November 16
1822: Missouri trader William Becknell (1787-1865) arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route he established that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
1852: English astronomer John Russell Hind (1823-1895) first observed and charted the asteroid 22 Kalliope, which has a small moon orbiting it.
1904: English engineer John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945) received a patent for the vacuum tube.
1914: The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opened.
1950: Born this day: actor David Leisure (Empty Nest, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Diagnosis: Murder, Honey I Shrunk the Kids), and screenwriter John Swartzwelder (The Simpsons).
1973: President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
November 17
1777: The Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification.
1800: The United States Congress held its first session in Washington, D.C.
1869: The Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea was opened in Egypt.
1871: The National Rifle Association was granted it first charter, by the state of New York.
1953: The last human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland, were evacuated to the mainland.
November 18
1307: William Tell (circa 1280-1354) shot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow and bolt in Altdorf, Austria.
1883: American and Canadian railroads established five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
1903: Panama gave the United States exclusive control of the Panama Canal Zone.
1926: George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) refused to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, “I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.”
1963: The first push-button telephone service, Touch-Tone®, was put into use by the Bell System in the United States.
November 19
1933: Born this day: CNN talk show host Larry King, and Judge Jerry Sheindlin (The People’s Court).
1990: Pop duo Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy Award because they did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It’s True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.
November 20
1789: New Jersey became the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1805: The only opera by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Fidelio, premiered in Vienna.
1820: An 80-ton sperm whale attacked and sank the Essex, a whaling ship from Nantucket, Mass., 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. (The 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, 1819-1891, was inspired in part by this story).
1947: Princess Elizabeth (born 1926) married Lt. Philip Mountbatten (born 1921), who became the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
1985: Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released.
November 21
1789: North Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution and was admitted as the 12th state.
1877: Thomas Edison (1847-1931) unveiled his newest invention, the phonograph, a machine that could record and play sound.
1942: Warner Bros. cartoon character “Tweety Bird” appeared for the first time in U.S. movie theaters.
1945: On this day, U.S. humorist Robert Benchley (born 1889) died, and actress Goldie Hawn was born.
1964: The Verrazano Narrows bridge, which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn, N.Y., opened. (It was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time but has since been surpassed.)
2014: Serena Early and Leslie Burgess of Missoula, Mont., became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Montana.
November 22
1858: Denver, Colo., was founded.
1928: The first performance of Boléro by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) took place in Paris.
1943: Born this day: tennis player Billie Jean King; and screenwriter Roger L. Simon (Bustin’ Loose, My Man Adam, Scenes from a Mall).
1950: Born this day: singer-songwriters and musicians Steven Van Zandt (E Street Band) and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads).
1954: The Humane Society of the United States was founded in Washington, DC.
1957: A storm caused a deadly mudslide in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
1967: Born this day: German tennis player Boris Becker; and actor Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).
1977: British Airways inaugurated its regular London-to-New York City supersonic Concorde service.
1986: Mike Tyson defeated Trevor Berbick (1954-2006) to become youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history at age 20 years, four months and two days.
1987: Chicago TV stations WGN and WTTW had their signals hijacked for 30 seconds and 90 seconds respectively during a three-hour period by an unknown pirate disguised as the fictional artificial intelligence character Max Headroom, and one other visible accomplice. (The perpetrators have never been caught.)
1988: The first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was unveiled by the U.S. Air Force in Palmdale, Calif.
1995: Toy Story by Pixar Animation Studios was released by Walt Disney Pictures as the first feature-length film created with only computer-generated imagery.
2005: Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.
ON THIS DAY… NOVEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 22
November 16 – NATIONAL FAST FOOD DAY
Know what that means for you? An easy peasy dinnertime.
November 17 – NATIONAL HIKING DAY
Also known as “Take A Hike Day,” National Hiking Day on November 17 may be one of the most important holidays out there.
November 18 – APPLECIDER DAY
The day celebrates the rich and fruity beverage that fills our hearts and bodies with warmth
November 19 – NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY
Did you know that in 2015 alone, 4,000 adoptions were finalized on the Saturday before Thanksgiving? Events are held all over the country to celebrate this holiday
November 20 – PAY BACK YOUR PAPRENTS DAY
During the 1980’s the United Nations wanted to raise awareness of the important role that parents play in the lives of children. dance.
November 21 – FALSE CONFESSIONS DAY
This is the perfect day for the pranksters among us. Who wouldn’t love a harmless joke?
November 22– GO FOR A RIDE DAY
urges you to just get up and get out! it doesn’t matter what you choose! Pick a location you’ve always wanted to visit and make today the day you’ll go.