Monthly Archives: November 2023

History

On This Day – November 17

On This Day – November 17

  • 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in as Californian Governor

    The bodybuilder and actor best known for his role as a cyborg in the science fiction movie, The Terminator, replaced then Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was elected for another term as governor in 2007.

  • 1989 Velvet Revolution begins

    A week after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a demonstration of by students commemorating International Students Day in Prague was violently shut down by riot police. The incident led to mass strikes and nonviolent around the country that ended communist rule in erstwhile Czechoslovakia and paved the way for the first democratic elections in the country in 41 years.

  • 1973 Athens Polytechnic Uprising Ends

    The popular protests against the military junta under Georgios Papadopoulos began on November 14 when students at the polytechnic went on a strike. On the morning of November 17, the military crashed into the campus grounds using a tank and put an end of the protests. While no one was thought to have been killed on the polytechnic campus, many people were killed in clashes around the city. Today, all schools and universities are closed on November 17 to commemorate the uprising.

  • 1869 Construction on Suez Canal finished

    The 120 miles (193 kms) long artificial waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea took 10 years to be built and was opened to ships. The canal connected Europe to Asia without ships having to go all the way around Africa.

  • 1858 The start of Modified Julian Date

    Mostly used by astronomers and astrophysicists, the Modified Julian Date (MJD) is a dating method that is defined by subtracting 2,400,000.5 days from the current Julian date (JD), which is calculated by counting the number of days past since Noon January 1, 4713 B.C.E. The MJD gives the number of days past Midnight November 17, 1858. MJD was first used in 1957 by scientists at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory to track satellites.

christmas

Evergreens are an ancient tradition

Evergreens are an ancient tradition

a boy with downs syndrome hanging decorations on a christmas tree

   The tradition of Christmas trees goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans, who decorated with evergreens during the winter solstice to signify that spring would return. Evergreens reminded them of all the green plants that were to grow once the sun returned.

History

On This Day – November 16

On This Day – November 16

  • 2001 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone released

    The film version of the popular book by the same name written by author J. K. Rowling starred Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and followed Potter’s first year at Hogwarts, a school for magic.

  • 1988 Estonians declare sovereignty from USSR

    Estonians issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration as part of the Singing Revolution. The Declaration declared Estonian sovereignty from the Soviet Union and declared Estonian laws paramount over Soviet laws. The day is now celebrated as the Day of Declaration of Sovereignty.

  • 1965 Soviets launch Venera 3

    Part of the Venera program, it was the first space probe to land on another planet – Venus. Unfortunately, due to technical issues, it was not able to send any data back to Earth. The first space probe to send data from another planet to Earth was Venera 7.

  • 1945 UNESCO founded

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a special branch of the United Nations which promotes peace and well-being through education, scientific collaboration and cultural understanding and exchange. It is headquartered in Paris, France and has 195 state members.

  • 1940 Warsaw ghetto sealed

    The largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, the Warsaw ghetto, was created in October 1940 by a German decree. According to the decree, all Jews in the city had to move to the ghetto, which was closed off by a 10 feet wall and had soldiers and police guarding it from the outside 24 hours a day. The ghetto was the scene of one of the largest Jewish uprisings during the Second World War in 1943.

History

On This Day – November 15

On This Day – November 15

  • 2006 Al Jazeera English launched

    The English language 24-hour news channel is owned and run by Al Jazeera Media Network based in Doha, Qatar.

  • 1988 State of Palestine created

    The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) declared the creation of the state while in exile in Algiers, Algeria. The declaration designated eastern Jerusalem as the state’s capital. Today, almost 70% of all UN members state recognize it as an independent country.

  • 1956 Elvis Presley makes his movie debut

    Love Me Tender, a black-and-white musical starred the American singer, who is also sometimes called the King of Rock and Roll. The movie was named after Presley’s hit single by the same name.

  • 1949 Assassins of MK Gandhi Executed in India

    Nathuram Godse, Narayan Apte and 6 other co-conspirators of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi were hanged at the Ambala jail. On January 30, 1948, Godse who was unhappy about Gandhi’s accommodation of India’s Muslims shot Gandhi while he was out for his evening prayers.

  • 1920 League of Nations meets for the first time

    The general assembly of the international organization got together for the first time after being founded in January 1920. The League was created as a response to World War I and was entrusted by member states to maintain peace in the world.