Nine days before Christmas in 1965, astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford aboard the Gemini 6 told Mission Control that they saw an “unidentified flying object” about to enter Earth’s atmosphere, traveling in the polar orbit from north to south. Just as things got tense, they interrupted the broadcast with “Jingle Bells,” as Wally played a small harmonica accompanied by Tom shaking a handful of small sleigh bells.
Considered to be the worst attack on journalists in recorded history, the massacre occurred in the southern Philippines, when 57 citizens and journalists en route to register voters in Esmael Mangudadatu for the upcoming gubernatorial elections, were killed by gunmen and buried. 34 journalists were killed on the day.
The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner is also the first woman to be elected as head of state in an African country.
Frenchman Jacques Mayol, who is also sometimes known as Dolphin Man, was 49 years old at the time. He broke his own record 7 years later by diving 105 meters.
The longest running science fiction TV show first aired with an episode called An Unearthly Child on the British Broadcasting Channel. The show that has had 11 different actors play the lead role, follows the time-traveling adventures of Doctor Who, who uses the Time and Relative Dimension in Space or TARDIS to jump around in time and space.
Johan Alfred Ander was convicted of murdering Victoria Hellsten during a robbery of a currency exchange. He was the only person in Swedish history to be executed using a guillotine. Capital punishment in the country was abolished for all peacetime crimes in 1921 and for all crimes in 1973.
Legend has it we hang stockings by the chimney with care because one year a poor widowed man didn’t have enough money for his three daughters’ dowries, making it difficult for them to marry. Generous old St. Nick dropped a bag of gold down their chimney one night and into the freshly washed stockings the girls had hung by the fire to dry. After that, the tradition stuck!
On This Day – November 21
1979 Mob burns down US embassy in Pakistan
The mob was allegedly incensed by a rumor that the United States was involved in an attack on a mosque in the holy city of Mecca.
1964 Verrazano Narrows Bridge opens in NYC
The suspension bridge connects Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City and at the time of its opening, it was the world’s longest suspension bridge, until the Humber Bridge in the UK opened in 1981.
1962 War between China and India ends
The month long war began over a border dispute between the two countries and ended with a unilateral ceasefire by the Chinese.
1941 Tweety Bird makes its debut
The fictional cartoon canary also just called Tweety made his first appearance in A Tale of Two Kitties, a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon. Tweety was created by animator Bob Clampett who worked on Loony Tunes cartoons.
1920 Bloody Sunday in Ireland
A key event in the Irish War of Independence, which was a conflict between the British government and Irish revolutionaries in Ireland, Bloody Sunday began with the killings of 14 people by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) under the leadership of Michael Collins. Two other violent incidents against civilian and IRA members during the day added to the death count, which was over 30 by the end of the day.
