1272 – Following Henry III of England’s death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.
1620 – Pilgrims reach America: Provincetown Harbor
1620 – Mayflower Compact signed by Pilgrims in Cape Cod,
(A modern version of the Mayflower Compact.The ‘dread sovereign’ referred to in the document uses the archaic definition of dread, meaning awe and reverence (for the King)
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith.
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.
(The document was signed under the Old Style Julian calendar, since England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. The Gregorian date would be November 21.)
1871 – Moses F Gale patents a cigar lighter in New York City
1871 – The first human cannonball, Emilio Onra, is shot
1877 – Tom Edison announces his “talking machine” invention, the phonograph.
1906 – China prohibits opium trade
1935 – first commercial crossing of Pacific by plane (China Clipper)
1946 – Harry Truman becomes first president to travel in a submerged sub
1953 – Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce that the “Piltdown Man” skull, held to be one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, was a hoax.
1963 – JFK flies to Texas
1964 – Verrazano Narrows Bridge opens. It’s still the longest suspension bridge in America. The diameter of each of the four suspension cables is 36 inches. Each cable is composed of 26,108 wires amounting to a total of 143,000 miles in length.
Because of the height of the towers (693 ft) and their distance apart (4,260 ft), the curvature of the Earth’s surface had to be taken into account when designing the bridge-the towers are 1 5/8 inches (41.275 mm) farther apart at their tops than at their bases; they are not parallel to each other.
Because of thermal expansion of the steel cables, the bridge roadway is 12 feet lower in summer than in winter.
1967 – Phillip & Jay Kunz fly a kite to a record 28,000 feet!
1973 – President Nixon’s attorney, J Fred Buzhardt, reveals presence of 18½ minute gap in a White House tape recording related to Watergate
1974 – Freedom of Information Act passed by Congress over Pres Ford’s veto
1977 -First flight of Concorde (London to New York)
1980 – John & Yoko pose for Tribecan photographer Allan Tannenbaum for the cover of Rolling Stone
1990 – Michael Milken is sentenced to 10 years for security law violations
1995 – Dow Jones closes above 5,000 for first time
1995 – Israel grants jailed US spy Jason Pollard, citizenship