- 323rd Day of 2015 42 Remaining
- Winter Begins in 32 Days
- Sunrise:6:54
- Sunset:4:55
- 10 Hours 1 Minute
- Moon Rise:1:04pm
- Moon Set:12:46am(Friday)
- Phase: First Quarter
- Next Full Moon November 25 @ 2:44pm
- This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.
- Tides
- High:5:05am/4:29pm
- Low:11:02am/10:54pm
- Holidays
- National Blow Bagpipes Day
- Great American Smokeout Day
- Equal Opportunity Day
- National Carbonated Beverage With Caffeine Day
- Have A Bad Day Day
- Nouveau Beaujolais Day
- Use Less Stuff Day
- National Bundt Day
- World Philosophy Day
- World Toilet Day
- International Men’s Day
- Discovery Day-Puerto Rico
- Garifuna Settlement Day-Belize
- National Commemoration Day-Monaco
- On This Day
- 1776 --- Congress pleads for the states to send more soldiers to serve in the Continental Army, reminding them “how indispensable it is to the common safety, that they pursue the most immediate and vigorous measures to furnish their respective quotas of Troops for the new Army, as the time of service for which the present Army was enlisted, is so near expiring.”
- 1863 --- President Abraham Lincoln delivers what will become one of the most famous speeches in American history, at the dedication of the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Using just 272 words, Lincoln articulated the meaning of the Civil War for a public that had grown weary of the conflict. For some time, Lincoln had been planning to make a public statement on the significance of the war and the struggle against slavery. In early November, he received an invitation to speak at the dedication of part of the Gettysburg battlefield, which was being transformed into a cemetery for the soldiers who had died in battle there from July 1 to July 3, 1863. A popular myth suggests that Lincoln hastily scribbled his speech on the back of an envelope during his trip to Gettysburg, but he had actually begun crafting his words well before the trip. At Gettysburg, Lincoln, who began his address with the now well-known phrase “Four score and seven years ago,” reminded the assembled crowd of the Founding Fathers’ vision, which established a nation that was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” He addressed the country’s civil war, which was testing the endurance of American revolutionary ideals, and he honored the soldiers who fought at Gettysburg, suggesting that their struggle had already consecrated the ground “far above our power to add or detract.” Lincoln then succinctly stated the purpose of the Northern war effort: “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
- 1895 --- Fredrick E. Blaisdell of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received 1st U.S. patent (No. 549,952) for a paper pencil (paper-wrapped crayons or marking lead with a pull-string to reveal more lead).
- 1942 --- The Soviet Red Army under General Georgi Zhukov launches Operation Uranus, the great Soviet counteroffensive that turned the tide in the Battle of Stalingrad. On June 22, 1941, despite the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, Nazi Germany launched a massive invasion against the USSR. Aided by its greatly superior air force, the German army raced across the Russian plains, inflicting terrible casualties on the Red Army and the Soviet population. With the assistance of troops from their Axis allies, the Germans conquered vast territory, and by mid-October the great Russian cities of Leningrad and Moscow were under siege. However, the Soviets held on, and the coming of winter forced the German offensive to pause. General Zhukov, who had played such an important role in the victory, later led the Soviet drive on Berlin. On May 1, 1945, he personally accepted the German surrender of Berlin. Von Paulus, meanwhile, agitated against Adolf Hitler among the German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union and in 1946 provided testimony at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. After his release by the Soviets in 1953, he settled in East Germany.
- 1966 --- First-ranked Notre Dame and second-ranked Michigan State play to a 10-10 tie at Spartan Stadium. The Irish, per coach Ara Parseghian’s instructions, ran out the clock at the end of the game instead of passing to score and risking an interception. After the game, Parseghian defended his decision. “We’d fought hard to come back and tie it up,” he told reporters in the locker room. “After all that, I didn’t want to risk giving it to them cheap.”
- 1969 --- Apollo 12 astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean made man's second landing on the moon.
- 1969 --- Brazilian soccer great Pele scores his 1,000th professional goal in a game, against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium. It was a major milestone in an illustrious career that included three World Cup championships. During his long career, Pele scored 1,282 goals in 1,363 games. In 1978, Pele was given the International Peace Award and in 1993 he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Since retiring, he has acted as an international ambassador for his sport and has worked with the United Nations and UNICEF to promote peace and international reconciliation through friendly athletic competition.
- 1975 --- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a film about a group of patients at a mental institution, opens in theaters. Directed by Milos Forman and based on a 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey, the film starred Jack Nicholson and was co-produced by the actor Michael Douglas. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest went on to become the first film in four decades to win in all five of the major Academy Award categories: Best Actor (Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher, who played Nurse Ratched), Best Director, Best Screenplay (Adapted) and Best Picture.
- 1977 --- In an unprecedented move for an Arab leader, Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat travels to Jerusalem to seek a permanent peace settlement with Israel after decades of conflict. Sadat’s visit, in which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and spoke before the Knesset (Parliament), was met with outrage in most of the Arab world.
- 1980 --- Bill and his wife T.J. Palmer opened the first Applebee's restaurant, T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1984 --- Dwight Gooden, 20-year-old, of the New York Mets, became the youngest major-league pitcher to be named Rookie of the Year in the National League.
- 1985 --- For the first time in eight years, the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States hold a summit conference. Meeting in Geneva, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev produced no earth-shattering agreements. However, the meeting boded well for the future, as the two men engaged in long, personal talks and seemed to develop a sincere and close relationship.
- 1993 --- Nirvana recorded an MTV unplugged concert in New York. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G8V6ta9Auk
- 1998 --- Vincent van Gogh's "Portrait of the Artist Without Beard" sold at auction for more than $71 million.
- 2001 --- Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants became the first baseball player to win four Most Valuable Player awards.
- Birthdays
- Indira Gandhi
- James A Garfield (20th President)
- Jody Foster
- Billy Sunday
- Kathleen Quinlan
- Tommy Dorsey
- Glynnis O’Connor
- Roy Campanella
- Dick Cavett
- Meg Ryan
- Savion Glover
- Kerri Strug
- Ted Turner
- Garrick Utley
- Calvin Klein
National Blow Bagpipes Day-KALW Almanac-11/19/2015
