On November 15, 1942, a hastily thrown together squadron consisting of the battleships Washington and South Dakota, and four destroyers, intercepts a Japanese task force escorting supply transports to Guadalcanal. Although the South Dakota is badly damaged and two of the destroyers sunk, the Americans sink the battleship Kirishima and a destroyer, while the transports were forced aground and later destroyed. The battle ends the naval side of the Guadalcanal Campaign, and more importantly, denies the Japanese the reinforcements and supplies needed to retake Henderson Field from the U.S. Marines. One military historian wrote that the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal took away the heart of the Japanese Admiralty and sent the Japanese Navy into decline, while the U.S. Navy never stopped getting better. On November 15, 1920, representatives of 42 countries meet in the first assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Envisioned by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and established by the Paris Peace Conference earlier in the year, the League of Nations was intended to enforce the terms of the Post World War I Treaty of Versailles and maintain world peace. World War II established that the League could not meet these goals and was disbanded in 1946. On November 15, 1966, astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin splash down in the Pacific Ocean, bringing a successful conclusion to the Gemini 12 space flight. Gemini 12 would orbit the earth 59 times, successfully docking with an unmanned "Agena" target ship during the flight, while Aldrin (below) would spend 5 and a half hours outside the Gemini capsule in 3 separate EVA's. The flight brings Project Gemini to a close; having established that crews could live and work in space for a week at a time or more, NASA moved on to Project Apollo with the goal of landing a man on the moon. Aldrin would become the second man to walk on the moon during Apollo 11; Lovell was part of the Apollo 8 crew that was first to orbit the moon, before commanding the ill-fated and aborted Apollo 13 mission.
On November 17, 1583, French scholar Joseph Scaliger (below) determines January 1, 4713 BC to be Day Zero of the first Julian Period. Scaliger was seeking a method to date events before pre-recorded history, and devised a "calendar" using a solar cycle (28 years by the Julian calendar), a lunar cycle (19 years) and an indiction cycle (a Roman calculation equaling 15 years). Backtracking those three methods, the cycles synchronized on the aforementioned date. Julian Period dating is used by astronomers and in some computer programming where precise times must be calculated. The first Julian period ends when all three cycles come together again, an interval of 7980 years. We are currently in year 6734 of the Julian Period, and today's Julian date is 21321. On November 17, 1970, the Soviets land Lunokhod 1 on the Sea of Rains on the lunar surface. Deployed by the unmanned Luna 17 orbiter, Lunokhod 1 is the first remotely operated vehicle to successfully operate on the surface of an alien world. Designed to function for only 3 lunar days (about 3 months) and powered by solar-rechargable batteries, Lunokhod 1 managed to perform for 11 lunar days, travelling about 10.5 kilometers and sending back about 20,000 TV images of the surface before controllers lost contact with the vehicle. Astronomers at UC San Diego relocated Lunokhod 1 using laser range finding in 2010. On November 17, 1810, Sweden declares war on the United Kingdom, launching the Anglo-Swedish War. Its impossible to know the exact number of casualties in most wars, but for the Anglo-Swedish War, we have an exact number of both killed and wounded: zero. The war was entirely on paper; the Treaty of Paris, signed the previous January, brought Sweden into Napoleon's Continental System, an economic alliance against Great Britain. Napoleon demanded Sweden either declare war on the British, including the seizure of ships in port and goods in the marketplace, or face military reprisals themselves. No military actions between the "combatants" ever took place, while open trade between the nations continued. French interest in Sweden gradually waned, and the Treaty of Orebro, signed July 18, 1812, ended the "war."
On November 18, 360, St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated by Pope Sylvester. Approximately 40 years in construction (the year construction began is estimated between 318 and 322) and built over the ruins of the Circus of Nero in Rome, what is now known as the Old Basilica will serve as the seat of Christianity until its demolition in 1505. The new (current) Basilica built in its place will be consecrated in 1626, also on November 18. On November 18, 1963, the first push button telephones go on sale in the Pittsburgh area. Western Electric had been experimenting with push button technology for phone dialing since 1941. The so-called rotary phones automatically dialed numbers through electrical impulses. The mechanism of the rotary dialer would interrupt the phone's electrical signal, creating the pulses necessary to distinguish the numbers. Push button phones employ an audible dual-tone signal, operating much quicker than the rotary dialer. Western Electric stopped manufacturing rotary phones in 1965, and they had been phased almost entirely out of use by the mid-1980's. On November 18, 1928, Walt Disney Studios releases the animated short film Steamboat Willie. It is the first animated film with fully synchronized sound and, although it represents the first appearance of beloved animated character Mickey Mouse, it is not Mickey's first film; its his third. Disney, on seeing the success of the first full length film with incorporated sound (The Jazz Singer), delayed release of Mickey's first two shorts to get Steamboat Willie to the public. Mickey's girlfriend Minnie Mouse also makes her first appearance in the film. In 1998, Steamboat Willie was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry for its historic significance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=BBgghnQF6E4&feature=emb_logo
On November 19, 1985, the Texas State Court system hands down the largest civil verdict in U.S. history, ordering Texaco to pay $10.53 billion dollars in compensatory and punitive damages. The plaintiff in the case, Pennzoil Co., had reached an agreement with Getty Oil a year earlier to purchase rights to a large portion of Getty's oil deposits. Not believing the agreement was finalized, Texaco encroached on the Pennzoil deal in an attempt to acquire Getty for itself. The Texas Court of Appeals later lowered the punitive penalty from $3 billion to $1 billion, and Texaco eventually settled the case with Pennzoil for $3 billion total. On November 19, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean (below, photographed in the LEM simulator) set the lunar module Intrepid down on the Ocean of Storms on the lunar surface. Hours after the landing, they become the 3rd and 4th men to walk the surface of the moon. As planned, Conrad and Bean landed Intrepid within walking distance of Surveyor 3, an unmanned probe sent to the moon 2 years before, proving that NASA could execute pinpoint landings on an alien world. Postscript: the third member of the Apollo 12, Richard Gordon, lost his chance to walk on the moon when Apollo 18, which he was to command, was scrubbed due to budget cuts. He remained with NASA for a few years working on the developing space shuttle program, and after retiring, was named Executive VP of the New Orleans Saints. On November 19, 2004, its Malice at The Palace! The Detroit Pistons are hosting the Indiana Pacers at The Palace at Auburn Hills, Michigan. With about 45 second left in the game and the Pacers leading by 5, the Pacers' Ron Artest, one of the NBA's more flamboyant but volatile personalities, fouls the Pistons' Ben Wallace. Wallace responds by shoving Artest, and a brief scuffle ensues. Artest, saying later he was trying to calm down, lays down on the scorer's table as the refs sort out the mess. That's when all Hades breaks loose. John Green, a fan sitting about a dozen rows up from the scorer's table, throws a cup full of beverage that scores a direct hit on Artest, who leaps up and charges into the stands in search of the culprit. Teammate Stephen Jackson follows, but Artest grabs and punches the wrong fan, and a brawl involving fans and players from both teams commences. Police break up the melee, and the remainder of the game is cancelled. In all, ten players from both teams would face criminal charges on varying degrees of assault and battery. Nine would be suspended by the NBA, ranging from 5 players suspended for 1 game for leaving the bench area, to Artest, who was suspended for the remaining 73 games of the season plus 13 post season games, losing nearly $5 million in salary. The NBA would also add security restrictions at all games, including increasing the minimum number of security officer to be on site, to limiting the number of and size of cups for alcohol sales at games.
On November 20, 1943, the US Navy and Marines launch Operation Galvanic, the assault on the Japanese-held island of Tarawa. It is the first major operation in the strategically critical Gilbert Islands, and the first amphibious assault by the Americans in which the Japanese mount a serious resistance to the landing itself. It took the Marines four days to secure the island, at the cost of 1,009 dead and twice as many wounded. Japanese losses approached 4,700 dead. On November 20, 1998, the Russian Space Agency places Zarya, what will be the first component of the International Space Station, into earth orbit. Formally known as the Functional Cargo Block, Zarya will provide power, propulsion, guidance and storage as the ISS is assembled in orbit. Zarya is Russian for "dawn," the name selected as the ISS represented the dawn of a new day in international cooperation in space. (Zarya seen in December 1998 from space shuttle Endeavor as it deployed Unity (foreground), the first American component to be attached to the ISS) On November 20, 1980, a Texaco drilling crew is drilling an exploratory well in Lake Peigneur, an arm of Vermilion Bay in south Louisiana, when they accidentally pierce a salt dome created by a previous drilling operation. In a sudden torrent, the lake and the contents of its tributary, Bayou Delcambre are sucked into the cavern over the course of several hours, along with the Texaco drilling rig, a tugboat pushing 11 barges, and about 65 acres of land (nine of the 11 barges popped out of the hole days later as the air pressure equalized and the lake refilled with water from the Gulf of Mexico). The previously freshwater lake, only a few feet deep at the time, is now salt water and is 200 feet in some places. Incredibly, all 55 men involved in the drilling operation escaped. Lake Peigneur Salt Mine drilling accident - YouTube
On November 21, 1905, the journal Annalen der Physik (German for Annuls of Physics) publishes "Does the Inertia of a Moving Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" by 26-year old Albert Einstein. It is the fourth and final of Einstein's "Annus Miraibilis" (amazing year) papers for the journal, and in it, he lays out a revolutionary hypothesis; that even a small amount of mass at rest corresponds to an enormous amount of potential energy. He spells it out in the seemingly simple formula where E equals energy, m is mass and c squared is the speed of light. I will not even pretend to know what he's talking about. (1904 photo) On November 21, 1964, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge near NYC opens to vehicular traffic. Spanning 13,700 feet and linking the NYC boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn, it is the longest suspension bridge in the world (it was surpassed by the Humber Bridge in the UK in 1981). It is a double decker bridge with 7 lanes on its upper level and 6 on the lower, and is 228 feet above the Narrows at its mean height, beating out the Golden Gate Bridge for water clearance by 8 feet. Fun fact: the name was misspelled "Varrazano" on the original construction contract, and so the official name of the bridge was misspelled until corrected in 2018. On November 21, 1980, fire breaks out in one of the restaurants of the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas. It will be one of the most deadly high rise fires in US history; 85 people were killed and hundreds injured, most due to smoke inhalation as they were trapped in the 26-story hotel tower. The fire was one of several high rise blazes around the world over a several year period, and led to major refinements in high rise fire safety worldwide. The subsequent 9-month closure of the facility, one of the largest on the Las Vegas Strip, cost Clark County $1.7 million in lost tax revenue. The Grand reopened in July, 1981 and was purchased by Bally Manufacturing in 1985, rebranded as Bally's Las Vegas.
November 22, 1963 On November 22, 1718, Edward Teach (Blackbeard the Pirate) is killed in a battle with British naval vessels off North Carolina's Outer Banks. Commanding a 4-ship "fleet" including his flagship, a captured 40-gun French Frigate renamed Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard had been terrorizing the Caribbean and the southern coast of North America for 6 months. But he was down to one ship when Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood dispatched a naval squadron to finish him off. Legend has it Teach took 5 musket shots and about 20 sword cuts before falling. On November 22, 1869, the Cutty Sark, one of the last clipper ships, is launched in Dumbarton, Scotland. With a narrow beam and way more sail area than was necessary for their size, clipper ships are designed to deliver small volume or lightweight cargo in a hurry, and none are faster than Cutty Sark. She spent 7 years delivering tea from the Orient to England, after which her owners set their sights on the wool trade out of South Wales. On her first voyage, she set a speed record that she would improve upon on each of her next four voyages. The advent of steam cargo ships soon made the clippers obsolete. The Cutty Sark continued to find cargo work until 1922 when she was converted to a training ship. She was donated for museum preservation in 1953, and is permanently dry docked at Greenwich, England as part of the UK's National Historic Fleet.
I remember that day vividly. I was responsible for raising and lowering the flag at school. I had learned how to in Boy Scouting but it was the first time I ever did so. When we learned that Kennedy was dead I was excused to lower the flag.
Everyone remembers that day, I was in English class when they put the news report on the room announcement speakers. I think they put the microphone in front of a radio and it sounded bad but we heard the words. What I remember even more was watching live TV with my Mom and Dad when Jack Ruby shot Oswald. Mom jumped up and screamed 'What in the hell is going on, in our country". I can still see the shocked look on her face.
