| The United States Marine Corps traces its institutional roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War, formed at the Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, a date regarded and celebrated as the birthday of the Marine Corps. At the end of the Revolution in 1783, both the Continental Navy and Marines were disbanded, and although individual Marines were enlisted for the few American naval vessels left, the institution itself would not be resurrected until 1798. |
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| Explorer Henry M. Stanley found missionary David Livingstone at Ujiji, Africa. Stanley began his search the previous March for Livingstone who had been missing for two years. Upon locating him, he simply asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" | |
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| In 1885, the world's first motorcycle, designed by Gottlieb Daimler, made its debut. The frame and wheels were made of wood. A leather belt transfered power from the engine to large brass gears mounted to the rear wheel. The leather saddle wasn't very comfortable since there was no suspension (front or rear). The single cylinder engine had a bore of 58mm and stroke of 100mm giving a displacement of 264cc's. The engine gave 0.5hp at 700 rpm. The top speed for the motorcycle was 12 km/h. This was built as an experimental vehicle to test the new Daimler engine, which was to power Daimler's first motorized carriage the following year. |
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| The first U.S. National Automobile Show opens November 10 at New York's Madison Square Garden with 31 exhibitors displaying 159 vehicles. Contestants compete in starting and braking, and exhibitors demonstrate hill-climbing ability on a specially built ramp, but horseless carriages are forbidden to park on the city's streets and even stables refuse to take them in. Poll at the National Automobile Show in NYC showed people's first choice for automobiles was electric followed closely by steam. |
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| From 1924-27, the Fighting Irish lost 4 of 29 games, tying 2. Rockne had his worst year in 1928, when it took a 12-6 victory over Army to salvage a 5-4-0 season. The Army game lives on in football mythology. With the team trailing 6-0 at the half, Rockne told his players that George Gipp, dying of pneumonia in 1920, had said, "Rock, someday when the going is real tough, ask the boys to go out and beat Army for me." After that revelation, the inspired Notre Dame "won one for the Gipper." Although Gipp's deathbed request has been dismissed as a fairy tale, Rockne always insisted it was true.Notre Dame upset Army, 12-6. |
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| After a stint with Ben Pollack's orchestra (1936-1938), Spanier became seriously ill and was hospitalized for three months. After he recovered, the cornetist formed his famous eight-piece "Ragtime Band" and recorded 16 Dixieland performances for Bluebird (later dubbed The Great Sixteen) that virtually defined the music of the Dixieland revival movement. But because his group actually preceded the revival by a couple years, it soon had to break up due to lack of work. |
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| The attack began on November 2 1942. By the 3rd Rommel had only 35 tanks fit for action. Despite containing the Allied advance, the pressure on his forces made a retreat necessary. However the same day Rommel received a "victory or death" message from Hitler, halting the withdrawal. But the Allied pressure was too great, and the German forces had to withdraw on the night of November 3-4. By November 6 the Axis forces were in full retreat and over 30,000 soldiers had surrendered.Following Montgomery's victory at El Alamein, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." |
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| “Magnificent Montague” is the story of a once-famous Shakespearean actor reduced to hosting a kid’s show. The hilarities of an experience actor with a refined voice entertaining kids is the basis of this funny show. The star of “Magnificent Montague” as Edwin Montague himself was Monty Woolley. Woolley was best known as insider east coast actor and even taught English at Yale. Almost exactly the same person offscreen as on, Woolley delighted in insulting and patronizing everyone who crossed his path -- just as much as they probably enjoyed being insulted and patronized. |
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| In 1951, direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service in North America began as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, NJ called Mayor Frank Osborn in Alameda, CA Three digits were added to the number dialed. They were able to begin talking just 18 sec. after the dialling. Previously, coast-to-coast calls were placed by long-distance operators. Since the 1930s some calls could be dialed between cities and towns with relatively small areas. |
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| By 1941 Eddy had started his own band, and hit the jackpot with a number one single in 1946, "To Each His Own." "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," "My Adobe Hacienda," "I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder," "Room Full of Roses," "Sin (It's No Sin)," and "Auf Weidersehn Sweetheart" were some of the biggest smashes he enjoyed prior to the mid-'50s, when the emergence of rock & roll displaced him from the airwaves. | ![]() |
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| On the morning of February 19, 1945, the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions invaded Iwo Jima after a somewhat ineffective bombardment lasting 72 hours. The 28th Regiment, 5th Division, was ordered to capture Mount Suribachi. They reached the base of the mountain on the afternoon of February 21, and by nightfall the next day had almost completely surrounded it. On the morning of February 23, Marines of Company E, 2nd Battalion, started the tortuous climb up the rough terrain to the top. At about 10:30 a.m., men all over the island were thrilled by the sight of a small American flag flying from atop Mount Suribachi. It was officially dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 10, 1954, the 179th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps. |
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| The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. More than technical ability, more than purity of voice, what made Billie Holiday one of the best vocalists of the century -- easily the equal of Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra -- was her relentlessly individualist temperament, a quality that colored every one of her endlessly nuanced performances. |
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| "Love Me Tender" was the theme song to the first of 31 Elvis movies. The movie was titled The Reno Brothers before it was renamed to capitalize on the song. RCA Records received over 1 million pre-orders for this song, making it the first single to ship as a gold record before it was released. It was released as a single in September 1956. | ![]() |
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| The Kay Starr recording of "Rock and Roll Waltz," made in 1955, reached the #1 position on the Billboard chart in 1956, staying there for six weeks. It was Kay Starr's first recording for RCA Victor after leaving Capitol Records, and she thought it was a joke when the A&R staff at RCA Victor picked it for her; it was so different from what she was used to recording. Although it was a #1 hit and a million seller, and she has come to love the song with the passage of time, it was never a song people requested her to sing at any live performance in the days of its popularity. |
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| "It's Only Make Believe" was written by Conway Twitty with his drummer Jack Nance between sets at the Flamingo Lounge Toronto. Conway Twitty was US singer Harold Lloyd Jenkins. He changed his name in 1957 upon signing with Sun Records (although nothing was released) and the next year he switched to MGM with whom he recorded this. | ![]() |
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| On November 10, 1958, National became the first airline to introduce domestic jet service in the United States, with a flight between Miami's international airport and Idlewild International Airport in New York City. |
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| The Crystals did not sing on this. While at Liberty Records as the company's West Coast A&R head in 1962, producer Phil Spector heard Pitney's demo of this. Knowing it would be a hit, he promptly resigned and his boss, Snuff Garrett, produced a version by Vikki Carr to be released as her first single. Spector assembled his musicians to do HIS version, but the Crystals were 3000 miles away in New York City; so he recruited the Blossoms (Darlene Love, Famita James, and Gracia Nitzschke) to sing "He's a Rebel." |
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| Zond 6 was launched on a lunar flyby mission from a parent satellite in Earth parking orbit. The spacecraft, which carried scientific probes including cosmic-ray and micrometeoroid detectors, photography equipment, and a biological payload, was a precursor to manned spaceflight. Zond 6 flew around the Moon on November 14, 1968, at a minimum distance of 2,420 kilometers (1,504 miles). | ![]() |
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| Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969. The very first scene was a clay-animated sequence showing two creates forming the words "Sesame Street", followed by the opening theme music. The first regular performer to appear on screen is Gordon (Matt Robinson) who introduces one of his students to his wife, Susan, as well as Bob and Mr. Hooper. Big Bird also appears, though the first puppet-style Muppets to appear on screen were Ernie and Bert. |
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| In 1949, however, Autry scored the biggest single hit of his career -- and possibly the second- or third-biggest hit song ever recorded up to that time -- with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," a song by Johnny Marks that Autry had recorded only reluctantly, in a single take at the end of a session. That same year, he cut "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," a number by a former forest ranger named Stan Jones, which became both a country and pop music standard, cut by everyone from Vaughan Monroe to Johnny Cash. Twenty years after the first release of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Gene Autry received a gold record for the single. |
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| Luna 17 was launched from an earth parking orbit towards the Moon and entered lunar orbit on November 15, 1970. The spacecraft soft landed on the Moon in the Sea of Rains. The spacecraft had dual ramps by which the payload, Lunokhod 1, descended to the lunar surface. Lunokhod 1 was a lunar vehicle formed of a tub-like compartment with a large convex lid on eight independently powered wheels. Lunokhod was equipped with a cone-shaped antenna, a highly directional helical antenna, four television cameras, and special extendable devices to impact the lunar soil for soil density and mechanical property tests. An x-ray spectrometer, an x-ray telescope, cosmic-ray detectors, and a laser device were also included. The vehicle was powered by a solar cell array mounted on the underside of the lid. Lunokhod was intended to operate through three lunar days but actually operated for eleven lunar days. |
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| The Temptations enjoyed one mega-hit after another in the mid-to-late 1960s, and they were still tremendously popular when Kendricks left to pursue a solo a career in 1971 (the year he sang lead on their hit "Just My Imagination"). Many Temptations fans questioned the wisdom of Kendricks leaving such a successful group, but Kendricks proved to be quite viable as a solo act thanks to early 1970s singles like "Keep On Truckin'" (a #1 R&B hit) and "Boogie Down" (which went to #2 on the soul charts). |
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| On November 10, 1975 the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. All 29 crew members died. At the time, it was the worst shipping disaster on the Great Lakes in 11 years. The Fitzgerald weighted 13,632 tons and was 729 feet long. In 1958, when it was first launched, it was the largest carrier on the Great Lakes, and remained so until 1971. The Fitzgerald was labeled "The Pride of the American Flag". In 1964 it became the first ship on the Great Lakes to carry more than a million tons of ore through the Soo Locks. |
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| Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote this with Bob Seger and J.D. Souther. The Long Run was The Eagles' last studio album until they re-formed in 1994. There was a lot of tension in the band, and a lot of pressure to make the album perfect. As a result, they spent 3 1/2 years working on the album, which was the follow-up to Hotel California. | ![]() |
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| It was the board game Time magazine called the "the biggest phenomenon in game history." Trivial Pursuit was first conceived on December 15, 1979 by Chris Haney and Scott Abbott. At the time, Chris Haney worked as a photo editor at the Montreal Gazette, and Scott Abbott was a sports journalist for The Canadian Press. The two friends came up with the basic concept of Trivial Pursuit within a few short hours. However, it was not until 1981 that the board game was commercially released. |
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| In 1983, U.S. student Fred Cohen presented to a security seminar the results of his test - the first documented virus, created as an experiment in computer security. Cohen created this first virus when studying for a PhD at the University of Southern California. Others had written about the potential for creating pernicious programs but he was the first to demonstrate a working example. In the paper, he defined a virus as "a program that can 'infect' other programs by modifying them to include a ... version of itself". Cohen added his virus to a graphics program called VD, written for a Vax mini-computer. The virus hid inside VD and used the permissions users had to look at other parts of the Vax computer to spread around the system. |
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| Breakthrough success was just around the corner for Ocean, as he scored a massive hit single in 1984 with "Caribbean Queen," a track that shot to the top of the charts worldwide. Depending on the region, the song's title and lyrics were changed slightly, resulting in the tune being known as "African Queen" and "European Queen" in other parts of the world, while the album it was taken from, Suddenly, was eventually certified double platinum. |
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| Two singles were released from the box set: "War" (a cover of the Edwin Starr hit), which was a #8 success on the U.S. pop singles chart, and "Fire" (a Springsteen song already familiar from other artists' recordings of it), which was a disappointment, only reaching #46 on the Billboard charts and breaking Springsteen's string of eight consecutive Top 10 singles. Live/1975-85 is the second-best selling live album in U.S. history, certified by the RIAA for 13-times platinum and trailing only Garth Brooks' Double Live. |
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| On the 9th of November, 1989, the Border separating Western from Eastern Germany was effectively opened. Shops stayed open as long as they wanted (the usual, mandatory closing time was 6:30pm in 1989), a GDR passport served as a free ticket for public transport, and in general there were more exceptions than rules in those days. Little later, an onrush of East Berliner's towards West Berlin began, and there were celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate and at the Kurfürstendamm in West Berlin. On November 10, demolition works began with the aim of creating new border crossings. |
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| Mariah wrote "Love Takes Time" with songwriter Ben Marguiles. It was intended for her second album, Emotions, but her label liked it so much they stopped presses of her first album, Mariah Carey, so it could be included. This was Mariah's second single. It followed up "Vision Of Love." | ![]() |
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| The "Codex Leicester", the only Leonardo da Vinci manuscript owned in the United States and the only one in the world still in private hands, was sold at auction. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates paid $30.8 million for it. | ![]() |
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1775 US Marine Corps established
by Congress
More ...
1801 Kentucky outlaws dueling
1871 "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
More ...
1885 World's first motorcycle, designed by Gottlieb
Daimler, made its debut
More ...
1900 First national automobile show opens at Madison
Square Garden (NYC)
More ...
1928 Knute Rockne delivered
his Win One for the Gipper pregame speech
More ...
1939 Muggsy Spanier and his band recorded "Dipper
Mouth Blues" on Bluebird Records
More ...
1940 Pittsburgh & Philadelphia play a penalty
free NFL game
1942 Churchill comments on Montgomery's victory
at El Alamein
More ...
1945 College football's #1 Army beats #2 Notre
Dame 48-0
1950 Monty Woolley starred as "The Magnificent
Montague", which debuted on NBC radio
More ...
1951 First long distance telephone call without
operator assistance
More ...
1951 "Sin" by Eddy Howard topped the
charts
More ...
1954 The Iwo Jima Memorial was dedicated in Arlington,
Virginia
More ...
1956 Billie Holiday returned to the New York City
stage at Carnegie Hall after a 3 year absence
More ...
1956 "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley
topped the charts
More ...
1956 Kaye Starrs "Rock and Roll Waltz" was voted
Billboard's top record
More ...
1957 NFL record crowd (102,368), '49ers vs Rams
in LA
1958 "It's Only Make Believe" by Conway
Twitty topped the charts
More ...
1958 First domestic (New York-Miami) passenger
jet flight-National 707
More ...
1962 "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals
topped the charts
More ...
1963 Gordie Howe takes over NHL career goal lead
at 545
1968 USSR launches Zond 6 to moon
More ...
1969 "Sesame Street" premieres on PBS
TV
More ...
1969 Twenty years after its release "Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer" earns a gold record
More ...
1970 Luna 17 with unmanned self-propelled Lunokhod
1 is launched
More ...
1973 "Keep on Truckin'" by Eddie Kendricks
topped the charts
More ...
1975 Ore ship Edmund Fitzgerald & crew of
29 lost in storm on Lake Superior
More ...
1979 "Heartache Tonight" by the Eagles
topped the charts
More ...
1981 The board game "Trivial Pursuit"
was registered
More ...
1983 First computer virus
More ...
1984 "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the
Run)" by Billy Ocean topped the charts
More ...
1986 "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street
Band Live/1975-85" hit record stores
More ...
1988 NY's MTA announces it may replace tokens
with credit card type passes
1989 Germans begin punching holes in the Berlin
Wall
More ...
1990 "Love Takes Time" by Mariah Carey
topped the charts
More ...
1991 Marty Glickman broadcasts his 1,000th football
game
1994 "Codex Leicester" sold at auction
More ...
1996 Dan Marino was first NFL quarterback to throw
for 50,000 yards in his career.