

November 11th: This Day in History

 

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history 

The Congress of Carnuntum took place today in an attempt to keep peace within the Roman Empire. The leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I was declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul on this day in the year 308. Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa declared himself ruler of North Italy on this day in 1158. In 1805 on this day during the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Dürenstein was fought. In the battle, 8000 French troops attempted to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force. Bechuanaland (modern day Botswana) became a part of the Cape Colony in 1895 on this day. On this day in 1911, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918, World War I officially ended. In 1941 on this day, Czechoslovakian Premier General Eliasj was arrested by Nazis. In 1965 on this day, heavyweight Cassius Clay KO'd Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas, Nevada. On this day in 2004, Yasser Arafat was confirmed dead by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas was elected chairman of the PLO shortly thereafter.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I is declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul.

887 - Parliament in Tribur: King Charles III resigns

1158 - Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa declares himself ruler of North Italy

1208 - Otto van Wittelsbach chosen German king

1215 - 4th Lateran Council (12th ecumenical council) opens in Rome

1417 - Oddo Colonna elected as Pope Martinus V

1493 - Explorer Christopher Columbus discovers Saba

1500 - Treaty of Granada: France & Aragon divide Naples

1503 - Pope Julius II elected

1572 - Duke of Alva's son Don Fredrik begins siege for Haarlem

1606 - Turkey & Austria sign Treaty of Zsitva-Torok

1634 - Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes "An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery".

1640 - Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, impeached by the House of Lords on the evidence of John Pym, and imprisoned in the Tower of London; he was later executed.

1647 - Massachusetts passes 1st US compulsory school attendance law

1648 - Dutch & French agree to divide St Maarten, Leeward Islands

1671 - Dutch States-General forbids importation of French wine

1673 - Second Battle of Khotyn in the Ukraine, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski. defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets of Kazimierz Siemienowicz were successfully used.

1675 - Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = f(x) function.

1688 - Prince Willem III's invasion fleet sails to England

The Warrior Pope Julius IIThe Warrior Pope Julius II 1714 - A highway in Bronx is laid out, later renamed East 233rd Street

1724 - Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London. (b. c. 1700)

1725 - Georg F Handel's opera "Tamerlano," premieres in London

1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's army enters England

1750 - The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, was formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the first college fraternity.

1752 - Theresianische Military Academy opens in Vienna

1778 - Iroquois Indians in NY kill 40 in Cherry Valley Massacre

1790 - Chrysanthemums are introduced to England from China

1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein - 8000 French troops attempted to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force.

1811 - Cartagena Colombia declares independence from Spain

1813 - Dresden surrenders to allied armies

1836 - Chile declares war on Bolivia & Peru

1839 - The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia.

1851 - Alvan Clark patents telescope

1862 - Opera "La Forza Del Destino" is produced (St Petersburg Russia)

Composer George Friedrich HandelComposer George Friedrich Handel 1864 - Sherman's troops destroy Rome, Georgia

1864 - Skirmish at Shoal Creek, AL

1865 - Mary Edward Walker, 1st Army female surgeon, awarded Medal of Honor

1865 - Thomas Robertsons "Society," premieres in London

1865 - Treaty of Sinchula is signed in which Bhutan ceded the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company.

1868 - 1st American amateur track & field meet (NYC)

1880 - Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol

1887 - Anarchist Haymarket Martyrs August Spies (b. 1855), Albert Parsons (b. 1848), Adolph Fischer (b. 1858) and George Engel (b. 1836) are executed.

1887 - Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal starts at Eastham.

1889 - Washington admitted as 42nd state of USA

1890 - D McCree patents portable fire escape

1895 - Bechuanaland becomes part of Cape Colony

1896 - Jules Vandenpeereboom becomes Belgium's minister of War

1899 - Stuart/Rubens/Boyd-Jones' "Floradora," premieres in London

1901 - Maurice Ravel composition "Jeux d'eau" premieres

1906 - Ethel Smyth's "Standrecht" premieres in Leipzig

1909 - Construction of US navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, begins

1909 - J M Synge's "Tinker's Wedding," premieres in London

1911 - Many cities in the U.S. Midwest broke their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolls through. (see The 11/11/11 cold wave).

1918 - Dutch SDAP leader Troelstra announces revolution

1918 - Emperor Charles I of Austria abdicates

1918 - Poland declares independence

1918 - Armistice signed by the Allies and Germany comes into effect, WW I hostilities end at 11.00 am

1919 - Pope Benedictus XV states Roman Catholics political/business views

1921 - President Harding dedicates Tomb of Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery

1922 - Largest US flag displayed (150' X 90') expanded in 1939 (270' X 90')

1923 - Eternal flame lit for tomb of unknown solder, Arc de Triumph

1924 - Martin Beck Theater opens at 302 W 45th St NYC

1924 - Palace of Legion of Honor dedicated (SF)

1925 - Earnest Thalmann becomes chairman of German KPD

Jazz Musician Louis ArmstrongJazz Musician Louis Armstrong 1925 - Louis Armstrong records 1st of Hot Five & Hot Seven recordings

1925 - Night of Kersten - Colijn Dutch government falls by SGP-amendement

1925 - Robert A. Millikan announces discovery of cosmic rays

1926 - Eddie Collins is released as White Sox manager

1926 - U.S. Route 66 is established.

1928 - France's 5th government of Poincaré forms

1928 - KXO-AM in El Centro CA begins radio transmissions

1928 - WGL-AM in Ft Wayne IN begins radio transmissions

1928 - WMT-AM in Cedar Rapids IA begins radio transmissions

1928 - WOL-AM in Washington DC begins radio transmissions

1930 - Patent number US1781541 was awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.

1931 - Cornerstones laid for Opera House & Veteran's Building

1933 - "Great Black Blizzard" 1st great dust storm in Great Plains

1934 - 1st penalty shot vs Toronto Maple Leafs, Mondou (Mont) unsuccessful

1934 - WOC-AM in Davenport Iowa splits from WHO-WOC & becomes KICK-AM

Theoretical Physicist Albert EinsteinTheoretical Physicist Albert Einstein 1935 - Explorer 2 balloon sets altitude record of 72,000 feet over SD

1937 - Messerschmidt ME-109V13 flies world record 610.4 kph

1937 - Nobel prize for physics awarded to C J Davisson & GP Thomson

1938 - German & Austrian Jewish suffer 1 billion Mark damage in nazi

1938 - Kristallnacht; Jews forced to wear Star of David

1939 - Kate Smith 1st sings Irving Berlin's "God Bless America"

1940 - Thousands of Paris students lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier

1940 - Blizzard strikes midwestern US killing over 100

1940 - British air attack destroys half of Italian fleet

1940 - Willys unveiled its General Purpose vehicle ("Jeep")

1941 - Czech premier general Eliasjarrested by nazis

1942 - -12] last German offensive in Stalingrad

1942 - 745 French Jews deported to Auschwitz

1942 - During WW II Germany completes their occupation of France

1942 - Jews in Free Zone of France ordered to wear yellow star of David

1942 - Lt-general Kumakashi Harada becomes Japanese commander on Java

1942 - Transport nr 45 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany

1943 - Spud Chandler wins AL MVP; Stan Musial wins NL MVP

1943 - US air raid on Rabaul

1944 - NY Rangers set NHL record of 25 games without a win (0-21-4)

1946 - NY Knicks' 1st game at Madison Sq Garden loses 78-68 to Chic Stags

1949 - WTTV TV channel 4 in Bloomington-Indianapol, IN (IND) 1st broadcast

1953 - Jimmy Dykes succeeds Marty Marion as Baltimore Orioles manager

1957 - Demolition begins on cable car barn at California& amp; Hyde (SF)

1958 - "La Plume de Ma Tante" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 835 perfs

1958 - AL announces Kansas City will play AL record 52 night games in 1959

1959 - 1st episode of "Rocky & His Friends" airs

1959 - Seals Stadium in San Francisco, demolished

1960 - Largest NY Knick 49th St Madison Square Garden crowd-18,499

1961 - Adulterous couple up mestkar through Staphorst riding

1961 - Congolese soldiers murder 13 Italian UN pilots

1961 - Molotov, Malenkov & Kaganovitsj expelled from USSR's communist party

1961 - Stalingrad renamed Volgograd

1962 - Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait.

1963 - Brian Epstein & Ed Sullivan sign a 3 show contract for Beatles

1963 - Gordie Howe ties Rocket Richard's lifetime 544 goal record

1964 - Murray Schisgal's "Luv," premieres in NYC

1965 - Heavyweight Cassius Clay KOs Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas

1965 - Rhodesia proclaimed independence from Britain by PM Ian Smith

1965 - William Alfred's "Hogan's Goat," premieres in NYC

1966 - Gemini 12 (Lovell & Aldrin) launched on 4-day flight

1966 - Methodist Church & Evangelical United Brethren Church unite as United Methodist Church (USA)

1966 - NASA launches spaceship Gemini 12.

Musician and Beatle John LennonMusician and Beatle John Lennon 1968 - John Lennon & Yoko Ono appear nude on cover of "2 Virgins" album

1968 - Maldives (in Indian Ocean) becomes a republic

1968 - Ron Hill sets record 10-mile run (46:44) at Leicester England

1969 - Beatles with Billy Preston release "Get Back" in UK

1969 - Jim Morrison arrested on an airplane by FBI for drunkeness

1970 - Balt Oriole Boog Powell wins AL MVP

1971 - Man-made earthslide at Kawasaki Japan, kills 15

1971 - Neil Simon's "Prisoner of Second Avenue" premieres in NYC

1972 - Dow Jones Index moves above 1,000 for 1st time

1972 - US Army turns over Long Bihn base to South Vietnamese army

1975 - Angola gains independence from Portugal (National Day)

1975 - Australian PM Gough Whitlam removed from office by Governor General Sir John Kerr (1st elected PM removed in 200 yrs)

1977 - Wings release "Mull of Kintyre" & "Girl's School"

1978 - Maumoon Abdul Gayoom becomes president of Maldives

1979 - Boston Court issues occupancy permit for Cambridge Buddhist Center

1980 - Crew of Soyuz 35 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 37

1980 - Islanders' Mike Bossy scores 4 goals against North Stars

1981 - "Oh, Brother!" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 3 performances

1981 - Fernando Valenzuela is 1st rookie ever to win a Cy Young Award

1982 - 30th time Islanders shut-out-2-0 vs North Stars

1982 - 5th space shuttle mission-Columbia 5-launched 1st coml flight

1982 - Gas explosion in Israeli army headquarters near Tyre; kills 60

1982 - Joe Altobelli succeeds retiring Earl Weaver as Oriole manager

1983 - 1st US cruise missiles arrive in Great Britain

1983 - President Reagan became 1st US president to address Japanese legislature

1983 - Wayne Phillips scores 159 on Test Cricket debut, v Pakistan at WACA

1984 - "Three Musketeers" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 9 performances

1985 - 1st AIDS theme TV movie - "An Early Frost"

1985 - Challenger flies back to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB

1985 - Yonkers is found guilty of segregating schools & housing

1986 - Houston's Astro Mike Scott (18-10) wins NL Cy Young Award

1986 - Suriname government proclaims gold purification

1987 - "Roza" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 12 performances

1987 - Judge Anthony M Kennedy nominated to Supreme Court

1987 - Moscow party secretary Boris Jerusalem resigns

1987 - Roger Clemens wins consecutive Cy Young Awards

1987 - Van Gogh's "Irises" sells for record $53.6 M at auction

1988 - Oldest known insect fossils (390 million yrs) reported in Science

1989 - "Prince of Central Park" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 4 perfs

1989 - Sam's Town Bowling Invitational won by Tish Johnson

1990 - "Shadowlands" opens at Brooks Atkinson Theater NYC for 169 perfs

1990 - Calif's Chuck Finley & Seattle's Randy Johnson combine to pitch a no-hitter in exhibition game between US & Japanese all-star teams

1992 - Anglican Church & Church of England OK female priests

264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 1993 - Pope John Paul II hospitalized for 2 days for fractured shoulder

1994 - Bill Gates buys Leonardo da Vinci's "Codex" for $30,800,000

1994 - Progress M-25 launched to space station Mir

1996 - Braves' John Smoltz wins NL Cy Young Award

1997 - CBS News anchor Dan Rather renews his contract to 2002

1997 - Roger Clemens wins his 4th AL Cy Young Award

1997 - WNBA expands to Detroit & Washington DC

1999 - Last upside down date until January 1, 6000

2000 - In Kaprun, Austria, 155 skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel.

2001 - Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they were traveling on top off.

2004 - New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington.

2004 - Yasser Arafat is confirmed dead by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later.

2006 - The New Zealand war memorial monument was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army.

2008 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) set sail on her final voyage to Dubai.

2012 - 12 people are killed by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Burma

1620 - The Mayflower Compact was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower when they landed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. The compact called for "just and equal laws."   1831 - Nat Turner, a slave and educated minister, was hanged in Jerusalem, VA, after inciting a violent slave uprising.   1851 - The telescope was patented by Alvan Clark.   1868 - The first indoor amateur track and field meet was held by the New York Athletic Club.   1880 - Australian outlaw and bank robber Ned Kelly was hanged at the Melbourne jail at age 25.   1887 - Labor Activists were hanged in Illinois after being convicted of being connected to a bombing that killed eight police officers.   1889 - Washington became the 42nd state of the United States.   1918 - World War I came to an end when the Allies and Germany signed an armistice. This day became recognized as Veteran's Day in the United States.   1918 - Poland was reestablished shortly after the surrender of Germany.   1920 - The body of an unknown British soldier was buried in Westminster Abbey. The service was recorded with the first electronic recording process developed by Lionel Guest and H.O. Merriman.   1921 - The Tomb of the Unknowns was dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia by U.S. President Harding.   1938 - Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio.   1940 - The Jeep made its debut.   1942 - During World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France.   1946 - The New York Knickerbockers (now the Knicks) played their first game at Madison Square Garden.   1952 - The first video recorder was demonstrated by John Mullin and Wayne Johnson in Beverly Hills, CA.   1965 - The government of Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. The country later became known as Zimbabwe.   1965 - Walt Disney announced a project in Florida.  Disney movies, music and books   1966 - The U.S. launched Gemini 12 from Cape Kennedy, FL. The craft circled the Earth 59 times before returning.   1972 - The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Bihn to the South Vietnamese army. The event symbolized the end of direct involvement in the Vietnam War by the U.S. military.   1975 - Civil war broke out when Angola gained independence from Portugal.   1981 - Stuntman Dan Goodwin scaled the outside of the 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago in about six hours.   1981 - The U.S.S. Ohio was commissioned at the Electric Boat Division in Groton, CT. It was the first Trident class submarine.   1984 - The Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. died in Atlanta at age 84.   1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan accepted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.   1984 - Gary Coleman, at age 13, underwent his second kidney transplant in Los Angeles. He had his first transplant at age 5.   1986 - Sperry Rand and Burroughs merged to form "Unisys," becoming the second largest computer company.   1987 - Vincent Van Gogh's "Irises" was sold for a then record 53.9 million dollars in New York.   1988 - Police in Sacramento, CA, found the first of seven bodies buried on the grounds of a boardinghouse. Dorothea Puente was later charged in the deaths of nine people, convicted of three murders and sentenced to life in prison.   1990 - Stormie Jones, the world's first heart-liver transplant recipient, died at a Pittsburgh hospital at age 13.   1991 - The U.S. stationed its first diplomat in Cambodia in 16 years to help the nation arrange democratic elections.   1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin told U.S. senators in a letter that Americans had been held in prison camps after World War II. Some were "summarily executed," but others were still living in his country voluntarily.   1992 - The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests.   1993 - Walt Disney Co. announced plans to build a U.S. history theme park in a Virginia suburb of Washington. The plan was halted later due to local opposition.  Disney movies, music and books   1993 - In Washington, DC, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated to honor the more than 11,000 women who had served in the Vietnam War.   1994 - In Gaza, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at an Israeli military checkpoint killing three soldiers.   1996 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveiled "The Wall That Heals." The work was a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that would tour communities throughout the United States.   1997 - The Eastman Kodak Company announced that they were laying off 10,000 employees.   1997 - Roger Clemens (Toronto Blue Jays) became the third major league player to win the Cy Young Award four times.   1998 - Jay Cochrane set a record for the longest blindfolded skywalk. He walked on a tightrope between the towers of the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, NV. The towers are 600 feet apart.   1998 - Vincente Fernandez received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1998 - Israel's Cabinet ratified a land-for-peace agreement with the Palestinians.   2002 - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged $100 million to fight AIDS in India.



1620 The Mayflower Compact was signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. It would provide the basis for all governments of the American colonies. 1831 Former slave Nat Turner was executed. 1889 Washington became the 42nd state. 1918 The Allies and Germany signed an armistice ending World War I. 1921 The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery. 1965 Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain. 1992 The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests. 2004 Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, died in Paris. Mahmoud Abbas was elected to take his place.




The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/nov11.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Today is the National Day of Independence in Poland

 

Yes,, today is National Independence Day in Poland. In Polish, it is called Narodowe Święto Niepodległości. 

It was on this day in 1918, the last day of World War I, that Poland earned it's sovereignty again after more than 120 years of having effectively ceased to exist, having been absorbed variously into Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Russia. They finally broke free at the end of World War I, and the Second Polish Republic was established. 

For Poland, this is a bit like July 1st, better known as Canada Day, in that country, or the Fourth of July in the United States, or the 14th of July in France. Only, it is obviously a bit colder. Still, people in Poland generally have off from work on this holiday, and they celebrate. It is a major holiday.

Poland is a beautiful country, with a lot of both natural and architectural beauty. It does have a complicated history, with it's influence on neighboring countries, as well as the influence of those other countries, woven through the centuries. But through it all, Poland has persisted, and the Polish people have maintained their unique identity and independence through it all. Let us honor and celebrate that legacy on this national holiday of Poland. 

Why the Election Results, While Disappointing, Hardly Were Surprising (To Me)

Think that I've already mentioned this here before, as well as in actual conversation with people, but it bears repeating: the election results were not really a shock to me. In fact, it reminded me of other times when I had a sinking feeling about the direction that past elections were going in. And here's the thing which I don't get: when I mentioned these concerns, or perhaps you could describe them more accurately as expectations, people would actually question me, and suggest that I wanted the election to go that way. 

For example, while I was vehemently opposed to George W. Bush in 2004, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the country was not ready to turn away from him. In other words, he would get a second term, and probably this time, would win the majority vote, which he did.

Some people would ask me how I could say that? Weren't you paying attention these last four years? Do you really want another four years of Bush?

To which I would respond, more or less (and I'm of course paraphrasing these conversations), whether or not they were paying attention to what's going on in the country? At no point in that 2004 election did it appear that Bush was bound to lose. No, I was not a supporter of Bush, and of course hoped that he would lose. However, the polls never showed that this was really likely to happen. Also, there is just a certain feeling that you get. Perhaps it was all the yellow ribbons on the backs of SUV's that I saw, showing support for the troops then engaged in Mr. Bush's war in Iraq in particular. Not everybody was thrilled with how the war had been conducted, and there were other things which people would suggest they didn't particularly like about Bush. Yet the criticisms were not severe enough to convince me - or many others - that it would cost Bush his chances at getting another four years. Predictably enough, however, his poll numbers began to tank shortly after his second term began...too late for the American people to do much of anything about it at that point, except endure another four years before getting another chance at a presidential election.

While I admit that Trump's political rise in 2015 leading up to his eventual presidential election win in 2016 took me by surprise, as it took so many other people by surprise, I suspect that I "caught on" quicker than most people. It was alarming to me that all of the things which all of the so-called experts were sure would effectively disqualify him or kill his campaign wound up doing nothing of the sort, what really alarmed me was that the numbers in the general election never showed Hillary Clinton breaking away, as also everyone seemed to expect. And it was on Halloween that year, about a week and a half or so before the election, when I began to strongly suspect that, in fact, Trump was going to win. It had seemed that prior to that time, people were either afraid or even ashamed to admit that Trump appealed to them. But as I took my young son trick or treating, I was impossible to ignore all of the Trump flags and banners and bumper stickers everywhere. This was in a suburban town in northern New Jersey. And while this town is not typical of suburban New Jersey, it still felt like a sign of things to come. From that point on, I had a sense of dread about the coming election. Sure enough, Trump stunned the world and won. And while I myself had come to half believe that Trump would win, I still had a hard time taking him seriously, and took comfort in all of the notions from most people that he was bound to lose. So while it was probably not as shocking to me as to many others when he actually did win the election, it still felt like a punch to the gut. 

Many people felt alarmed about the state of our democracy during the Trump years. It became obvious that our American democracy was far more vulnerable and generally more fragile than most of us realized at the time. I began to dread the 2024 elections shortly after Biden actually took office. I had long come to suspect that Trump was going to get away with his role in January 6th, and that he would pretty much get away with everything. The truth of the matter is that with our justice system, the wealthiest and most privileged among us have a different system of justice than the rest of us have. And who has ever been more privileged or wealthy or entitled from birth than Donald Trump? He had made a career of getting away with scams and being a con man. Why would that suddenly change? And when I saw him holding one of his damned rallies just days after Biden took office, I knew that we as a nation were not done with him. Most likely, he would be the Republican nominee in 2024, and he would have a very real chance of winning the general election. I am not a supporter of Trump, nor was I delusional. This is just the reality, and sometimes, we have to face it. Whether or not you like to admit it, the guy is just very popular. 

Which is why it startled me - even shocked me - that so many people who were Trump detractors did not seem to think so. They were sure that he could not possibly get in again. That surely, America had learned it's lesson the first time. Really, it felt like these people just never learned. Had they not been paying attention in 2016, when he actually won?

In fact, I was more surprised by how surprising it seemed to so many people. That includes personal friends, as well as Facebook friends and, more generally, other responses which we all by now have seen on the internet. People who were opposed to Trump were absolutely certain that, surely, the majority of the rest of the nation sympathized with them and would vote against him. He would surely be defeated, and many expected that it would not even be all that close. Michael Moore, who was one of the first to warn that Trump would win in 2016 (even though many laughed at him for it) and seems to have a good finger on the pulse in most election cycles, predicted a blue tsunami just days before the election, claiming that he just had a good feeling about this. Obviously, we can all get these things wrong from time to time.

What annoyed me was just how many people seemed absolutely certain that he would lose. Some were cautiously optimistic, and I also wanted to feel that way on Election Day. Again, though, that sinking feeling that I had about this election - dating back to the very first days of the Biden presidency in January of 2021 - simply would not allow me to feel that way. Maybe that was why the results really did not surprise me. What did surprise me, and annoyed me more than anything else, was the level of denial among Trump detractors as the election results became clear as the evening wore on.

Frankly, it infuriated me almost as much as Trump's actual election win. Perhaps it is because it is this stubborn denial which, I feel, somehow plays a large part in why Trump continues to stun the world and win these kinds of elections. There were people who insisted that viewers should not be taken in by the "red mirage," and that the blue tsunami was coming later that night. 

This, while Trump held a significant lead in Pennsylvania with something like 90% of the votes having been already counted. Too much, really, for Kamala Harris to make up for the lost ground. And it felt that way in most of the so-called battleground states.

Let's get real, people. 

Seriously, wake up! I don't like Trump or want to see another four years of him and his administration bumbling in the White House. But there is a time to face reality, and not try to retreat in comforting escapism and dreams of some alternate reality. 

Again, there are times for escapism. We all do it or are guilty of it. But it grows pathetic when the results coming in are clear and undeniable, whether we like them or not. It was guaranteed that roughly half the country was going to be disappointed, if not even devastated, by the election results. Many, maybe even most, people at least knew that Trump at least had a chance. 

For the people who didn't - or at least acted as if they didn't - it feels liuke this is part of the problem. We collectively need to wake up in this country. And that doesn't just mean the perceptions that many have of backwards thinking Trump and MAGA supporters, but also those who deny that this is, indeed, a uniquely American reality.

Until we face where we actually are, and what we have actually become, the sorry state of our current political realities and the overall polarized climate of our political landscape will not soon have an end in sight.

November 10th: This Day in History

   

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history 

On this day in 1567, the Battle at St-Denis in France took place, when the army fought the Huguenots. In 1793 on this day, France ended mandatory worship of God. On this day in 1808, Osage Native Americans ceded lands in present day Missouri and Arkansas. 1834 - The HMS Beagle, with scientist Charles Darwin aboard, sailed from Valparaiso, Chile. In 1918 on this day, German Emperor Wilhelm II fled to Netherlands following Germany's defeat in the Great War (World War I). Also on this day in 1918, the independence of Poland was proclaimed by Józef Pilsudski In 1928, Hirohito was crowned the Emperor of Japan. In 1942 on this day during World War II, German troops occupied Vichy France. On this day in 1971, the Khmer Rouge attacked the airport in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. In North Dakota on this day in 1973, dozens of copies of Slaughterhouse-Five, the iconic literary work by author Kurt Vonnegut, were burned. In 1982 on this day, Soviet Premiere Leonid Bhrezhnev died. Finally, Germans began to tear the Berlin Wall apart on this day in 1989. 

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

911 - Conrad I elected German King

1444 - Battle at Varna, Black Sea: Sultan Murad II beats crusaders

1526 - John I Zapolyai of Transsylvania chosen as king of Hungary

1544 - Antwerps painter John Matsys banished

1567 - Battle at St-Denis: French government army vs Huguenots

1584 - Willem Louis of Nassau appointed viceroy of Friesland

1619 - René Descartes has the dreams that inspire his Meditations on First Philosophy.

1630 - Failed palace revolution in France against Richelieu

1674 - Dutch formally cede New Netherlands (NY) to English

1687 - Pope Innocent XI publishes decree Coelestis pastor

1697 - English parliament accept army reduction

1766 - The last Colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers University).

1775 - Congress forms US Marine Corps

1785 - Netherlands & France sign treaty

1793 - France ends forced worship of God

1801 - Kentucky outlaws dueling

1808 - Osage Treaty signed

1834 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin sails from Valparaiso

1836 - Louis Napoleon banished to America

Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1847 - The passenger ship Stephen Whitney is wrecked in thick fog off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 92 of the 110 on board. The disaster results in the construction the Fastnet Rock lighthouse.

1864 - Kingston, GA burned during Sherman's March to the Sea

1866 - Gold coins from the Sydney Mint become legal tender in Canada

1871 - Henry Morton Stanley in Ujiji, Central Africa, encounters David Livingstone with the immortal words 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'

1878 - Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Bespridannitsa," premieres in Moscow

1883 - Toronto Argonauts defeat Ottawa FC 9-7, for 1st ORFU Championship

1885 - Gottlieb Daimler's motorcycle, world's 1st, unveiled

1891 - 1st Women's Christian Temperance Union meeting held (in Boston)

1891 - Granville T Woods patents electric railway

1892 - 1st CRU championship game: Osgoode Hall defeats Montreal, 45-5

1894 - Fred Lugard signs accord with king Lafia "Absalamu" of Nikki

1898 - Race riot in Wilmington NC (8 blacks killed)

1905 - Sailors revolt in Kronstadt, Russia

1908 - 1st Gideon Bible put in a hotel room

1910 - The date of Thomas A. Davis' opening of the San Diego Army and Navy Academy, though the official founding date is November 23, 1910.

1911 - Andrew Carnegie forms Carnegie Corp (for scholarly& amp; charitable works)

1911 - Chinese Imperial army recaptures Nanking (blood bath)

1917 - 41 suffragists are arrested in front of White House

1917 - Faure's 2nd Violo Sonate, premieres

1917 - New soviet government suspends freedom of press (temporary)

1918 - German emperor Wilhelm II flees to Netherland

1918 - Independence of Poland proclaimed by Józef Pilsudski

1918 - The Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, NS received a top-secret coded message from Europe (that would be sent to Ottawa, ON and Washington, DC) that said on November 11, 1918 all fighting would cease on land, sea and in the air.

1919 - 1st observance of National Book Week

1919 - American Legion's 1st national convention (Minneapolis)

Playwright George Bernard ShawPlaywright George Bernard Shaw 1920 - George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House," premieres in NYC

1923 - German ex-crown prince flees Netherlands for Germany

1924 - Dion O'Banion, leader of the North Side Gang is assassinated in his flower shop by members of Johnny Torrio's gang, sparking the bloody gang war of the 1920s in Chicago.

1926 - Bradman plays his 1st State selection trial He only made 37

1926 - Guomindang-regring deallocates seat of Kanton to Wuhan (Hankou)

1926 - Vincent Massey becomes 1st Canadian minister to USA

1928 - Hirohito ascended throne as Emperor of Japan

1933 - Black Blizzard snowstorm-duststorm rages from SD to Atlantic

1937 - Brazilian dictator Getulio Vargas proclaims "Estado novo"

1938 - 8.3 earthquake shakes East of Shumagin Islands, Alaska

1938 - Nobel for literature awarded to Pearl Buck (Good Earth)

1940 - Pittsburgh & Philadelphia play a penalty free NFL game

1940 - Walt Disney begins serving as an informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI; his job is to report back information on Hollywood subversives.

1942 - Philip Barry's "Without Love," premieres in NYC

1942 - US troops occupy airport of Port-Lyautey, Morocco

Animator Walt DisneyAnimator Walt Disney 1942 - US-British troops occupies Oran, Algeria

1944 - German riots in Rotterdam/Schiedam 52,000 men sent to Germany

1944 - US 9th Army takes Margraten cemetery

1944 - Ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) exploded at Seeadler Harbour, Manus, Admiralty Islands

1945 - "Are You with It?" opens at Century Theater NYC for 264 performances

1945 - College football's #1 Army beats #2 Notre Dame 48-0

1945 - General Enver Hoxha becomes leader of Albania

1945 - Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald liberated by US

1945 - Heavy battle in Surabaya between Indonesian nationalists and returning colonialists after World War II, celebrated as Heroes' Day (Hari Pahlawan).

1946 - Communists win many seats at French parliamentary election

1950 - After 9 years, Cleve Indians fire manager Lou Boudreau

1950 - Clifford Odet's "Country Girl," premieres in NYC

1950 - Jacobo Arbenz Guzman elected president of Guatemala

1950 - Nobel for literature awarded to William Faulkner

1951 - 1st long distance telephone call without operator assistance

Author and Nobel Laureate William FaulknerAuthor and Nobel Laureate William Faulkner 1952 - Trygve Halvdan Lie resigns as 1st secretary-genraal of UN

1953 - Giants end their tour of Japan (players got $331 of $3,000 promised)

1954 - Iwo Jima Memorial (servicemen raising US flag) dedicated in Arlington

1954 - Lt Col John Strapp travels 632 mph in a rocket sled

1955 - "Vamp" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 60 performances

1956 - Gene de Paul/John Meyer's musical "Li'l Abner," premieres in NYC

1957 - NFL record crowd (102,368), '49ers vs Rams in LA

1957 - Cleveland Browns' Don Paul sets club record for longest fumble return with a 89-yard run (and TD), beating Pittsburgh 24-0

1958 - Bertolt Brecht's "Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo o Ui," premieres

1958 - WUFT TV channel 5 in Gainesville, FL (PBS) begins broadcasting

1959 - Corinne Rottschaeffer of the Netherlands elected Miss World

1960 - US Senate passes landmark Civil Rights Bill

1962 - "Nowhere to Go, But Up" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 9 perfs

1963 - Gordie Howe takes over NHL career goal lead at 545

1963 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA San Antonio Civitan Golf Open

1964 - "Something More!" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 15 perfs

1964 - Braves sign a 25-year lease to play in the new Atlanta stadium

1965 - Manneke Piss statue stolen in Brussels

1965 - Willie Mays wins NL MVP

1966 - Jack Lynch becomes Irish premier (Taoiseach)

1966 - Lunar Orbiter 2 reaches 196-1871 km around Moon

1967 - KXNE TV channel 19 in Norfolk, NB (PBS) begins broadcasting

1968 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Corpus Christi Civitan Golf Open

1968 - Launch of Zond 6, 2nd unmanned circumlunar & return flight

1968 - Portuguese socialist Mario Soares freed

1969 - "Sesame Street" premieres on PBS TV

1970 - "2 by 2" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 343 performances

1970 - Luna 17, with unmanned self-propelled Lunokhod 1, is launched

1970 - R Rodgers/M Charnins musical "Two by Two" premieres in NYC

1971 - Joe Torre wins NL MVP, Vida Blue wins AL MVP

1971 - US table tennis team arrived in China

1974 - 2nd meeting of Giants-Jets, Jets even series at 1 with 26-20 OT win

1974 - Montreal Canadiens shutout Washington Capitals 11-0

1975 - Ore ship Edmund Fitzgerald & crew of 29 lost in storm on Lake Superior

Palestinian Leader Yasser ArafatPalestinian Leader Yasser Arafat 1975 - PLO leader Yasser Arafat addresses UN in NYC

1975 - Royals release slugger Harmon Killebrew, ending his 22-year career

1975 - UN General Assembly approves resolution equating Zionism with racism

1976 - Utah Supreme Court approves execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore

1977 - Amsterdam: Red Army Faction terrorists Gert Schneider/Christof Wackernagel arrested

1977 - Major Indoor Soccer League officially organized (NYC)

1978 - Israel's top negotiators broke away from Middle East peace talks

1978 - Larry Holmes KOs Alfredo Evangelist in 7 for heavyweight boxing title

1978 - Yanks trade Lyle, Rajsich, McCall, Heath & Ramos to Texas for Righetti, Mirabella, Beniquez, Jemison & Griffin

1980 - Dan Rather refuses to pay his cabbie, CBS pays $12.55 fare

1980 - Poland acknowledges Solidarity union

1981 - "Oh, Brother!" opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 3 performances

1981 - Ernest Thompson's "West Side Waltz," premieres in NYC

1982 - IMF lends Mexico $3.8 billion due to threatened bankrupcy

1982 - Susan Cooper/Hume Cronyns "Foxfire," premieres in NYC

1982 - Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened

1983 - "Amen Corner" opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 83 performances

1983 - Federal government shut down

1984 - Australia all out for 76 v West Indies at cricket WACA, Holding 6-21

1984 - Miami Hurricanes blows 31-0 lead in 3rd quarter lose to Md 42-40

1984 - Horse Racing Breeders' Cup Champs: Chief's Crown, Eillo, Lashkari, Outstandingly, Princess Rooney, Royal Heroine, Wild Again at Hollywood

1985 - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Mazda Japan Golf Classic

1986 - Bangladeshi Constitution restored

1987 - Steve Bedrosian edges Rick Sutcliffe 57-55 to win NL Cy Young Award

1988 - China confirms earthquake death toll will rise above current 938

1988 - MLB All-Star team beats Japan 3-1 in Tokyo (Game 5 of 7)

1988 - NY's MTA announces it may replace tokens with credit card type passes

1988 - Orel Hershiser (23-8) is a unanimous choice as NL Cy Young Award

1989 - Bulgarian party president Todor Zjikov resigns

1989 - Germans begin demolishing Berlin Wall

1989 - Word Perfect 5.1 is shipped

1990 - Lebanon releases 2 French hostages (Camille Sontag& amp; Marcel Coudari)

1991 - Bernie Kosar ends NFL record of 308 passes without an interception

1991 - Browns set club record for largest lead blown (led 23-0), Phila 32-30

1991 - Liselotte Neumann wins LPGA Mazda Japan Golf Classic

Tennis Player Martina NavratilovaTennis Player Martina Navratilova 1991 - Martina Navratilova ties Chris Evert, 157 pro tennis tournament wins

1991 - Marty Glickman broadcasts his 1,000th football game

1991 - South Africa's 1st cricket international since 1970 - one-day v India

1993 - "Joseph & the Amazing" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 223 perfs

1993 - Slovakian government of Vladimír Mečiar forms

1995 - In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop) are hanged by government forces.

1997 - "Jackie - An American Life," opens at Belasco Theater NYC

1997 - Artist Peter Max pleads guilty to tax fraud & time served

1997 - Nanny Louise Woodward murder conviction downgraded to manslaughter

2006 - Sri Lankan Tamil Parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj assassinated in Colombo.

2007 - ¿Por qué no te callas? incident between King Juan Carlos of Spain and Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez.

2012 - 20 Syrian troops are killed by suicide bombings in Daara

2012 - 27 people are killed and dozens injured in a prison conflict in Colombo, Sri Lanka

2012 - Israeli counter strike on Palestinian militants in Gaza kills 5 and injure 30

2012 - 17 people are killed in a helicopter crash as a result of bad weather in Turkey

2012 - The final US presidential election results are declared after Barack Obama wins Florida to defeat Mitt Romney 332-206 in Electoral College votes

2084 - Transit of Earth as seen from Mars

1775 - The U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. The Marines went out of existence after the end of the Revolutionary War in April of 1783. The Marine Corps were formally re-established on July 11, 1798. This day is observed as the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.   1801 - The U.S. state of Tennessee outlawed the practice of dueling.   1871 - Henry M. Stanley, journalist and explorer, found David Livingstone. Livingston was a missing Scottish missionary in central Africa. Stanley delivered his famous greeting: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"   1879 - Western Union and the National Bell Telephone Company reached a settlement over various telephone patents.   1917 - 41 suffragists were arrested in front of the White House.   1919 - The American Legion held its first national convention, in Minneapolis, MN.   1928 - Michinomiya Hirohito was enthroned as Emperor of Japan.   1951 - Direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service began when Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, NJ, called his counterpart in Alameda, CA.   1954 - The Iwo Jima Memorial was dedicated in Arlington, VA.   1957 - 102,368 people attended the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams game. The crowd was the largest regular-season crowd in NFL history.   1969 - "Sesame Street" made its debut on PBS.   1970 - The Great Wall of China opened for tourism.   1975 - The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution that equated Zionism with racism. The resolution was repealed in December of 1991.   1975 - The Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore-hauling ship, and its crew of 29 vanished during a storm in Lake Superior.   1976 - The Utah Supreme Court gave approval for Gary Gilmore to be executed, according to his wishes. The convicted murderer was put to death the following January.   1977 - The Major Indoor Soccer League was officially organized in New York City. (New York)   1980 - CBS News anchor Dan Rather claimed he had been kidnapped in a cab. It turned out that Rather had refused to pay the cab fare.   1982 - Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev died of a heart attack at age 75. He was suceeded by Yuri V. Andropov.   1982 - In Washington, DC, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to visitors.   1984 - The U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.   1986 - Camille Sontag and Marcel Coudari, two Frenchmen were released by the captors that held them in Lebanon.   1988 - The U.S. Department of Energy announced that Texas would be the home of the atom-smashing super-collider. The project was cancelled by a vote of the U.S. Congress in Oct. 1993.   1990 - Chandra Shekhar was sworn in as India's new prime minister.   1991 - Robert Maxwell was buried in Israel, five days after his body was recovered off the Canary Islands.   1993 - John Wayne Bobbitt was acquitted on the charge of marital sexual assault against his wife who sexually mutilated him. Lorena Bobbitt was later acquitted of malicious wounding her husband.   1993 - The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Brady Bill, which called for a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.   1994 - U.S. officials announced that it planned to stop enforcing the arms embargo against the Bosnian government the following week. The U.N. Security Council was opposed to lifting the ban.   1994 - Iraq recognized Kuwait's borders in the hope that the action would end trade sanctions.   1995 - Nigeria's military rulers hanged playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa along with several other anti-government activists.   1995 - In Katmandu, Nepal, searchers rescued 549 hikers after a massive avalanche struck the Himalayan foothills. The disaster left 24 tourists and 32 Nepalese dead.   1996 - Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 50,000 yards. (Florida)   1997 - WorldCom Inc. acquired MCI Communication Corporation. It was the largest merger in U.S. history valued at $37 billion.   1997 - A jury in Virginia convicted Mir Aimal Kasi of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993.   1997 - A judge in Cambridge, MA, reduced Louise Woodward's murder conviction to manslaughter and sentenced the English au pair to time served. She had served 279 days in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.   1998 - At the White House, "The Virtual Wall" website (www.thevirtualwall.org) was unveiled. The site allows visitors to experience The Wall through the Internet.   1999 - Ted Danson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   2001 - The World Trade Organization approved China's membership.   2001 - The musical "Lady Diana - A Smile Charms the World" opened in Germany.   2004 - Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) was awarded the "Man for Peace" prize in Rome at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.



1871 Journalist and explorer Henry Stanley found the missing David Livingstone in Central Africa and made his famous comment, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" 1928 Hirohito was crowned Emperor of Japan. 1951 The first long distance telephone call without operator assistance took place. 1969 Sesame Street premiered on PBS TV. 1970 The Great Wall of China opened to the world for tourism. 1982 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened in Washington, DC.



The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/nov10.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory