Browsing: November

A Brief History On November 16, 1857, during the battle known as the Second Relief of Lucknow, British soldiers earned 24 Victoria Cross medals in a single day, the most in British history. Digging Deeper Lucknow, the capital of the Oudh, now called Awadh, province of India, housed a British settlement.  The area was administered by the British East India Company, a situation distasteful to the local Indians. The 1857 Indian Rebellion, May 1857 to November 1858, saw rebellion against the East India Company.  Lucknow, defended by 1,729 troops, was beset by 5,000 Sepoys, Indian soldiers that had been working…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on November 15th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On November 15, 1280, St. Albertus Magnus died, after having reportedly built an android and discovered the philosopher’s stone, but according to the faithful his body did not deteriorate and according to Mary Shelley, his writings influenced mad scientist Victor Frankenstein! On November 15, 1914, the pre-National Football League professional football world was saddened by the death of a seasoned pro, Center…

A Brief History On November 15, 1968, the Cleveland Transit System of Cleveland, Ohio linked downtown with the metro airport, becoming the first city in the western hemisphere to link its downtown and its main airport by rapid transit. Digging Deeper CTS ran the buses and the Rapid Transit electric trains in Cleveland, linking the East and West sides of the city and its inner suburbs with the downtown area.  Later, CTS would become the Regional Transit Authority. Despite jokes about its burning river and the “Mistake on the Lake,” and of course the recent history of alleged pro football, Cleveland…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on November 14th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On November 14, 1851, author Herman Melville published his greatest book, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. On November 14, 1889, American female journalist, Nellie Bly, began her trip around the world in a successful attempt to match the fictional story of Phileas Fogg who went Around the World in Eighty Days in the 1873 Jules Verne novel by the same title. On November…

A Brief History On November 14, 1910, self-taught aviator Eugene Ely took off from the deck of the USS Birmingham, near Norfolk, Virginia.  Piloting a Curtiss Pusher airplane, Ely made history by becoming the first person to take off from a ship in an airplane. Digging Deeper The temporary runway constructed over the front portion of the cruiser was only 83 feet long, barely long enough to allow the plane to take off.  In fact, on the historic flight, the wheels of the primitive plane dragged in the water and Ely’s goggles were covered with spray! After the brush with…