(Hope your daughter had a fun day!)


On Nov. 1, 1952, the United States
exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.

November 1st
 

She did, thanks Steph!! (and YOUR post was MY first!!)

So.....
Addendum to the above; the atoll (for such it was!) ceased to exist, post-test!


In 1940, fantastic prehistoric paintings were discovered in a cave at Lascaux in the Dordogne, south-west France


The first radio licences went on sale in Britain today in 1922, at a cost of Ten shillings (50p) a year. (50p these days = approx. US80 cents)


Famous soprano Mary Garden used her lips to good effect in 1911, by selling kisses for charity. One winning bidder reported "She is SOME kisser!!"

On Nov. 2, 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford, becoming the first U.S. president from the Deep South since the Civil War.

November 2nd
 

Today, in any year(!), Haitians celebrate the Day of the Dead. Thousands of people party in the country's cemetery!!!


In 1917, Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour wrote The Balfour Declaration, stating the governemnt's sympathy for Zionist aspirations fora Jewish homeland in Palestine.


British TV channel, Channel 4, began transmission in 1982, with Countdown as it's first programme. (Which is STILL going strong, 21 years later!)


In 1957, Elvis Presley had no fewer than EIGHT records in the British Top 30 charts... an all-time record!

November 3rd
 

Royal Navy frigates attack Chinese junks as the first Opium War begins in 1839, eventually leaving Hong Kong in British hands.


Today in 1957, Russian dog Laika became the first canine in space, circling the earth in Sputnik II


In 1534, the English parliament accepted the Act of Supremacy, putting King Henry VIII in place of the Pope as head of the English Church


In 1755, the Penobscot Indians in Maine were declared to be "enemies, rebels and traitors" to King George II, and bounties were put on their scalps!

And let's not forget that Laika was sacrificed in the experiment. :(

1943 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - US freighter 'Volunteer', carrying explosives, catches fire in Halifax harbour; courage of navy men saves city from disaster.

1908 -Vatican City - Roman Catholic Church declares that it will no longer consider Canada as a country for missionary activities. (Woohoo, we're first-world, baby!)

November 4th
 

True... not so good for him, huh?


This day in 1942 saw the beginning of the end for the Germans "Afrika Korps", and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, at the Battle of El Alamein in WWII


Today in 1980 ex-actor Ronald Reagan, Republican Governor of California, trounced Jimmy Carter in the U.S. elections to become America's 40th President


The first rapid-fire machine gun was patented today in 1862, by Richard Jordan Gatling of Indianapolis


Just ONE WEEK before the Armistice that brought WWI to an end, poet Wilfred Owen was killed in France at the age of 25.

Re: November 4th
 

dm383,

And a real loss it was! I just reread S.I.W. We should never underestimate the cost of war.

Helluva poet. Thank you.

1979 ~ the Iranian hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran.

1920 ~ Canadian Marconi's radio station broadcasts first commercial radio show; station started in December 1919; reputedly the oldest in the world.

November 5th
 

Britain declared war on Turkey ("the old man of Europe", said Winston Churchill) in 1914; 205,000 Allied soldiers were to become casualties there, to NO EFFECT whatsoever!!


Today in 1979, George Michael & Andrew Ridgely (later known as Wham!) played their first-ever live gig together, as 'The Excutives'.


In 1492, Christopher Columbus first learned about growing & harvesting maize from the native population of Cuba


It wasn't until this day in 1800 that King George II became the first British king to renounce all claims to the throne of France.


In 1605, Guy Fawkes and his compatriots were captured trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament..... leading to the quaint & uniquely British "Guy Fawkes" night, celebrated with 'Guys' being burned on top of large bonfires, accompanied by the setting off of large numbers of fireworks!!

1980 Opening of World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto 1.5 million books on 27.3 km of shelves; 6,500 m2 in size; now part of Chapters chain.

1955 Montreal Canadien Jean Beliveau scores a hat trick in 44 seconds; second fastest on record.

November 6th
 

In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula today's the day the old neck-biter FINALLY 'gets his'!!


in 1924, Tory leader Stanley Baldwin was elected Prime Minister and appointed Winston Churchill, formerly a Liberal, as his Chancellor of the Exchequer


Belgian musical instrument maker Antoine-Joseph Adolphe Sax, who invented the Saxophone in 1840, was born today in 1814.


In 1970, three-times Grand National winner Red Rum, the greatest ever steeplechaser, won his first race (a novice event at Doncaster) at odds of 100/7.

1879 CANADA'S FIRST OFFICIAL THANKSGIVING DAY

Ottawa Ontario - The Canadian Thanksgiving Day is officially observed for the first time on this day. The holiday is moved to the week of Armistice Day after World War I, then fixed as the second Monday in October in 1957.

November 7th
 

English peer Lord Lucan disappeared today in 1974, after allegedly killing his nanny. (That is, the nanny to his children!!) He hasn't been seen since.


On this day in 1917, Lenin's Bolsheviks, storming the Winter Palace in Petrograd, led the overtrow of Russia's moderate Kerensky-led socialist gvernment.


In 1990, lawyer & Senator Mary Robinson, became the first woman President of the Republic of Ireland


The Mary Celeste sailed from New York for Genoa in 1872.... but never arrived. She made the history books instead, when found abandoned four weeks later.

Happy birthday, Joni Mitchell!

Joni Mitchell 1943-
singer songwriter, painter, was born Roberta Joan Anderson on this day at Fort McLeod, Alberta, in 1943. Mitchell moved to Saskatoon at age 10, studied art, started folk singing, then moved to Toronto in 1965. She met musician Chuck Mitchell, who took her to Detroit, where they were married, but soon divorced. In 1967 she moved to New York, signed with David Geffen, and released her first album, Song to a Seagull (1968), produced by David Crosby on the Reprise label. Her career took off in 1968 when Judy Collins recorded her song Both Sides Now. After she moved to Laurel Canyon, near Los Angeles, she wrote The Circle Game (recorded by Tom Rush) and her monster hippy anthem Woodstock (recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). Mitchell's prime folk/rock albums include Blue (1971), For the Roses (1972) and Court and Spark (1974). She is a painter as well as a musician, and much of her later work, such as Hejira (1976) and Mingus (1979) has expanded her style into jazz.