Today in Military History 1 Oct - 31 Dec

1 NOV

1765 Stamp Act goes into effect in British colonies, which object not over having to pay a tax, but over being denied the rights to have a say in legislation
1784 Maryland grants citizenship to Lafayette & his descendants
1835 Texians besiege of San Antonio (it falls Dec 4)
1861 Bvt Lt Gen Winfield Scott retires and George McClellan is named General-in-Chief of the US Army
1904 Army War College opens, with Capt. John J. Pershing in the first class
1936 Mussolini coins the phrase "The Axis"
1940 Fleetwood, Pa.: 1st US air raid shelter opens
1943 Bougainville: 3rd Marine Div lands at Cape Torokina, Empress Augusta Bay
1943 'U-405' is engaged, rammed, & sunk off the Azores by USS 'Borie' (DD-215), which sinks the following day due to severe battle damage
1943 USN raids Japanese installations at Buin and Buka.
1950 Puerto Rican nationalists attempt to kill Pres. Truman at Blair House
1951 First atomic explosion with troops present, NM
1952 First hydrogen device exploded, Eniwetok Atoll
1955 Bomb destroys a UAL DC-6 above Longmont, Colorado, 44 diet
1963 South Vietnam: Coup against the Ngo Dinhm Diem gov't
1966 William Dana reaches 93 km altitude in the X-15

BORN
, sculptor ("Pauline Bonaparte"), d. 1822 -- Learn More

1815 Douglas Hancock Cooper, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1879
1825 Joseph Benjamin Palmer, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1890
1835 Godfrey Weitzel, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1884
1871 Stephen Crane, novelist ("The Red Badge of Courage"), d. 1900


DIED

1963 Ngo Dinh Diem, 62, South Vietnamese strongman, in a coup
2007 Brig Gen Paul W. Tibbets Jr., who commanded the 'Enola Gay', at 92

 

2 Nov

1783 Washington's "Farewell Address to the Army," at Rocky Hill, near Princeton
1835 Sam Houston is chosen C-in-C of the Texas Army
1852 Franklin Pierce, Brig. Gen., U.S.V., was elected President -- Learn More
1880 James A Garfield, sometime Maj. Gen., U.S.V., was elected President -- Learn More
1917 First US troops kia in France
1942 Guadalcanal: "Tokyo Express" lands c. 1500 troops at Tetere
1943 USN raids Japanese installations at Buin and Buka.
1944 US & Filipino troops clear Japanese from the central valley on Leyte.
1947 Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" makes its only flight, c. 8 minutes
1956 Israel captures Gaza & Sheham
1962 JFK announces Soviets are dismantling their missile bases in Cuba
2009 USS 'New York' (LPD 21) docks in her namesake city for the first time

BORN


1795 James K Polk, militiaman, president (1845-1849), d. less than three months after leaving office -- Learn More
1810 Andrew Atkinson Humphreys, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1883
1826 Robert Hopkins Hatton, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1862
1826 William Haines Lytle, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1863
1828 Byran Grimes, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1880
1865 Warren G. Harding, president (1921-1923), d. 1923 -- Learn More
1944 Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Brooklyn astronaut

DIED

1917 James Gressham, Merle Hay, & Thomas Enright, first U.S. soldiers kia in France during World War I

 

3 NOV

1762 Spain acquires Louisiana from France (returns it in 1800)
1783 The Continental Army is mustered out of service, Rocky Hill, NJ
1813 Battle of Tallasahatchee: US troops & Tennessee militiamen under Brig Gen John Coffee defeat Creek Red Stick warriors
1853 USS 'Constitution' seizes the slaver 'H.N. Gambrill'
1942 Guadalcanal: Marines clear Japanese from Point Cruz.
1944 Japan initiated a 9,000 "balloon bomb" offensive against the United States . -- Learn More
1957 USSR launches Sputnik 2 with the dog Laika, the first animal in orbit
1979 Teheran: Iranians storm the US embassy to take 63 hostages, initiating decades of hostility
1979 Greensboro Massacre: five anti-KKK protesters were killed and 7 wound by Kluxers and Neo-Nazis in North Carolina
1988 Neo-Nazis break Geraldo Rivera's nose, on the air

BORN
1793 Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas", d. 1836

1816 Jubal A. Early, Lt Gen, C.S.A., the only commander whom R. E. Lee openly sacked, d. 1894
1818 Gustavus Adolphus DeRussy, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
1826 Jasper Adalmorn Maltby, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1867
1833 Edward Dorr Tracy, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1863
1954 Kevin P Chilton, USAF, Astronaut

DIED

1926 Annie Oakley, sharpshooter, 66

 

4 NOV
1791 the Ohio Indians led by Little Turtle virtually annihilated the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Wabash – “St. Clair's Defeat” Learn More
1862 Richard J. Gatling receives a patent for a clever device
1864 Battle of Johnsonville/Reynoldsburg Island: Confederate gunboats, batteries, and raiders attack a Union supply base on the Tennessee River, inflicting extensive damage, and causing three gunboats to be destroyed
1903 US Naval Academy defeats New York Naval Militia in football, 28-0
1950 US troops retreat from Pyongyang, North Korea
1966 The Arno floods Florence, 113 die, countless treasures destroyed
2008 Barack Obama elected president

BORN

1816 William Polk Hardeman, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1898
1818 Alexander Robert Lawton, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896
1820 Robert Vinkler Richardson, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1870
1835 Lunsford Lindsay Lomax, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1913
1842 William Barker Cushing, naval hero, U.S., d. 1874
1879 William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers, Cherokee-American humorist, journalist, actor, d. 1935
1916 Walter Cronkite, war correspondent, Cold Warrior, d. 2009

DIED
1999 Alvin Coox, 75, historian of the Soviet-Japanese "Border Wars"








************************
1762 Spain acquires Louisiana from France (returns it in 1800)
1783 The Continental Army is mustered out of service, Rocky Hill, NJ
1813 Battle of Tallasahatchee: US troops & Tennessee militiamen under Brig Gen John Coffee defeat Creek Red Stick warriors
1853 USS 'Constitution' seizes the slaver 'H.N. Gambrill'
1979 Teheran: Iranians storm the US embassy to take 63 hostages, initiating decades of acrimony and hostility
1979 Greensboro Massacre: five anti-KKK protesters were killed and 7 wound by Kluxers and Neo-Nazis in North Carolina
1988 Neo-Nazis break Geraldo Rivera's nose, on the air

BORN

1793 Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas", d. 1836
1816 Jubal A. Early, Lt Gen, C.S.A., the only commander whom R. E. Lee openly sacked, d. 1894
1818 Gustavus Adolphus DeRussy, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
1826 Jasper Adalmorn Maltby, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1867
1833 Edward Dorr Tracy, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1863
1954 Kevin P Chilton, USAF, Astronaut
1998 Robert Kane (born Robert Kahn), 83, creator of "Batman"

DIED

1873 Chief Kintpuash - "Captain Jack" of the Modoc, c. 35, hanged for the murder of Maj. Gen. Canby and the Rev. Eleazar Thomas
1926 Annie Oakley, sharpshooter, 66

 

5 Nov

1775 Commo Esek Hopkins named C-in-C of the Continental Navy.
1862 Ambrose Burnside replaces McClellan as head of Army of the Potomac
1915 First US shipboard catapult launch: LT CDR Henry Mustin, off 'North Carolina' (ACR-12) in a Curtiss AB-ZF
1916 The Everett Massacre: Striking workers clash with police and vigilantes in Washington State -- at least 7 deaths, mostly workers
1917 Maj. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr, leads the first American patrol into "No Man's Land" -- Learn More
1940 Gallant fight of the armed merchant cruiser HMS 'Jervis Bay' in defense of a convoy from the German pocket battleship 'Admiral Scheer'
1941 CNO Harold Stark notifies CINCUS Husband Kimmel and Asiatic Fleet Commander Thomas Hart that the Japanese have ordered all merchant vessels in American waters to return home
1943 American aircraft accidentally drop two bombs on the Vatican, which cause minor damage and no casualties
1944 B-29s from China bomb Singapore.


BORN
1818 Benjamin Butler, Maj. Gen., US; who proved the women of New Orleans were all ladies, d. 1893
1825 Julius H. Stahel-Számwald, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1912
1832 William Woods Averell, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 19001
1902 Strom Thurmond, D-Day veteran, Senator, segregationist, d. 2003

DIED
1942 George M. Cohan, 64, vaudevilllian, composer, songwriter ("Over There", etc.)
1979 Al Capp -- Alfred Gerald Caplin, 70, American cartoonist ("Li'l Abner", etc)

 

6 Nov

1860 Former militiaman and volunteer Abraham Lincoln elected President --
1861 Jefferson Davis was elected to a six year term as Confederate President -- Learn More
1863 Battle of Rogersville, Tn.
1941 USS 'Omaha' (CL 4) & USS 'Somers' (DD 381) intercept the German blockade runner 'Oldenwald' in the mid-Atlantic near the Equator -- Learn More
1945 First jet carrier landing: Ryan FR "Fireball" on USS 'Wake Island' (CVE-65)
2004 New York's "Fighting 69th" arrives at Bagdad to assume its duties in "Operation Iraqi Freedom"

BORN

1822 Gordon Granger, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1876
1838 John Grant Mitchell, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1894
1854 John Phillip Sousa, "The March King," Soldier, Sailor, & Marine, d. 1932
1856 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (1894-1917), murdered 1918
1921 James Jones, American soldier, novelist ("From Here to Eternity", etc.), d. 1877
1976 Patrick Daniel Tillman, 2000 NFL All-Pro, US Army Ranger, 2002-2004, kia Afghanistan

DIED
1968 Rear-Adm. Charles B. McVay III, 70, sometime commander, USS 'Indianapolis' (CA-35), suicide
2000 L. Sprague de Camp, 92, science fictioneer ("Lest Darkness Fall", etc.), sometime naval officer -- Learn More

 

7 Nov

1811 Battle of Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison defeats Tecumseh
1861 Grant's First Battle: Belmont, Mo.
1863 Battle of Rappahannock Station & Kelly's Ford, Va.
1865 The Confederate cruiser CSS 'Shenandoah' surrenders to British authorities at Liverpool, after having circumnavigated the globe and taken nearly 40 prizes -- seven months after Appomattox
1918 United Press erroneously reports an armistice has been signed
1942 FDR broadcasts to the French; first presidential address in a foreign language
1954 US spy plane shot down by Russians over Sea of Japan
1973 The War Powers Act becomes law
1983 Bomb explodes in US Capitol, causing heavy damage but no injuries
2009 The USS 'New York' (LPD-21) is commissioned in New York City, commemorating the casualties of 9/11
2010 The German Army formally rededicated a restored monument honoring Jewish soldiers who fought in the Kaiser's War -- Learn More

BORN

1952 David Petraeus, soldier, scholar, spymaster

DIED

1307 Hermann Gessler, Hapsburg Bailiff of Altdorf, shot by William Tell
1962 Eleanor Roosevelt, the greatest FLOTUS (1933-1945), at 78
1980 Steve McQueen, sometime marine, actor ("The Sand Pebbles", "The Great Escape"), at 50
2013 Manfred Rommel, 84, Luftwaffe veteran, son of the field marshal, internationalist

 

8 Nov

1805 The Lewis & Clark Expedition reaches the Pacific Ocean
1861 Capt. Charles Wilkes removes Confederate agents from the Royal Mail steamer 'Trent', initiating a diplomatic crisis with Britain
1950 The first jet fighter air duel: Lt. Russell J. Brown, in an F-86, tangles unsuccessfully with a North Korean MiG-15
1990 President GHW Bush orders 100,000 additional US troops to the Persian Gulf

BORN

1817 Claudius Wistar Sears, Brig Gen, C.S.A. d. 1891
1829 Samuel Wylie Crawford, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1892
1830 Oliver Otis Howard, Maj Gen, U.S., historian, d. 1909
1900 Margaret Mitchell, novelist ("GWTW"), had a grandfather at Gettysburg, d. 1949

DIED

1986 Vyacheslav M. Molotov, Stalin's henchman and the Oldest Old Bolshevik, at 96

 

9 NOV

1872 Great Fire of Boston; 13 die, over 776 buildings burn, for damages of $75 million
1895 The liner 'Etruria' docks in NY, and Churchill begins his first visit to the US
.1921 The Unknown Soldier arrives at Washington aboard USS 'Olympia'
1938 The First Sadie Hawkins Day [now observed on the Saturday nearest the 9th]
1950 First jet air combat victory, Navy LCDR William T. Amen, in a 'Grumman F9F-2B Panther, downed Mikhail Fedorovich Grachev's, MiG-15
1961 USAF Major Robert White takes X-15 to 30,970 m
1979 NORAD goes on full alert, when a computer glitch indicates a massive wave of incoming Soviet missiles
1984 "Three Servicemen" Statue added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
1989 The Berlin Wall comes down

BORN

1823 William Henry Forney, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1894
1825 Ambrose P Hill, Lt Gen, C.S.A., kia 1865


DIED
1940 Arthur Neville Chamberlain, 71, Prime Minister of the UK (1937-1940),
1952 Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel (1948-1952), at 57

 

10 Nov
1782 Battle of Chillicote, Ohio, George Rodgers Clark defeats Indians and Tories; the final battle of the Revolutionary War.
1814 Congress enacts a draft; War of 1812 ends before it is implemented
1871 Stanley presumes to meet Livingston, Ujiji, Central Africa
1938 Kate Smith introduces Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on radio -- Learn More
1954 Lt Col John Strapp attains 632 MPH on a rocket sled
1954 USMC ["Iwo Jima"] Memorial dedicated in Arlington
1975 The SS 'Edmund Fitzgerald,' largest ship on the Great Lakes, goes down in a storm on Lake Superior, 29 die

BORN
- Learn More
1775 The United States Marine Corps: Established by Congress
1827 Alfred Howe Terry, Maj Gen, U.S., Indian fighter, d. 1890
1830 Albert Gallatin Jenkins, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1864
1889 Claude Rains, sometime soldier, actor (Captain Renault in "Casablanca", Caesar in "Caesar & Cleopatra", etc.), d. 1967
1895 John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft designer, d. 1981
1925 Richard Burton, RAF cadet, actor ("Where Eagles Dare"), d. 1984

DIED
1940 Neville Chamberlain, hapless -- or wily -- British PM (1937-40), at 71
1970 Charles de Gaulle, leader of the 'Free French", President of France (1959-1969), at 79
1982 General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev of the Communist Party of the USSR (1964-1982), 75, WW II Hero of the Soviet Union

 

11 Nov

1865 Surgeon Mary Edward Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor
1909 USN begins construction of a base at Pearl Harbor
1918 The Armistice ending modern Germany's first bid for world domination.
1920 Navy Nurse Lenah S. Higbee awarded the Navy Cross for service in the influenza pandemic
1921 Escorted by 30 holders of the Medal of Honor, the "Unknown Soldier" is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
1923 An "Eternal Flame" is lit at the Tomb of the "Soldat Inconnu" at the Arc de Triomphe
1927 Dedication of the "Cross of Sacrifice" at Arlington National Cemetery, to commemorate Americans who died in Canadian service during the Great War
1940 Nocturnal British air attack inflicts grave damage on the Italian fleet at Taranto; prompting Japanese Adm Yamamoto to think about Pearl Harbor
1983 US cruise missiles arrive in Great Britain

BORN

1744 Abigail Adams, Founding Mother, d. 1818
1811 Ben McCulloch, Brig Gen, C.S.A., KIA, 1862
1839 The Virginia Military Institute
1885 George S. Patton, Jr., who would command the Third Army (1944-1945), d. 1945 -- Learn More
1920 James Bond, fictional naval officer & secret agent
1925 Jonathan Winters, sometime Marine, noted comedian, d. 2013

DIED

2004 Yasir Arafat, inept Palestinian leader, at 75
2016 Robert Vaughn, 83, sometime soldier and actor ("The Man From Uncle", etc.)

 

12 Nov

1933 Nazis receive 92% of the vote in Germany
1938 Hermann Göring proposes a Jewish homeland in Madagascar
1939 Nazis order the Jews of Lodz to wear yellow armbands
1941 Battle of Moscow: the Red Army holds the Germans
1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Day 1: Japanese aircraft raid Henderson field, as both fleets converge on Iron Bottom Sound.
1954 The Ellis Is Immigration Station closes, after welcoming some 12,000,000 new Americans
1960 Unsuccessful coup against South Vietnam strongman Ngo Dinh Diem
2001 The Taliban abandons Kabul, as Northern Alliance forces approach
2014 The European Space Agency's "Philae" lander alights on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

BORN
1955 The Hyborian Legion, formed in Philadelphia by authors and fans of heroic fantasy

DIED

1912 Henry Clay Merriam, 75 less one day, Maj. Gen., US, Medal of Honor -- Learn More

 

13 Nov

1775 Americans under Maj Gen Richard Montgomery capture Montreal
1776 John Paul Jones captures British transport 'Mellish'
1830 Publication of Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem "Old Ironsides," which helps save the famed frigate from the scrap heap
1885 Great Fire of Galveston: 40 square blocks were destroyed, over 2,000 people homeless
1941 The New York City public schools hold a practice air raid drill; 1.1 million children take part
1942 Minimum US draft age reduced from 21 to 18 -- Learn More
1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Day 2: A USN/RAN task force suffers heavily in a predawn clash with a Japanese squadron
1943 B-24s from Funafuti and Canton bomb Tarawa and Makin, in the Gilberts.
1944 TF 38 begins two days of air raids on Japanese on Luzon
1982 Vietnam War Memorial dedicated


BORN

1809 John Adolph Bernard Dahlgren, Rear Adm, US, noted artilleryman, d. 1870
1813 John Wolcott Phelps, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1885
1814 Joseph Hooker, Maj Gen, U.S., who choked at Chancellorsville, d. 1879
1837 Henry Clay Merriam, sometime Col. 1st La Native Guard/75th USCT, Maj. Gen., US, Medal of Honor, d. Nov 12, 1912 -- Learn


DIED

1942 Rear Admirals Daniel Callaghan (52) and Norman Scott (53), plus George (27), Frank (26), and Joe (24) Sullivan, and several hundred other American sailors

 

14 Nov

1863 Confederate Gen Braxton Bragg assigns Maj Gen Bedford Forrest an independent command in Mississippi and Tennessee
1906 Theodore Roosevelt lands in Panama; the first visit by a sitting president to a foreign country
1910 First airplane takeoff from a ship: Eugene Ely in a Curtiss Flyer, off USS 'Birmingham' (CL-2)
1935 Nazis deprive German Jews of their citizenship
1938 Pres. Roosevelt initiates a major expansion of the Army, including the Air Corps
1941 Aircraft carrier HMS 'Ark Royal' sinks in the Mediterranean after being torpedoed by the 'U-81' the day before
1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Day 3: intense air and naval action
1968 "Turn in Your Draft Card Day" proves highly unsuccessful
1975 Spain abandons Spanish Sahara, which is immediately occupied by Morocco



BORN
e
1814 Michael Kelly Lawler, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1882
1822 William Harrow, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1872
1827 Isaac Wistar, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1905
1828 James Birdseye MacPherson, Maj Gen, U.S., KIA 1864
1884 William Henry Rupertus, Maj. Gen. UScommander, 1st Mar Div., Cape Gloucester and Peleliu, author of "The Rifleman's Creed".
1909 Joseph R McCarthy, Navy veteran, dipsomaniacal demagogic senator, d. 1957
1954 Condolezza Rice, presidential advisor, SecState, concert pianist

DIED

1969 Maj Gen Bruno Arthur Hochmuth, 3rd MarDiv, 56, kia, Vietnam

 

15 Nov

1805 The Lewis and Clark expedition reaches the Pacific Ocean
1864 Sherman burns what the Confederates haven't of Atlanta
1899 Winston Churchill is captured by the Boers
1916 Maj. Winston S. Churchill takes command of a platoon of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, in the trenches on the Somme
1940 Uncle Sam's first 75,000 drafted nephews report for duty
1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Day 4: pre-dawn surface action by battleship 'Washington' (BB-56) secures command of the seas
1957 US sentences Soviet spy Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher) to 30 years; in 1962 he is traded for U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers
1967 Michael Adams in X-15 reaches 80 km
1969 Vietnam Moratorium Day: nationwide protests against the war, including 250,000 people in Washington


BORN

1814 Pleasant Adam Hackleman, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1862
1816 Joseph Bennett Plummer, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1862
1836 Pierce Manning Butler Young, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896
1891 Erwin "the Desert Fox" Rommel, forced suicide 1944 -- Learn More
1906 Curtis E Le May, American "Bomber Baron", d 1990

DIED
1958 Tyrone Power, veteran, actor ("Captain from Castille," "Prince of Foxes," etc.), heart attack at 44

 

16 Nov

1776 A Dutch fort at St. Estatius saluted the US Grand Union flag, worn by USS 'Andrew Doria'
1776 Battle of Fort Washington: The British capture the fort in upper Manhattan from the Patriots after a short siege, c. captured
1778 John Paul Jones writes, "I wish to go in harm's way."
1856 Battle of the Canton Barrier Forts: The USN helps the RN reduce the Chinese defenses (forts surrender Nov 20)
1902 While hunting, Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captive old bear, leading to the invention of the “Teddy bear”;
1933 US and USSR establish diplomatic relations
1940 The first attack by New York City's "Mad Bomber," George Metesky: Over 16 years until he was caught, he planted 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded, injuring 15 people
1941 US intelligence loses track of Japanese aircraft carriers
1982 Maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle 'Columbia'


BORN

1753 James McHenry, Irish-born Continental Army surgeon, Signer of the Constitution from Maryland, third U.S. SecWar (1796-1800), who gave his name to Ft. McHenry
1822 Charles Smith Hamilton, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1891
1835 Elliott Warren Rice, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1887
1950 Carl J Meade, astronaut (STS 38, STS 50)

DIED

1960 Clark Gable, sometime Captain, USAAF, actor ("GWTW"), at 59

 

17 NOV

1861 Skirmish at Cyprus Bridge, Ky
1863 Confederates under James Longstreet besiege Knoxville, TN (give up Dec 4)
1869 Suez Canal opens
1913 Panama Canal opens
1917 First US ASW Victory: Destroyers 'Fanning" (DD-37) & 'Nicholson' (DD-52) sink 'U-58', in the Irish Sea
1917 Lenin announces "temporary" removal of freedom of the press
1997 Islamist radicals kill 62 tourists at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Egypt

BORN

1794 John Berrien Montgomery, Rear Adm, U.S., d. 1873
1814 Joseph Finegan, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1885
1826 John McArthur, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1906
1834 Stephen Hinsdale Weed, Brig Gen, U.S.; kia Gettysburg, 1863
1854 Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey, French soldier and colonial adminstrator, Marshal of France, d. 1934
1876 Homer Lea, American soldier of fortune, Chinese general, d. 1912 -- Learn More


DIED
1558 Queen Mary I of England (1553-1558), 42, called "Bloody," though with a lower body count than her father, her sister, or even her brother
1929 Herman Hollerith, 69, inventor of the tabulating machine and the punch card, founder of IBM

 

18 NOV

1890 Second Class Battleship/Armored Cruiser 'Maine' is launched in Brooklyn; blown up, 1898
1903 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gives US exclusive canal rights in Panama
1943 Philippines: Japanese destroyer escort 'Sanae' is sunk by USS 'Bluefish' (SS-222)
1961 JFK sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam
1978 The Jonestown Event: In Guyana, cult leader Jim Jones and his followers commit mass murder & suicide, 918 die, including U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan, murdered


BORN

1810 Andrés Pico, Mexican Brig. Gen., victor of the Battle of S. Pascual (near S. Diego), against the US, later Brig. Gen. California militia in the Civil War, d. 1876
1810 Benjamin Stone Roberts, Brig Gen, U.S., of "Roberts' Rules", d. 1875
1812 Jesse Johnson Finley, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1904
1824 Franz Sigel, "Red '48-er," Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1902
1824 Isham Nicholas Haynie, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1868
1835 Americus Vespucius Rice, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1904
1883 Carl Vinson, American politician, "Father of the Two Ocean Navy," d. 1981
1916 Shelby Foote, author ("The Civil War: A Narrative")
1923 Alan B Shepard, Jr., USN, astronaut, d. 1998
1941 David Hemmings, actor ("The Charge of the Light Brigade"), d. 2003

DIED
67 St. Peter, Apostle (32-c. 67), martyred at Rome
1247 Robin Hood, traditionally, poisoned by a nun
1886 Chester A Arthur, 56, militiaman, president (1881-85) -- Learn More
1942 Madison Sullivan (23), last of the "Sullivan Brothers,"drowned off Guadalcanal [possibly the 19th]

 

19 Nov

1492 Columbus lands in Puerto Rico
1794 Jay's Treaty, between the US and Britain, resolves some of the issues remaining from the Revolutionary War
1863 Abraham Lincoln makes a few remarks at Gettysburg
1942 Operation Saturn: The Red Army initiates a counteroffensive at Stalingrad
1950 General of the Army D.D. Eisenhower becomes the supreme commander of NATO
1969 Apollo 12, Charles Conrad & Alan Bean make the second lunar landing
1999 USCG Capt Earl R. Fox, Public Health Service, retires; last WW II veteran on active service

BORN

1810 August von Willich, Brig Gen, U.S., "Red '48-er" who once challenged Marx to a duel, d. 1878 -- Learn More
1811 John Ancrum Winslow, Rear Adm, U.S., who skippered the 'Kearsarge', d. 1873
1827 Isaac Munroe St John, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1880
1831 James A Garfield, Maj Gen, U.S., president (Mar 4-Sept 19, 1881), assassinated
1835 Fitzhugh Lee, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1905
1865 Madison Grant, sometime well-regarded American racist, author of "The Passing of the Great Race", which helped convince Hitler that America was a 'degenerate' nation, d. 1937
1897 Quentin Roosevelt, airman, kia July 14, 1918 -- Learn More

DIED

1924 Major General Sir Lee Oliver Fitzmaurice Stack, 56, Sirdar of Egypt, Governor General of the Sudan, murdered
1990 Sun Li-jen, 89, Chinese Nationalist general -- "The Rommel of the East," under house arrest

 

20 NOV

1820 The Natucket whaler 'Essex" is attacked and sunk by a large sperm whale in the South Pacific, c. 2,000 miles west of South America -- inspiring Melville's '"Moby Dick".
1856 USN & RN complete reduction of Barrier Forts, Canton (begun Nov 16)
1866 First national convention of the Grand Army of the Republic
1918 The 369th “Colored” Infantry, New York National Guard, became the first American unit to reach the Rhine -- Learn More
1920 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Woodrow Wilson
1945 General of the Army George C. Marshall steps down, after 2272 days as Chief-of-Staff -- Learn More
1945 Judgement at Nuremberg: 24 Nazi leaders go on trial
1947 Marriage of Princess Elizabeth of the UK to Lt. Philip Mountbatten, RN, at Westminster Abbey
1956 USS 'Hartford', Farragut's Civil War flagship, sinks at her dockside, Norfolk, Va, the nation being too cheap to preserve her
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: The Soviets agree to remove their missiles from Cuba, and US lifts naval quarantine of the island


BORN

1802 James Lawrence Lardner, Rear Adm, US, d. 1881
1830 Patrick Henry Jones, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1900
1836 John Thomas Croxton, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1874
1862 The Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen Braxton Bragg
1872 Joseph Mason Reeves, Adm., U.S.N., "Father of Carrier Aviation," d. 1948 -- Learn More
1932 Jacques Chirac, President of France (1995-2007)

DIED

1861 Henry Fry & Jacob M. Henshaw, lynched in Greeneville, Tn, on suspicion of being Union agents
1944 Lt, j.g., Sekio Nishina, in Ultihi Atoll, probably while sinking USS 'Mississinewa' (AO-59) with the kaiten weapon, which he co-invented