On This Day November 22nd

 OTD

November 22nd is the 326th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 39 days remain until the end of the year.

 

 Events

1718 – Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard attacks and boards the vessels of the British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") off the coast of North Carolina. The casualties on both sides include Maynard's first officer, Mister Hyde, and Teach himself.

1869 – In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched.

1942 – World War II: Battle of Stalingrad: General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th Army is surrounded.

1967 – UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted, establishing a set of principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab Israeli peace settlement.

1971 – In Britain's worst mountaineering tragedy, the Cairngorm Plateau Disaster, five children and one of their leaders are found dead from exposure in the Scottish mountains.

1990 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdrew from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her tenure as Prime Minister.

 

Birthdays

1710 – Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (d. 1784)

1744 – Abigail Adams, American wife of John Adams, 2nd First Lady of the United States (d. 1818)

1808 – Thomas Cook, the English businessman, founded the Thomas Cook Group (d. 1892)

1893 – Harley Earl, American industrial designer (d. 1969)

1912 – Doris Duke, American heiress and philanthropist (d. 1993)

1921 – Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian, actor, rapper, and screenwriter (d. 2004)

1940 – Terry Gilliam, American-English actor, director, animator, and screenwriter

1967 – Boris Becker, German tennis player

1984 – Scarlett Johansson, American actress

 

Holiday Spotlight

Go For a Ride Day

 

  Birthdays are fun, and Christmas means presents (if you’re lucky), but nothing compares with the magical day you get your driver’s license. That’s when your world truly changes forever. Why? Cars mean freedom. You can suddenly go anywhere, anytime (if your parents are cool with your plans). Such is the nature of transportation — something we in the 21st century take for granted. We all grew up with planes, trains, and automobiles — so we’re used to getting where we need to go.

 But it wasn’t always that way. When President Jefferson asked Lewis (and, eventually, Clark) to explore the American West in 1804, there were no nonstop flights from St. Louis to the Oregon coast. As the History Channel describes, "The excursion lasted over two years.  Along the way, they confronted harsh weather, unforgiving terrain, treacherous waters, injuries, starvation, disease, and both friendly and hostile Native Americans. Nevertheless, the approximately 8,000-mile journey was deemed a huge success and provided new geographic, ecological, and social information about previously uncharted areas of North America.”

 Americans have always loved to “go for a ride” — with whatever mode of transportation existed. Horses. Boats. Bicycles. And, of course, the ubiquitous car. The nation had a long love affair with automobiles starting in the mid-20th century and lasting until recently — as a new generation of car buyers, born after the car craze, lost interest in design — focusing instead on practicality. Stellar gas mileage makes Priuses as sexy as Porsches. Well, almost.

 

Other Include

Blackout Wednesday

Humane Society Anniversary Day

National Cranberry Relish Day

National Jukebox Day

National Stop the Violence Day

Spitegiving

Start Your Country Day

Tie One on Day

What Do You Love About America Day 

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