...for as long as it takes
November 1998
This Month in History
(These are in order by day of the month)
Nov. 9 1989 - The 27.9-mile-long Berlin Wall, the symbol of the Cold War that separated East and West Germany for 28 years, was opened. Both East and West German citizens celebrated their freedom as they once again were able to walk freely between the two states.
Nov. 10 1975 - The worst Great Lakes shipwreck of the time, the sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald", occurred this day. It was a cold and stormy Lake Superior that took the lives of 29 crew members of the ore carrier.
Nov. 10 1954 - The Iwo Jima Memorial was dedicated.
Nov. 10 1982 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened.
Nov. 10 1775 - The Continental Congress organized the Marine Corps.
Nov. 11, 1918 - This is Armistice Day or Remembrance Day or Veterans Day or Victory Day or World War I Memorial Day. The name of this special day may be different in different places throughout many nations; but its significance is the same. It was on this day -- at 11 a.m. -- that World War I ceased. The Allied and Central Powers signed an armistice agreement at 5 a.m. in Marshal Foch's railway car in the Forest of Compiegne, France. Even today, many still bow their heads in remembrance at the 11th hour of this the 11th day of the 11th month.
Nov. 11, 1938 - Kate Smith sang "God Bless America" for the very first time. It would later become her signature song. Irving Berlin penned the tune in 1917 but never released it until Miss Smith sang it for the first time on her radio broadcast.
Nov. 12 1942 - In World War II, the battle of Guadalcanal began.
Nov. 12 1944 - The German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship of the Bismarck
and Hitler's last major warship, was sunk by British bombers at
Tromso Fjord in northern Norway
Nov. 19, 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered his "Gettysburg Address" on this day in 1863. In July of 1863, the fields outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania erupted into one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War between the States. The Union forces held their positions against Confederate advances. The Confederates, under Robert E. Lee, retreated to Virginia, ending their attempt to invade the North. The battle was the turning point of the war; the Confederates were never again able to mount a campaign into the North and were on the run. President Lincoln traveled to the site of the battle to designate it as a national cemetery. While on the train, he wrote his speech on a small piece of paper. Three minutes after he had begun to speak, Lincoln had finished what is now considered to be one of the greatest speeches in American history.
Nov. 24, 1986 - The American Eagle silver dollar, like its gold counterpart, became all the rage on this, its first day of issue -- by selling out. An additional 250,000 coins were also ordered this day by coin dealers.
Nov. 29, 1929 - After completing his first flight over the North Pole on this same date in 1926, Lt. Commander Richard E. Byrd flew over the South Pole on this day. He became the first American to achieve such a feat.
Click on POW/MIA graphic to return to November issue