On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth, heir to the throne of England, marries Phillip Mountbatten, a 26-year old Royal Navy officer who is also a distant cousin. Phillip renounced privileged titles in Greece and Denmark to marry the future queen, and inherited the title Duke of Edinburgh. Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, with Phillip as her consort. Phillip is approaching 100 years of age, and retired from formal royal duties in 2017. On November 20, 2003, famed music producer Phil Spector, whose work influenced a wide range of pop talent from John Lennon to Ike and Tina Turner to The Ramones, is indicted for the murder of 40-year old actress Lana Clarkson. She was found dead of a gunshot wound in Spector's Alhambra, CA home in February. Spector pleaded not guilty and attributed Clarkson death to "accidental suicide." A series of delays pushed the trial back to 2007, when a jury deadlocked on a verdict. The judge ordered a retrial, and Spector was convicted of second degree murder in 2009, and sentenced to 19 years in prison. He'll be eligible for parole in 2025. On November 20, 1934, a team of American all star baseball players plays an exhibition game against a local club in Tokyo, Japan. In the 4th inning, a 17-year old high school pitcher named Eiji Sawamura enters the game and proceeds to shut down the all stars. At one point, Sawamura struck out future Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx in succession. Through five innings, the high school player allowed the all stars only one hit, a solo home run by Gehrig. Connie Mack, managing the all stars and a future Hall of Famer himself, offered Sawamura a major league contract on the spot; he declined, saying he didn't want to leave home. When the first Japanese professional league started two years later, Sawamura signed with the Yomiuri Giants, and was the league's first MVP. He was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1943 and died a year later (age 34) when his troop transport was torpedoed by an American submarine.
Hell, my research for this thread suggests there's a lot of Alabama in royalty of all nationalities throughout history. The "upper crust" has always arranged marriages and married within the family tree to keep the blood pure and the riff-raff out.
On November 21, 1986, National Security Council staff member Oliver North and his secretary, Fawn Hall, begin shredding documents that would have exposed their participation in what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Their evidence destruction continued even after North was fired from his post four days later, with Hall sneaking documents out of the NSC offices under her skirt. Before Congress the following year, North would claim the orders to sell arms to Iran, with the proceeds used to finance the overthrow of the Nicaraguan government (against Congress' explicit orders) came from the Reagan Administration. He would be convicted of shredding documents and obstructing justice, and received a light sentence of a fine, probation and community service. Hall was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony against North, and left government service in June, 1987. On November 21, 1916, the HMS Britanic, younger sister of the Titanic, sinks in the Aegean Sea. The Britanic had been requisitioned by the British government shortly after her completion and converted for use as a hospital ship. WWI historians believe she struck a mine, and may have survived the damage had her captain not elected to attempt to run her aground on a nearby island. Captain Bartlett did not know that the nursing staff had opened portholes to air out the lower deck sick wards, forcing water into the ship much faster than anticipated. Thirty people were killed, many when their lifeboats were sucked into the still-thrashing propellers. The wreck of the Britanic was found in 400 feet of water by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau in 1976. On November 21, 1934, a gangly 17-year old dancer taking a dare from friends enters her name in the draw to participate in the Apollo Theater's infamous Amateur Night. Her name is called, but she has the bad fortune of taking the stage right after a popular local singing duo. Now believing dancing alone won't please the notoriously tough Apollo audience, she spontaneously attempts to sing a hit song of the day, "The Object of My Affection" -- and bombs. But Amateur Night emcee Ralph Cooper rushes onstage before the crowd can get nasty, helps her regroup, and lets her try again. On take 2, she brings down the house. Less than a year later, Ella Fitzgerald would earn her first professional singing gig.
November 22, 1963 Zapruder Frame 313: The JFK Assassination | 100 Photos | TIME - YouTube On November 22, 1906, the International Radiotelegraph Convention adopts the signal "SOS" (in Morse code, "dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot) as the international signal for distress. Two common misconceptions about "SOS", because ships were the principal means of international transportation of the day, the story has evolved that "SOS" was chosen as an abbreviation for "Save Our Ship." In fact, it is not an abbreviation for anything; it was chosen simply because it is an easy sequence to remember and recognize. Second, that the Titanic was the first ship to ever send an "SOS." The first was actually the RMS Slavonia on June 10, 1909, after it ran aground in the Azores. Not only was the Titanic not the first, it actually used "CQD", the previously accepted distress signal, before it sent out "SOS" on the night it sank. On November 22, 1986 in Las Vegas, 20-year old Mike Tyson becomes boxing's youngest heavyweight champion ever, when he knocks out Trevor Berbick in the 2nd round. Tyson had developed a fearsome reputation as a knockout artist long before winning the title; he entered the championship fight with a 27-0 record, with 26 KO's. Berbick, unwisely, decided he would try to stand toe-to-toe with the younger challenger. After the fight, Berbick said, "He punches pretty hard." Mike Tyson defeats Trevor Berbick for heavyweight crown - YouTube
On November 23, 1876, William “Boss” Tweed, leader of New York City’s corrupt Tammany Hall political organization during the 1860s and early 1870s, is extradited by Spanish authorities back to NYC. Tammany Hall was the NYC Democratic political machine that openly bought votes, encouraged judicial corruption, extracted millions from city contracts, and dominated New York City politics for more than 10 years. They ultimately proved to be vulnerable to public opinion though; after their corruption was exposed by the New York Times, the Tweed Ring was voted almost completely out of office in the November 1871 elections, and arrests soon followed. Boss Tweed was convicted of charges including forgery and larceny, but escaped from prison and traveled to Cuba and Spain. In 1876, he was arrested by Spanish police, who reportedly recognized him from a famous Thomas Nast cartoon depiction. After Tweed’s extradition to the United States, he was returned to prison, where he died in 1878. On November 23, 2002, Rush plays the final show of a 3 concerts-in-4 nights sweep through Brazil during its Vapor Trails Tour. The previous night had been the band's largest ever as a headline performer, 62,000 in Sao Paulo, but heavy rain before and during the show caused technical problems all night. But tonight's show is legendary for the band, an outdoor show for 46,000 in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium. The cameras are rolling, and the band will later release the show on CD and DVD, titled "Rush in Rio." High point of the show was probably "YYZ," during which the audience can clearly be heard vocalizing the rhythm of the instrumental over the band. (Its quite clear starting at about the 1:00 mark) Rush - YYZ Live (Rio) - YouTube
On November 24, 1863, Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant win "The Battle Above the Clouds", driving a small Confederate garrison off the summit of Lookout Mountain south of Chattanooga, TN. Grant's forces had been pinned in Chattanooga by rebel troops for nearly 2 months, as they attempted to take back the key Confederate rail hub city by siege. Under cover of fog, Grant's forces were able to scale the mountain almost entirely unobserved. A day later, Union troops would drive the rebels off Chattanooga's other key tactical point, Missionary Ridge, and break the siege. (Grant, at bottom left, on Lookout Mountain) On November 24, 1932, the FBI Crime Lab opens for business. Its purely a public relations tool at the start; the "crime lab" is in fact a single room manned by a single agent, with a microscope and a tool that can allegedly distinguish a gun barrel from a spent bullet. It wasn't until 1938, with the addition of a polygraph machine to the crime lab, that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover began to use this public relations tool as a crime-solving asset. Today, the FBI Laboratory, now located in Quantico, VA is one of the most comprehensive crime labs in the world, handling hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence annually. On November 24, 1960, Wilt Chamberlain clears an NBA record 55 rebounds in the Philadelphia Warriors loss to the Boston Celtics. In doing so, Chamberlain breaks the single game record of 51 rebounds set the previous season by his top rival for league supremacy among big men, Celtics center Bill Russell. More than 40 years after their retirements, Chamberlain and Russell still hold the top 12 positions on the NBA's list for most rebounds in a single game.
