This Day In History: November 17, 1558 “A Faerie Land ruled by a Faerie Queene” – Longleat On November 17, 1558, the Lords of the Council rode from London to the palace of Hatfield on a mission of great importance. Sir Nicholas Throckmorton carried a ring belonging to Queen Mary as a token of proof for her younger half-sister Elizabeth […]

This Day In History: November 14, 1959 “TV has altered drastically the nature of our political campaigns, conventions, constituents, candidates, and costs…” — Senator John F. Kennedy On November 14, 1959, an article written by Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts appeared as part of a series TV Guide was presenting called “Television As I See It.” JFK’s contribution was […]

This Day In History: November 13, 1974 On November 13, 1974, a 28 year-old technician at a plutonium plant named Karen Silkwood died in a one-car crash near Crescent, Oklahoma. She was headed to a meeting with a union representative and a reporter for the New York Times. Witnesses who saw here last claim she carried with her a folder […]

Today in History: November 12, 1954 Almost half of those living in the United States today can trace their roots back to a descendant who entered the country through Ellis Island, the gateway to America. The island, situated in New York Harbor, closed its doors on November 12, 1954 after processing over 12 million immigrants since officially opening on January […]

This Day In History: November 11, 1926 Well if you ever plan to motor west Just take my way that’s the highway that’s the best Get your kicks on Route 66 – Bobby Troupe U.S. Route 66, also known as the Main Street of America, the Mother Road, and the Will Rogers Highway, was officially established on this day in […]

This Day In History: November 10, 1969 “Sesame Street” was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them.” – author Malcolm Gladwell On November 10, 1969 “Sesame Street”, the ever-popular children’s TV show that has taught millions of kids their letters and numbers, made its debut on public television. […]

This Day In History November 7, 1962 Long before former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962, she made it perfectly clear she wished her funeral to be a quiet, no-frills affair. She requested a simple wooden coffin covered with pine boughs and asked that her passing not be announced until her memorial services had already been conducted. […]

This Day In History: November 6, 1982 A 40 year-old woman named Shirley Allen from St. Charles Missouri was arrested on November 6, 1982 for the murder of her husband, Lloyd Allen, also 40. The murder weapon was ethylene glycol, commonly used in anti-freeze, which Mrs. Allen had been spiking her husband’s beverages with over the course of many months. […]

This Day In History: November 5, 1862 In the aftermath of the Great Sioux Uprising, now more accurately referred to as the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862, over three hundred Sioux men were sentenced to death by hanging after a trial that can only be described as farcical at best. Specifically, out of the 392 prisoners put on trial, […]

This Day In History: November 4, 1842 On November 4, 1842, a struggling lawyer named Abraham Lincoln married the well-to-do Mary Todd, a Kentucky native like her new husband. The small wedding took place at the home of Mary’s sister in Springfield, Illinois. Mary Todd met Abraham Lincoln in late 1839, when she moved from her home in Lexington, Kentucky […]

This Day In History: November 3, 1926 On November 3, 1926, legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley died of natural causes in Greenville Ohio. To escape her poverty-stricken childhood, she capitalized on her extraordinary marksmanship and later joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Annie was the first female superstar in the once male-dominated profession. Phoebe Ann Moses, who later changed her […]

This Day In History October 31, 1992 On October 31, 1992, the Roman Catholic Church admitted it had been wrong to condemn Galileo Galilei for promoting the Copernican astronomical theory. After a 13 year investigation into the persecution of Galileo that led to his official condemnation in 1633, Pope John Paul II rectified a wrong that forced the Italian astronomer […]

This Day In History: October 30, 1534 The Act of Supremacy, passed by English Parliament on this day in history, 1534, declared King Henry VIII head of the newly minted Church of England, had a lot more to do with politics than it had to do with theology. It also was influenced by Henry’s complicated personal life, which was rendered […]

This Day In History: October 29, 539 B.C.E. On October 29, 539 B.C.E., Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, entered the city of Babylon and proclaimed himself “King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the four corners of the world.” He came bearing the Cyrus Cylinder, the first Charter of Human Rights, which he placed under the […]

This Day In History: October 28, 1466 “When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” – Erasmus Born the illegitimate son of a priest and a physician’s daughter, Desiderius Erasmus entered the world on October 28, 1466 in Rotterdam. He was the most influential and well-known humanist of the […]

This Day In History: October 27, 2004 On October 27, 2004, the day that longtime Boston Red Sox fans always dreamed of finally dawned – their beloved team broke the Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series for the first time since 1918 by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 in a four game sweep. And what an […]

This Day In History: October 23, 1915 At least 50,000 people took to the streets of New York City on October 23, 1915 to march in the country’s largest women’s suffrage parade up to that time. Nearly 70 years after the founders of the women’s suffrage movement gathered in Seneca Falls, it seemed the tide was finally turning. (Interestingly, this […]

This Day In History: October 22, 1964 On October 22, 1964, existentialist author Jean Paul Sartre was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for literature, which he chose to decline. His refusal was not an impulsive decision, but rather one based on longstanding personal and objective considerations. Sartre had also turned down the French Legion of Honor, as well as other […]