This Week in History

HISTORY, 20 Nov 2017

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

Nov 20-26, 2017

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”    – Gilbert K. Chesterton

 

NOVEMBER 20

2008  After critical failures in the US financial system began to build up after mid-September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level since 1997.

2003  After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.

2001  In Washington, DC, US President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.

1998  The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.

1998  A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

1994  The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war. (Localized fighting resumes the next year.)

1991  An Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter carrying 19 peacekeeping mission team with officials and journalists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend District of Azerbaijan.

1989  Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.

1980  Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole.

1979  Grand Mosque Seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from Pakistani special forces to put down the uprising.

1977  Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

1974  The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.

1971  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1969  Occupation of Alcatraz: Native American activists seize control of Alcatraz Island until being ousted by the US Government on June 11, 1971.

1969  Vietnam War: The Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.

The Plain Dealer and the Photographs of My Lai Massacre:

My Lai Massacre:

1968  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1968  A total of 78 miners are killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company’s No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia in the Farmington Mine disaster

1962  The end of the blockade after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis (The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (Spanish: Crisis de octubre), the Caribbean Crisis (Russian: Карибский кризис, tr. Karibskiy krizis), or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba.): When all offensive missiles and Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers had been withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally ended on November 20, 1962.

Cuban Missile Crisis:

Timeline of the Cuban Missile Crisis:

1952  Slánský trials: A series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.

1947  The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.

1945  Nuremberg trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.

Nuremberg Military Tribunal:

Judgements of 1 October 1946:

1943  World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins: United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.

1940  World War II: Hungary becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.

1936  José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange, is killed by a republican execution squad.

1917  Ukraine is declared a republic.

Ukrainian People’s Republic:

History of Ukraine:

1917  World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins: British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.

Battle of Cambrai:

Timeline of the Battle of Cambrai (including Timeline of World War I):

1910  Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosí, denouncing Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.

1845  Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: Battle of Vuelta de Obligado.

1820  An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. (Herman Melville‘s 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story.)

1805  Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio premieres in Vienna.

Beethoven’s Fidelio:

 

NOVEMBER 21

2012  At least 28 are wounded after a bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv.

2009  A mine explosion in Heilongjiang province, northeastern China, kills 108.

2006  Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.

2004  The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq‘s external debt.

2004  The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island sustains the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed.

2004  The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, giving rise to massive protests and controversy over the election’s integrity.

2002  NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.

Enlargement of NATO:

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO):

History of NATO:

Problems of NATO:

The United States and NATO:

1944  World War II: Allied troops begin the attack on Paris.

Liberation of Paris of 1944:

1996  Humberto Vidal explosion: Thirty-three people die when a Humberto Vidal shoe shop explodes.

1995  The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement is formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.

Dayton Peace Agreement:

Background and Analysis of the Dayton Peace Agreement:

War in Bosnia-Herzegovina:

Bosnian War on the Ground:

Timeline of the War in Bosnia-Herzegovina:

Wright Patterson Air Force Base:

1986  Iran–Contra affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Iran-Contra Affair:

Timeline of the Iran-Contra Affair:

1985  United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

1983  US military campaign in Granada ends.

US Military Campaign in Granada:

1980  A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally’s Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.

1979  The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.

1974  The Birmingham pub bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted.

1972  Voters in South Korea overwhelmingly approve a new constitution, giving legitimacy to Park Chung-hee and the Fourth Republic.

1971  Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.

1970  Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast: A joint United States Air Force and Army team raids the Sơn Tây prisoner-of-war camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.

Vietnam War in 1970:

Operation Ivory Coast:

1970  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1969  The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI.

1969  US President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree in Washington, DC, on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the US is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be “nuclear-free”.

US Policy toward Japan of 1969 and the 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement:

Richard Nixon:

Eisaku Sato:

Eisaku Sato and Okinawa:

Japan’s Non-Nuclear Weapons Policy:

A Secret Nuclear Weapons Agreement between the United States and Japan, signed by the President of the United States (Richard Nixon) and the Prime Minister of Japan (Eisaku Sato = a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate):

Okinawa and Nuclear Weapons:

A Huge Explosion Sound Heard and a Huge Mushroom Cloud Witnessed near Kumé Island, Okinawa, on May 21, 2014. An Explosion of an Underwater Volcano in the Region, an Explosion of a Nuclear Device, or Something Else? :

Okinawa and Agent Orange:

US Biological Weapon Experiments in Okinawa

Okinawa Travel Guide:

History of Okinawa:

Okinawa and World War II:

US Occupation of Okinawa:

The Origin or One of the Main Origins of the Presence of the United States Military in Okinawa:

The Presence of the United States Military in Okinawa:

1967  Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: “I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing.”

Vietnam War in 1967:

1965  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

1964  Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church‘s ecumenical council closes.

Vatican Council II:

Vatican Council II Documents:

1964  The Verrazano–Narrows Bridge opens to traffic. (At the time it is the world’s longest suspension bridge.)

1962  The Chinese People’s Liberation Army declares a unilateral ceasefire in the Sino-Indian War.

1953  The British Natural History Museum announces that the “Piltdown Man” skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.

1927  Columbine Mine massacre: Striking coal miners are allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.

1922  Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.

1920  Irish War of Independence: In Dublin, 31 people are killed in what became known as “Bloody Sunday“. This included fourteen British informants, fourteen Irish civilians and three Irish Republican Army prisoners.

Irish War of Independence:

History of Ireland:

1918  A pogrom takes place in Lwów (now Lviv); over three days, at least 50 Jews and 270 Ukrainian Christians are killed by Poles.

1918  The Flag of Estonia, previously used by pro-independence activists, is formally adopted as the national flag of the Republic of Estonia.

1916  World War I: A mine explodes and sinks HMHS Britannic in the Aegean Sea, killing 30 people.

1910  Sailors onboard Brazil’s most powerful military units, including the brand-new warships Minas Geraes, São Paulo, and Bahia, violently rebel in what is now known as the Revolta da Chibata (Revolt of the Lash).

1905  Albert Einstein‘s paper, “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?“, is published in the journal Annalen der Physik. This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².

Albert Einstein:

On Einstein’s 1905 Papers:

Texts of Einstein’s 1905 Papers:

1894  Port Arthur, Manchuria, falls to the Japanese, a decisive victory of the First Sino-Japanese War, after which Japanese troops are accused of the massacre of the remaining inhabitants of the city. (Reports conflict on this subject.)

1877  Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

 

 

NOVEMBER 22

2012  Ceasefire begins between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israel after eight days of violence and 150 deaths.

Israel-Gaza Conflict in 2012:

2005  Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.

Angela Merkel:

2004  The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.

Orange Revolution in Ukraine of 2004:

2003  Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident: Shortly after takeoff, a DHL Express cargo plane is struck on the left wing by a surface-to-air missile and forced to land.

2002  In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest.

1995  A MW earthquake of 7.3 strikes Gulf of Aqaba between the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia, the largest tectonic event in the area for many decades.

1995  Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.

1990  British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdraws from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her premiership.

1989  In West Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanese President René Moawad, killing him.

1988  In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed.

1987  Two Chicago television stations are hijacked by an unknown pirate dressed as Max Headroom.

1981  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1981:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1977  British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.

1975  Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.

1974  The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.

PLO Permanent Mission to the United Nations:

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO):

History of the PLO:

1973  The Italian Fascist organization Ordine Nuovo is disbanded.

1968  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1967  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

1967  UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted, establishing a set of the principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab–Israeli peace settlement.

UN SC Resolution 242:

Explanations and/or Pertinent Arguments on UNSC 242:

Six-Day War of 1967:

1963  In Dallas, Texas, US President John F Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded. Suspect Lee Harvey Oswald is later captured and charged with the murder of both the President and police officer J. D. Tippit. Oswald is shot dead two days later by Jack Ruby while in police custody. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, becomes President upon Kennedy’s death.

John F Kennedy:

Assassination of John F Kennedy:

Why JFK Killed? Who Killed JFK? :

1955  USSR performs nuclear test (atmospheric) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1955:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Soviet Atmospheric Nuclear Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1954  The Humane Society of the United States is founded.

1943  Lebanon gains independence from France.

History of Lebanon:

Lebanon:

Foreign Relations of Lebanon:

Economy of Lebanon:

1943  World War II: Cairo Conference: US President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.

Cairo Conferences of November 22-26, and December 3-6, 1943:

1st Cairo Conference Communique:

2nd Cairo Conference Communique:

1942  World War II: Battle of Stalingrad: General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th Army is surrounded.

1940  World War II: Following the initial Italian invasion, Greek troops counterattack into Italian-occupied Albania and capture Korytsa.

1935  The China Clipper, the first plane to offer commercial transpacific air service, takes off from Alameda, California, for its first commercial flight. It reaches its destination, Manila, a week later.

1931  Al-Mina’a SC was founded in Iraq.

1928  The premier performance of Ravel‘s Boléro takes place in Paris.

1908  The Congress of Manastir establishes the Albanian alphabet.

Albanian Language:

1869  In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched and is one of the last clippers ever built, and the only one still surviving today.

 

 

NOVEMBER 23

2011  Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.

Arab Spring:

Arab Spring and the CIA:

Arab Spring and Al-Qaeda:

Arab Spring and Israel:

Yemen and the Arab Spring:              

History of Yemen:

Yemen:

Foreign Relations of Yemen:

Economy of Yemen:

2010  Bombardment of Yeonpyeong: North Korean artillery attack kills two civilians and two marines on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea.

2009  The Maguindanao massacre occurs in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, Philippines

2006  A series of bombings kills at least 215 people and injures 257 others in Sadr City, making it the second deadliest sectarian attack since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.

2005  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is elected president of Liberia and becomes the first woman to lead an African country.

2004  The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the largest religious building in Georgia, is consecrated.

2003  Rose Revolution: Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.

Rose Revolution of Georgia in 2003:

2001  The Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary.

1996  Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.

1993  Rachel Whiteread wins both the £20,000 Turner Prize award for best British modern artist and the £40,000 K Foundation art award for the worst artist of the year.

1992  The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1985  Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the aircraft, but 60 people die in the raid.

1984  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1984:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1983  USSR leave weapon disarmament talks.

USSR’s Withdrawal from the Weapon Disarmament Talks:

1981  Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

1980  A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 3,000 people.

1979  In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Republican Army (PIRA):

IRA’s Terrorism:

History of the IRA:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1976  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1976:

1976  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1972  The Soviet Union makes its final attempt at successfully launching the N1 rocket.

1971  Representatives of the People’s Republic of China attend the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, for the first time.

1965  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

1963  The BBC broadcasts “An Unearthly Child” (starring William Hartnell), the first episode of the science-fiction television serial of the same name and the first episode of Doctor Who, which is now the world’s longest running science fiction drama.

1959  French President Charles de Gaulle declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for “Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals“.

1955  The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to that of Australia.

1946  French naval bombardment of Hai Phong, Vietnam, kills thousands of civilians. This was to lead to the First Indochina War.

1943  World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.

1943  World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed. It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

1940  World War II: Romania becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.

1939  World War II: HMS Rawalpindi is sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

1936  Life magazine is reborn as a photo magazine and enjoys instant success.

1934  – An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, well within Ethiopian territory. This leads to the Abyssinia Crisis.

1924  Edwin Hubble‘s scientific discovery that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula within our galaxy, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe, was first published in a newspaper.

1914  Mexican Revolution: The last of U.S. forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair.

1910  Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden.

1810  Sarah Booth debuts at the Royal Opera House.

1808  French and Poles defeat the Spanish at battle of Tudela.

1733  The start of the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John in what was then the Danish West Indies.

1644  John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.

1531  The Second War of Kappel results in the dissolution of the Protestant alliance in Switzerland.

1510  First campaign of the Ottoman Empire against the Kingdom of Imereti (modern western Georgia). Ottoman armies sack the capital Kutaisi and burn Gelati Monastery.

 

 

NOVEMBER 24

2013  Iran signs an interim agreement with the P5+1 countries, limiting its nuclear program in exchange for reduced sanctions.

2012  A fire at a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, kills at least 112 people.

1976  The Çaldıran-Muradiye earthquake in eastern Turkey kills between 4,000 and 5,000 people.

1979  US admits troops in Vietnam were exposed to the toxic Agent Orange.

Some Pertinent Information on “Agent Orange”:

Chemical Weapons and International Law:

1977  France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island.

Muruora:

France’s Nuclear Tests:

1974  Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed “Lucy” (after The Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds“), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia‘s Afar Depression.

1973  A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany because of the 1973 oil crisis. The speed limit lasts only four months.

1972  USSR performs underground nuclear two tests one in Orenburg, Russia, another in Kostanay, Kazahstan.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1972:

Orenburg:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

1971  During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.

1969  Apollo program: The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to land on the Moon.

1966  – Bulgarian TABSO Flight 101 crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.

1965  Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seizes power in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and becomes President; he rules the country (which he renames Zaire in 1971) for over 30 years, until being overthrown by rebels in 1997.

1963  In the first live, televised murder, Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John F Kennedy, is murdered two days after the assassination, by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas police department headquarters.

Assassination of John F Kennedy:

Why JFK Killed? Who Killed JFK? :

1962  The West Berlin branch of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany forms a separate party, the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin.

1944  World War II: Bombing of Tokyo: The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital from the east and by land is carried out by 88 American aircraft.

First Bombing Raid by the US against Tokyo:

1943  World War II: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks, killing 650 men.

1941  World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French Forces.

1940  World War II: The First Slovak Republic becomes a signatory to the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.

First Slovak Republic:

Slovakia and Jews:

History of Slovakia:

1935  The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its second congress.

1932  In Washington, DC, the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.

1922  Nine Irish Republican Army members are executed by an Irish Free State firing squad. Among them is author Robert Erskine Childers, who had been arrested for illegally carrying a revolver.

1917  In Milwaukee, nine members of the Milwaukee Police Department are killed by a bomb, the most deaths in a single event in U.S. police history until the September 11 attacks in 2001.

1877  Anna Sewell‘s classic animal welfare novel Black Beauty is published.

1859  Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species.

1850  Danish troops defeat a Schleswig-Holstein force in the town of Lottorf, Schleswig-Holstein.

1642  Abel Tasman becomes the first European to arrive at the island Van Diemen’s Land (later renamed Tasmania).

Tasmanian Aboriginal People:

Tasmanian Genocide

 

 

NOVEMBER 25

2009  Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away and 122 people perish in the torrents, with 350 others missing.

2008  Cyclone Nisha strikes northern Sri Lanka, killing 15 people and displacing 90,000 others while dealing the region the highest rainfall in nine decades.

2000  The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, and becomes the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years.

1999  The United Nations establishes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to commemorate the murder of three Mirabal sisters for resistance against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

1996  An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.

1992  The Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with effect from January 1, 1993.

1987  Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.

1986  The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf.

1986  Iran–Contra affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Iran-Contra Affair:

1984  Thirty-six top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid‘s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

1981  Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

1980  Coup in Burkina Faso abolishes constitution. Colonel Saye Zerbo overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup.

History of Burkina Faso:

Burkina Faso:

Foreign Relations of Burkina Faso:

Economy of Burkina Faso:

1980  France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island.

Muruora:

France’s Nuclear Tests:

1977  Former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad.

1975  Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.

1973  George Papadopoulos, head of the military Regime of the Colonels in Greece, is ousted in a hardliners’ coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis.

1970  In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic seppuku after an unsuccessful coup attempt.

1960  The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated.

1958  French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.

French Sudan:

French Sudan, Independent as “Mali”:

Foreign Relations of Mali:

Mali and the United Nations:

US–Mali Military Relations/Cooperation:

History of Mali:

Economy of Mali:

1952  Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ends as American and South Korean units abandon their attempt to capture the “Iron Triangle“.

Korean War in 1952:

Battle of Triangle Hill:

Korean War:

Korean War Timelines:

1952  Agatha Christie‘s murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. It will become the longest continuously-running play in history.

1947  New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.

1947  Red Scare: The “Hollywood Ten” are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.

Hollywood Ten:

1943  World War II: Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina is re-established at the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ant-fascist Movement, and World War II:

1940  World War II: First flight of the de Havilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.

1936  In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing to consult on measures “to safeguard their common interests” in the case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation. The pact is renewed on the same day five years later with additional signatories.

Germany and Japan, and the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936:

1926  The deadliest November tornado outbreak in US history strikes on Thanksgiving Day. Twenty-seven twisters of great strength are reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4,that devastates Heber Springs, Arkansas. There are 51 deaths in Arkansas alone, 76 deaths and over 400 injuries in all.

1918  Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria–Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia.

History of Vojvodina:

Kingdom of Serbia:

1917  World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania.

Battle of Negomano:

1915  Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

Albert Einstein:

Einstein’s Papers:

On Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity:

1876  American Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife‘s sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.

Battle of the Little Bighorn:

Native People of America (a.k.a. American Indians):

History of Native People of America:

Wars of Native People of North America:

Genocides Committed against Native Americans:

Genocide Committed against Native Caucasians:

Indigenous Peoples and Their Rights:

1839  A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40-foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster.

1833  A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7-9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.

1795  Partitions of Poland: Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia.

1759  An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.

1758  French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Later, Fort Pitt will be built nearby and grow into modern Pittsburgh.

Fort Duquesne:

French and Indian War:

Timelines of the French-Indian War:

1755  King Ferdinand VI of Spain grants royal protection to the Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus, now known as the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary.

1667  A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.

1491  The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, ends with the Treaty of Granada.

1343  A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples (Italy) and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.

 

 

NOVEMBER 26

2012  Aam Aadmi Party Indian political party formally started.

2011  The Mars Science Laboratory launches to Mars with the Curiosity Rover.

2011  NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani checkpost in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.

2008  Mumbai attacks by Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba.

2004  The last Poʻouli (Black-faced honeycreeper) dies of avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii, before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct.

2004  Ruzhou School massacre: A man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China.

2003  Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.

Concorde’s Final Flight:

Concorde:

Concorde Crash of July 25, 2000:

2000  George W Bush is certified the winner of Florida’s electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote.

US Presidential Election in 2000:

1998  Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

1991  National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names.

History of Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijan:

Foreign Relations of Azerbaijan:

Economy of Azerbaijan:

1990  The Delta II rocket makes its maiden flight.

1986  Iran–Contra affair: US President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.

Iran-Contra Affair:

1983  Brink’s-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink’s-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.

1977  An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the “Ashtar Galactic Command”, takes over Britain’s Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm.

1975  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1970  In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.

1968  Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor.

Vietnam War in 1968:

1965  In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1, on board.

1950  Korean War: Troops from the People’s Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.

Korean War in 1950:

Korean War and the Chinese Intervention:

1949  The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B R Ambedkar.

1944  World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.

1944 World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth’s shop in London, United Kingdom, killing 168 people.

1943  World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria.

1942  World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.

AVNOJ, Yugoslavia and World War II:

Yugoslavia during World War II:

History of Yugoslavia:

1939  Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.

1922  The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.)

1922  Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.

1918  The Montenegran Podgorica Assembly votes for a “union of the people”, declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.

History of Montenegro:

Kingdom of Serbia:

1865  Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile.

1863  United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. (Since 1941, it has been on the fourth Thursday.)

1842  The University of Notre Dame is founded.

1825  At Union College in Schenectady, New York, a group of college students form the Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.

1789  A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress.

1784  The Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States established.

1778  In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.

History of Hawaii:

____________________________________________

(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/november20     novermber_26; http://www.onthisday.com/events/november/20   to november/26;   http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/novermber_20.html.   to november_26.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace”.

Satoshi Ashikaga, having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, prefers a peaceful and prudent life, especially that in communion with nature.  His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, remind him of the invaluableness of peace.  His interest and/or expertise includes international affairs, international law, jurisprudence, economic and business affairs, project/operations or organizational management, geography, history, the environmental/ecological issues, science and technology, visual/audio documentation of nature and culture, and more. Being a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, he is currently compiling This Week in History on TMS.

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 20 Nov 2017.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

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