Friday, November 5, 2010

Fun Friday


Time for trivia! Here are some interesting historical happenings on the first 7 days of November. There are, of course, many, many others.

November 1: (1995) The first all-race local government elections took place in South Africa, marking the end of the apartheid system.

November 2: (1947) The first and only flight of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" flying boat occurred in Long Beach Harbor, California. It flew about a mile at an altitude of 70 feet. Costing $25 million, the 200-ton plywood eight-engine Hercules was the world's largest airplane, designed, built and flown by Hughes. It later became a tourist attraction alongside the Queen Mary ship at Long Beach and has since been moved to Oregon.

November 3: (1957) Soviet Russia launched the world's first inhabited space capsule, Sputnik II, which carried a dog named Laika.

November 4: (1922) King Tut's tomb was discovered at Luxor, Egypt, by British archaeologist Howard Carter after several years of searching. The child-King Tutankhamen became pharaoh at age nine and died around 1352 B.C. at age 19. The tomb was found mostly intact, containing numerous priceless items now exhibited in Egypt's National Museum in Cairo.

November 5: Remembered as Guy Fawkes Day in Britain, for the anniversary of the failed "Gunpowder Plot" to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I in 1605.

November 6: (1860) - Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th U.S. President and the first Republican. He received 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote.

November 7: (1885) Canada's first transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, was completed in British Columbia.

8 comments:

  1. Elspeth - Thanks for this trivia. Really interesting stuff! I didn't know that about the Canadian railway.

    I remember distinctly that South African election. 's a matter of fact, I traveled there just five years afterwards, and got some really interesting insights...

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  2. Ah, history. Seems to be a recurring them on the blogosphere today.

    Terry
    Terry's Place
    Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

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  3. Margot; I envy your trip to South Africa - what a fascinating place to visit!

    Terry; It's odd how it happens like this, isn't it?

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  4. Cool factoids. I was in high school when Sputnik II went up. Seems like just the other day...

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  5. And today is my niece's birthday. She knows all about Guy Fawkes' Day.

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  6. Patricia; Time passes so quickly, doesn't it?

    Carol; I hope she gets a bonfire. It's only right. "Remember, remember, the fifth of November..."

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  7. Love the trivia. Think I'll celebrate Guy Fawkes' Day a little late since we're having a cookout tomorrow night. I'll pass this tidbit along and see if anyone else knows it. Thanks and have a great weekend.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  8. Thanks for the trivia! I don't know why I thought Sputnik had a monkey instead of a dog. Hope you have a great weekend. :)

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