November 18
Today in America's Present Past
1797 | Activist Sojourner Truth was born.
1810 | Botanist Asa Gray was born.
1811 | SCOTUS: Justice Gabriel Duvall was sworn in.
1861 | Journalist Dorothy Dix was born.
1865 | Mark Twain published “The Celebrated Jumping Frog.”
1872 | Civil Rights: Susan B. Anthony was arrested by a U.S. Deputy Marshal and charged with illegally voting.
1874 | Civil Rights: The National Women’s Christian Temperance Union was formed.
1886 | POTUS: President Chester A. Arthur died.
1901 | Pollster George Gallup was born.
1906 | Biologist George Wald was born.
1908 | Actress Imogene Coca was born.
1909 | The U.S. invaded Nicaragua.
1909 | Entertainer Johnny Mercer was born.
1913 | Lincoln Beachey was the first U.S. pilot to do an airshow loop-the-loop.
1923 | Astronaut Alan Shepard was born.
1928 | Film: “Steamboat Willie” debuted.
1928 | Entertainer Sheila Jordan was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1945 | Activist Wilma Mankiller was born.
1948 | Entrepreneur Colonel Sanders wed Claudia Price.
1956 | Cold War: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev claimed “we will bury you!”
1959 | Film: “Ben Hur” debuted.
1961 | POTUS: Democrat President Kennedy deploys 18,000 troops to Vietnam.
1965 | Vice President Henry A. Wallace died.
1966 | Civil Rights: U.S. Catholic Bishops end the prohibition of eating meat on Friday.
1966 | Baseballer Hank Greenberg wed Mary Jo Tarola.
1968 | Actor Owen Wilson was born.
1969 | Entrepreneur Joseph P. Kennedy died.
1970 | Journalist Megyn Kelly was born.
1978 | The first flight of McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet.
1978 | In Jonestown, Guyana, Cleric Jim Jones leads the Jonestown Massacre.
1978 | Congressman Leo J. Ryan was assassinated by members of the Jonestown cult.
1983 | Film: “A Christmas Story” debuted.
1992 | Film: “Malcom X” debuted.
1993 | Congress: The House passed the North America Free Trade Agreement.
1994 | Musician Cab Calloway died.
2000 | Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones wed Michael Douglas.
2016 | Surgeon Denton Cooley died.