Category Archives: This Day in History

November 28th: Former Scrap-Metal Dealer, Louis B. Mayer, Who Later Helped Form MGM, Opens His First Movie Theater

This Day In History: November 28, 1907: On this day in 1907, scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer, who was struggling to make ends meet with his scrap-metal business, purchased an old 600 seat burlesque house in Massachusetts and re-opened it as a movie theater he named the “Orpheum”.  His first theater was such a success that within a few years, […]

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November 26th: The Second Triumvirate with Caesar Augustus, Marcus Lepidus, and Mark Antony is Formed, Marking the End of Rome as a Republic

This Day In History: November 26, 43 BC On this day in 43 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, (also known as Caesar Augustus) the great nephew of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus formed the political alliance that became known as the “Second Triumvirate”, which officially ended the days of Rome as a Republic.  Before their alliance, the […]

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November 24: A Man Calling Himself Dan Cooper Hijacks a Plane, Collects His Ransom, then Parachutes from it and is Never Heard from Again

This Day In History: November 24, 1971 An unidentified man referred to as D.B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 airplane between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.   Cooper bought a one-way ticket on a Northwest Orient Airlines, Flight 305 to Seattle, Washington leaving Portland, Oregon at 2:50 p.m.  He brought with him aboard the plane a black suit-case supposedly containing a […]

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November 21: Two Frenchman Make the World’s First Untethered Manned Hot Air Balloon Flight

This Day In History: November 21, 1783 In Paris, France, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes made the first untethered manned flight in a Montgolfier hot air balloon.  After several practice runs to get the feel for how to work the balloon, de Rozier and d’Arlandes finally made their first untethered flight leaving at 2:00 p.m. from the […]

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November 20th: A 160,000 Pound Sperm Whale Destroys the Whaling Ship, Essex, an Event that Partly Inspired the Novel Moby Dick

This Date in History: November 20, 1820 On this date in 1820, an estimated 80 ton sperm whale attacked and destroyed the whaling ship, Essex, an event that partly inspired the novel Moby Dick.  Sailing around 2,000 miles west of South America, the crew of the Essex encountered a huge whale, which they claimed was around 85 feet long, though […]

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November 18th: The U.S. and Canadian Railroads Institute a Five Standard Time Zone System that Eventually Becomes the Official Standard Time System

This Day In History: November 18, 1883 The U.S. and Canadian railroads instituted a five standard continental time zone system on November 18, 1883, “The Day of Two Noons”, marking the beginning of the end for thousands of local times that were used by cities across North America at that point. Just one year later, 85% of all cities in […]

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November 17: Earth’s First Successfull Landing of a Remote Controlled Roving Robot on Another Astronomical Object

This Day In History: November 17, 1970 The Soviet Union successfully landed a remote controlled roving robot on the moon, making it the first roving robot from Earth to land on another astronomical object.  The robot was the Lunokhod 1, designed by Alexander Kemurdjian.  It was  launched during the Soviet Luna program, which ran from 1959-1976.  More specifically, the Lunokhod […]

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November 16th: LSD is First Synthesized by Dr. Albert Hofmann

This Day In History: November 16th LSD, more technically known as Lysergic acid diethylamide was first synthesized on November 16th, 1938 by Swiss scientist Dr. Albert Hofmann.  Dr. Hofmann was working at the Sandoz Laboratories in Switzerland researching ergot alkaloid derivatives for use in pharmaceuticals.  Ergot alkaloid’s are a type of ergoline alkaloid which is found in a certain type […]

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November 15th: The First of the Modern Olympic Games are Played in Athens, Greece

This Day In History: November 15, 1859 The first of the modern Olympic games were played in Athens, Greece on November 15, 1859.  These were the first Greek Olympics in around 1450-ish years, with the original Olympic games beginning around 776 BC and ending around 393-426 AD.  The revival of the Olympics was primarily thanks to Evangelos Zappas and Panagiotis […]

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