On Nov. 18, 1978, more than 900 people died in Jonestown, Guyana, after Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones urged them to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced grape punch. Jones died of a bullet wound to the head; whether it was self-inflicted is unknown.
In 1477, "The Sayings of the Philosophers" was published, the earliest known book printed in England to carry a date.
In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.
In 1886, the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York.
In 1899, conductor Eugene Ormandy was born in Budapest, Hungary.
One hundred years ago, in 1909, President William Howard Taft ordered two warships to Nicaragua, a day after the government of President Jose Santos Zelaya executed two American mercenaries along with several hundred revolutionaries. Lyricist Johnny Mercer was born in Savannah, Ga.
In 1923, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was born in East Derry, N.H.
In 1936, Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.
In 1958, the cargo freighter SS Carl D. Bradley sank during a storm in Lake Michigan, claiming 33 of the 35 lives on board.
In 1963, push-button telephones made their debut. Touch-tone service was available as an option for an extra charge.
In 1966, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent.
Forty years ago, in 1969, financier-diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy died in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 81.
In 1976, Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship
In 1978, U. S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., and four other people were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members.
In 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.
In 1999, twelve people were killed when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed. A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted Shawn Allen Berry of murder for his role in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., but spared him the death penalty. American author and composer Paul Bowles, best known for "The Sheltering Sky" and other novels set in North Africa, died in Morocco at age 88.
In 2002, U.N. arms inspectors returned to Iraq after a four-year hiatus, calling on Saddam Hussein's government to cooperate with their search for weapons of mass destruction.
In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled, 4-3, that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry.
In 2004, former President Bill Clinton's library opened in Little Rock, Ark.; in attendance were President George W. Bush, former President George H.W. Bush and former President Jimmy Carter. Former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry, convicted of killing four black girls in the racially motivated bombing of a Birmingham, Ala., church in 1963, died in prison at age 74. Britain outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales. (Scotland had already outlawed hunting.) Composer Cy Coleman died in New York at age 75.
In 2007, authorities in Bangladesh upped the death toll from Cyclone Sidr to at least 2,000 people. Many more were reported missing and some 600,000 were believed homeless from the vicious storm that ruined much of the country's food supply. Also in 2007, a methane explosion in a Ukrainian coal mine killed at least 88 miners with about a dozen others reported missing, officials said.
In 2008, Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with Congress for a $25 billion lifeline, warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse. Belgium-based InBev SA formed the world's largest brewer with its 41 billion-euro ($52 billion) takeover of U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. Boston's Dustin Pedroia won the American League MVP award, becoming the first second baseman to earn the honor in nearly a half-century.
Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is 86. Actress Brenda Vaccaro is 70. Author-poet Margaret Atwood is 70. Actress Linda Evans is 67. Actress Susan Sullivan is 67. Former Cherokee Nation chief Wilma Mankiller is 64. Country singer Jacky Ward is 63. Actor Jameson Parker is 62. Actress-singer Andrea Marcovicci is 61. College Football Hall of Famer Jack Tatum is 61. Rock musician Herman Rarebell is 60. Singer Graham Parker is 59. Actor Delroy Lindo is 57. Comedian Kevin Nealon is 56. Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon is 53. Actor Oscar Nunez is 51. Actress Elizabeth Perkins is 49. Singer Kim Wilde is 49. Rock musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica) is 47. Rock singer Tim DeLaughter is 44. Actor Romany Malco is 41. Actor Owen Wilson is 41. Singer Duncan Sheik is 40. Actor Mike Epps is 39. Actress Peta Wilson is 39. Actress Chloe Sevigny is 35. Country singer Jessi Alexander is 33. Actor Steven Pasquale is 33. Rapper Fabolous is 30. Actor Nate Parker is 30. Rapper Mike Jones is 29.
Today In Entertainment History November 18
In 1928, Walt Disney's first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.
In 1954, ABC radio and TV banned "Mambo Italiano" by Rosemary Clooney for what it called "offensive lyrics."
Fifty years ago, in 1959, "Ben-Hur," MGM's Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston and directed by William Wyler, had its world premiere at Loew's State Theatre in New York. Actor-comedian Arthur Q. Bryan, who provided the voice of Warner Bros. cartoon character Elmer Fudd, died in Hollywood at age 60.
In 1970, Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousin Myra Gale Brown were divorced in Memphis. She had described their recent years together as a nightmare.
In 1972, Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant married Judy Seymour.
In 1987, the band U2 opened for itself as a country-rock group called the Dalton Brothers during a Los Angeles concert.
In 1992, Spike Lee's movie "Malcolm X," starring Denzel Washington, opened nationwide.
In 1994, the Rolling Stones broadcast a 20-minute segment of their show in Dallas, Texas, live over the Internet. They were the first major band to do so.
In 1997, police arrested singer Gary Glitter and questioned him about child pornography allegedly found on his computer. He later pleaded guilty to 54 charges of making indecent computer images of children.
In 1999, Doug Sahm of The Sir Douglas Quintet and of The Texas Tornados died of natural causes in Taos, New Mexico. He was 58.
In 2000, actor Michael Douglas married actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in New York.
In 2006, actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes were married in Italy.
Thought for Today: "If an historian were to relate truthfully all the crimes, weaknesses and disorders of mankind, his readers would take his work for satire rather than for history." — Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and critic (born this date in 1647, died 1706).
2 comments:
In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.
Newfoundland showed up a half-hour late.
Time & Space Editor Says:
Damned Atlanteans!
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