This Week in History: Nov. 11-17, 2024

This Week in History
by Dianne Hermann

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate
their own understanding of their history.” George Orwell

Nov. 11-17, 2024

November 11 – Thanks to our Veterans!

1750 – The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the first college fraternity.

1865 – Mary Edwards Walker, the first female Army surgeon, becomes the first woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. President Andrew Jackson presented Walker the award for Meritorious Service. In 1916, the Medal of Honor was taken away from Walker and hundreds of others after the government reviewed eligibility requirements. President Jimmy Carter restored Walker’s award in 1977. Dr. Walker is still the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

1918 – World War I ends at 11 AM with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. President Wilson proclaims November 11 a national holiday as Armistice Day in 1919. The holiday was renamed Veteran’s Day after WWII. In 1954, President Eisenhower made the first Veterans Day proclamation.

1921 – President Harding dedicates the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously 24/7/365 since 1937, including during hurricanes when Honor Guards refused to stand down. Guards are volunteers of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard,” at Fort Meyer, Virginia. Over 600 Tomb Guard Identification Badges have been awarded since they started counting in 1958.

1926 – U.S. Route 66 is established and, when completed, winds from Chicago to LA, more than two thousand miles all the way. Get your kicks on Route 66. The song of the same name was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946.

1939 – Kate Smith makes her first public performance of “God Bless America,” written by Russian-born immigrant Irving Berlin in 1918. Watch the quintessential performance of the patriotic song.

1992 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin tells U.S. senators in a letter that Americans had been held in prison camps after World War II. Some were “summarily executed,” while others were still living in his country voluntarily.

1993 – The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC, to honor the more than 11,000 women who served in the Vietnam War.

2008 – Taylor Swift, age 18, releases her second album “Fearless,” which wins multiple music awards. It remains the most awarded country album of all time.


November 12

1920 – District Court Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as the first baseball commissioner and is still the longest-serving commissioner. He served until his death in 1944 at age 78.

1926 – The first recorded aerial bombing on U.S. soil took place in Williamson County, Illinois, during a feud between rival bootlegger gangs, the Shelton brothers and the Charlie Birger gang. Members of each gang used trucks converted into armored vehicles and bombed their rival’s buildings. Binger was arrested for ordering the murder of Joe Adams, a local mayor. He was convicted and hanged in April of 1928. Two of the Shelton brothers were murdered by another rival gang. Earl, the last surviving brother, died in 1986 at age 96.

1954 – Ellis Island, the immigration station in New York Harbor, closes. It opened in 1892. Over 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island.

1969 – The U.S. Army announces it is investigating Lt. William Calley for an alleged March 19th massacre of civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. He was convicted on 22 counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. President Nixon ordered Calley transferred to house arrest in Fort Benning, Georgia, where he remained for 3 ½ years. Calley is now 80 years old.

1975 – Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retires after 36 years on the bench. He is still the longest-ever serving Supreme Court Justice. Douglas died in 1980 at age 81. Clarence Thomas is currently the longest-serving Jurist at 32 years.

1981 – Double Eagle V completes the first balloon crossing of Pacific Ocean from Japan to Baja California in 84 ½ hours. It set a new distance record of 5,768 miles. Take a brief tour of the International Balloon Museum.

1997 – Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Yousef was sentenced to life plus 240 years to be served in solitary confinement.

2015 – “Out” Magazine names Barack Obama “Ally of the Year,” making him the first sitting U.S. President to pose for cover of a gay magazine.


November 13

1927 – The New York-New Jersey Holland Tunnel, the first twin-tube underwater auto tunnel, opens to traffic. Chief Engineer Clifford Holland died before its completion. Watch a documentary on the building of the tunnel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fORmoNbN5yI

1942 – The minimum military draft age is lowered from 21 to 18.

1956 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules race segregation on buses unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.

2001 – In the first such act since World War II, President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the U.S.

2006 – A deal is finalized for Google Inc. to acquire YouTube for $1.65 million in Google stock.

2009 – NASA announces that water has been discovered on the moon. The discovery came from the planned impact on the moon of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). Watch a NASA press conference, with lunar maps.

2018 – The trial of Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” Guzman begins in New York City. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for drug trafficking and money laundering.


November 14

1832 – The first horse-drawn streetcar (designed by John Stephenson) debuts in New York City. The fare was 12 cents to ride on 4th Avenue between Prince and 14th Streets.

1889 – New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) begins her attempt to surpass the fictitious journey of Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg by traveling around the world in less than 80 days. She succeeded by finishing the trip in January in 72 days and 6 hours, setting a real world record. In 1887, Bly feigned insanity to have herself committed to the women’s mental institution in New York City. She wrote “Ten Days in a Mad-House” to expose the brutality and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. The asylum was closed in 1894.

1910 – The first airplane launches from the deck of a ship. Eugene Ely took off from the USS Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and landed at the Willoughby Spit peninsula in Norfolk after a 5-minute flight. In January 1911, Ely became the first pilot to land on a ship when he took off from the Tanforan Racetrack and landed on the USS Pennsylvania anchored in the San Francisco Bay. Ely was killed in October 1911 while flying at an exhibition in Georgia. He was 24 years old.

1972 – Dow Jones closes above 1,000 for first time (1003.16). It took another 15 years to close above 2,000 (in 1987).

1993 – Don Shula becomes (and remains) the winningest coach in NFL history with his 325th victory with the Miami Dolphins in his 31-year career. He passed Coach George Halas’ record of 324 wins during his 40-year career with the Chicago Bears. Shula finished his coaching career with 328 wins. Shula died in 2020 at age 90. Watch an interview with Shula on his coaching career.

1997 – Disney’s “Lion King” sets a Broadway record of $2,700,000 one day sales. It is also the highest grossing Broadway show at $1.8 billion and counting, surpassing “Phantom of the Opera” in 2012.

2001 – The House of Representatives votes not to create an independent commission to investigate the September 11 attacks.


November 15

1763 – Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying the “Mason-Dixon Line” to resolve a border dispute among Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The official report that was issued in 1768 did not even mention their names.

1939 – The Social Security Administration approves the first unemployment check.

1957 – The U.S. sentences Soviet spy Rudolf Ivanovich Abel to 30 years in prison and fines him $3,000. He smuggled coded messages in hollow nickels. He served four years in prison before being exchanged for captured U-2 spy plane pilot Gary Powers. Abel died in 1971 at age 68.

1959 – Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith murder four members of the Clutter Family at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas. The murders became the subject of Truman Capote’s book “In Cold Blood.”

1986 – Ivan F. Boesky, reputed to be the highest-paid person on Wall Street, faced penalties of $100 million for insider stock trading. He served 2 years of a 4-year sentence. It was the highest penalty ever imposed by the SEC. In a 1991 divorce, he was reportedly awarded a settlement from his wife of a $20 million lump payment plus $2 million a year for life, about half of what she was seeking. Boesky died in May 2024 at age 87.

2012 – BP settles with the U.S. Department of Justice for $4.5 billion after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill discharged an estimated 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. As of 2018, cleanup costs and penalties cost BP more than $65 billion.


November 16

1676 – The first colonial prison is organized in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

1914 – The Federal Reserve System formally opens. The “Fed” was created by Congress during the Wilson administration as the central bank of the U.S. to influence monetary policy and regulate banks. The “Fed” is made up of 12 member banks for each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts and has never been audited.

1963 – The touch-tone telephone is introduced.

1965 – Walt Disney launches Epcot Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). Walt Disney died the following year and Epcot opens in 1982. Watch an animated ride on the EPCOT People Mover with electronic voiceover.

1973 – President Nixon authorizes construction of the Alaska pipeline. The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977. More than 18 billion barrels of crude oil have been pumped through the pipeline.

1981 – Luke and Laura finally get married on the soap opera “General Hospital.” It is the longest running American soap opera still in production (since 1963). It surpassed Guiding Light (1952-2009) as the longest soap opera of all time. Watch the long-awaited wedding ceremony.

2012 – “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” grosses $500 million in the first 24 hours to become the biggest entertainment launch of all time – until “Grand Theft Auto V” pulled in $800 million in the first 24 hours in 2013. It took in $1 billion in just 3 days.

2017 – Senator Al Franken (D-MN) is accused of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement. He resigned in January 2018.


November 17

1800 – Congress holds its first session in the incomplete Capitol building Washington, DC. The building was completed in 1826.

1871 – The National Rifle Association (NRA) is chartered in New York.

1894 – H. H. Holmes, identified as the first American serial killer, is arrested in Boston after being tracked by Pinkerton detectives. Although he confessed to 27 murders, it is believed he is guilty of more than 200 murders. He was hanged in 1896 after being convicted on a single count of murder.

1936 – Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy become an overnight success on radio. The Edgar Bergen/ Charlie McCarthy Show aired until 1956. Edgar Bergen died in 1978 at age 75. Charlie is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

1967 – Surveyor 6 becomes the first man-made object to lift off from the Moon.

1968 – NBC cuts to the movie “Heidi,” missing the Oakland Raider’s rally in the final two minutes of the football game. The Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds of play to beat the New York Jets, 43-32 in the “Heidi Bowl.” Watch the news show and commentary, with the last minute of the game that was never seen on TV.

1993 – The U.S. House of Representatives approves the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

2004 – Kmart Corp. announces it is buying Sears, Roebuck and Co. for $11 billion and naming the newly merged company Sears Holdings Corporation.





Image from: npr.org

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