November 1st in History

Michael Dobson | November 1

On This Day in History

  • Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling is shown to the public for the first time (1512)
  • Ferdinand Magellan first discovers the passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that bears his name (1520)
  • Shakespeare’s Othello (1604) and The Tempest (1611) both premiere at London’s Whitehall Palace
  • The British government enacts the Stamp Act to pay for troops stationed in the American colonies (1765)
  • US President John Adams becomes the first office-holder to take up residence in the Executive Mansion, later renamed the White House (1800)
  • Napoleon invades Austria (1805)
  • The first picture of a bare-breasted woman appears in National Geographic magazine (1896)
  • The first bomb is dropped by an airplane in combat (Italo-Turkish War, 1911)
  • In Operation Buster-Jangle, 6,500 American soldiers are involuntarily exposed to atomic explosions for training purposes (1951)
  • The Springhill (Nova Scotia) mining disaster kills 88 and leads to the folksong “The Ballad of Springhill” (1958)
  • Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy announces his plan to establish a Peace Corps (1960)
  • The largest radio telescope ever built opens in Arecibo, Puerto Rico (1963)
  • The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) institutes its rating system, originally “G,” “M,” “R,” and “X.” “M” subsequently becomes “PG,” and “X” becomes “NC-17.” “XXX” is informally adopted by the porn industry, but is not an official rating MPAA rating. (1968)
  • Leon Jaworski is appointed the new Watergate special prosecutor, replacing Archibald Cox, fired in the “Saturday Night Massacre” (1973)
  • Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to open a US factory (1982)
  • The Maastricht Treaty formally establishes the European Union (1993)

Birthdays

  • Louis the Stammerer, French monarch (846)
  • Oliver Plunkett, Irish saint, last victim of the Popish Plot (1625)
  • Stephen Crane, writer (1871)
  • Sholem Asch (שלום אַש), writer (1880)
  • Grantland Rice, sportswriter (1880)
  • “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom, boxer and actor (1907)
  • Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction writer (1923)
  • Betsy Palmer, actress and game show regular (1926)
  • Emmaline Henry, wife of Dr. Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie (1928)
  • Gary Player, golfer (1935)
  • Edward Said (إدوارد وديع سعيد‎), Palestinian-American literary theorist and public intellectual (1935)
  • Barbara Bosson, actress (1939)
  • Barry Sadler, soldier and singer-songwriter (1940)
  • Robert Foxworth, actor (1941)
  • Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher (1942)
  • Marcia Wallace, actress and voice artist (1942)
  • Kinky Friedman, singer-songwriter (1944)
  • Dennis Muren, special effects artist (1946)
  • Mitch Kapor, programmer, businessman, and founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (1950)
  • Lyle Lovett, singer-songwriter (1957)
  • Peter Ostrum, child actor (Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) (1957)
  • Tim Cook, Apple CEO (1960)
  • Jenny McCarthy, Playboy model and media personality, autism advocate (1972)

Deaths

  • Bill Tilghman, Wild West lawman (1924)
  • Man o’ War, racehorse (1947)
  • Dale Carnegie, self-help guru (1955)
  • Ezra Pound, poet (1972)
  • Mamie Eisenhower, US First Lady (1979)
  • King Vidor, director (1982)
  • Phil Silvers, comic actor (1985)
  • Noah Beery Jr., actor (1994)
  • Walter Payton, football player (1999)
  • Skitch Henderson, Tonight Show bandleader (2005)
  • William Styron, author (2006)
  • Paul Tibbets, Enola Gay pilot (2007)
  • Yma Sumac, soprano (2008)

Holidays

  • All Saints Day (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Andhra Pradesh Formation Day (Andhra Pradesh)
  • Coronation of the Fifth Druk Gyalpo Day (Bhutan)
  • Day of the Innocents (Mexico and Haiti)
  • Day of the Leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival (Bulgaria)
  • Haryana Foundation Day (Haryana)
  • Independence Day (Antigua and Barbuda)
  • Karnataka Foundation Day (Karnataka)
  • Kerala Foundation Day (Kerala)
  • National Day (Algeria)
  • First day of National Fig Week (US)
  • Plan Your Epitaph Day (US, informal)
  • World Vegan Day (International)

November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years), with 60 days remaining until year’s end.