This Day in History on November 18 - History and Headlines

Reagan Signs Death Penalty for Drug Traffickers!

By Major Dan on November 18, 2019 Crime, November 18, Politics

A Brief History On November 18, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law legislation (Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988) that made certain drug trafficking offenses punishable by the death penalty, a sharp escalation of the “War on Drugs.” In hindsight, the War on Drugs is seen today as having been an abject failure and perhaps mismanaged, and the national sentiment about capital punishment has also shifted toward decreased support for executions and increased support for banning the death penalty. Digging Deeper Reagan had been elected President in 1980 as the oldest (at the time) man elected to that office. Having…

November 18, 2018: Even More Stuff That Did or Did Not Exist When I Was Born

By Major Dan on November 18, 2018 Cinema & TV, Inventions, Military, November 18, Politics, Vehicles

A Brief History On November 18, 2018, just after the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I, we look back over the past almost 62 years to take a look at things we find commonplace today that did not exist when I was born (January 1957). We also look at things that were common then or in the past that no longer exist. As you can guess from the title of this article, we have examined these items, new and passé, a few times before. (See “Things That Did Not Exist (Or Were Different) on July 1,…

November 18, 2017: What is Apple Cider? (Is Apple Cider Different from Apple Juice?)

By Major Dan on November 18, 2017 Food, November 18

A Brief History On November 18, 2017, we celebrate the annual Apple Cider Day, a national day in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Why isn’t the juice of pressed apples just called “apple juice?” For that matter, what is “apple juice?” Read on and we will explain these fine points of culinary delight to you! Digging Deeper First of all, apple juice is junk! It is made from apples all right, pressed into juicy stuff which if left alone would be apple cider, but it is further processed to ruin any useful purpose as a drink for…

History: November 18, 1993: Reviled Trade Agreement, NAFTA, Passed by House

By Major Dan on November 18, 2016 November 18, Politics

A Brief History On November 18, 1993, the US House of Representatives passes the North American Free Trade Agreement that had been negotiated by President George HW Bush in 1992. President Clinton, assuming office in January of 1993, negotiated a couple small amendments to the agreement at the behest of congressmen. Digging Deeper Negotiated by Mexico, the United States and Canada, the measure replaced the previous trade agreement between the US and Canada known as the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. In Canada, most political representatives were against the NAFTA pact, but since the opposition was split between 2 groups…

History: November 18, 1963: More Stuff That Did or Did Not Exist When I Was Born

By Major Dan on November 18, 2015 Inventions, November 18

A Brief History On November 18, 1963, Bell Telephone introduced a new way to dial a telephone, something referred to as “dual-tone multi-frequency” (DTMF) technology, or Touch-Tone (the trademarked name) dialing. Also known as push button phones, these would go on to replace the old rotary dial type of telephone (also known as “pulse dialing”) so that today it is rare to even see an old fashioned dial type phone. Digging Deeper Making a lot of calls in the old days was tedious, and tired, sloppy fingers would often slip out of the little round fingertip receptacles causing the caller…