Today in 1520, Ferdiand Magellan became the first European navigator to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

Magellan was a Portuguese Navigator working in the service of Charles V the king of Spain.

Ferdinand Magellan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When Spain finally realized that the new lands to the West were not the Indies, but rather a new continent, they still desperately needed to find a route that would take them to the Spice Islands (modern Maluku Islands of Indonesia) of Asia. Charles V hired Ferdinand Magellan to find such a route. The fleet of five ships was outfitted with supplies for two years and lasted from 1519 to 1522 and employed 270 sailors from eight European countries. Magellan foolishly agreed to help out a local chieftain by attacking his rival and was killed in the battle with a bamboo spear.

Only one ship (the Victoria) and 18 of the original 270 men made it all the way around the globe and back to Spain.

Ferdinand Magellan

(below) Magellan's Route

When

Baruch Spinoza (1632-77), a Dutch rationalist philosopher born a Portuguese Jew, was born today, Nov. 24, in 1632.

Baruch Spinoza (1632-77), a Dutch rationalist philosopher born a Portuguese Jew, was born today, Nov. 24, in 1632.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
"His extremely naturalistic views on God, the world, the human being and knowledge serve to ground a moral philosophy centered on the control of the passions leading to virtue and happiness. They also lay the foundations for a strongly democratic political thought and a deep critique of the pretensions of Scripture and sectarian religion. Of all the philosophers of the seventeenth-century, perhaps none have more relevance today than Spinoza."

Baruch Spinoza

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spinoza was expelled from his Jewish Synagogue at age 23 for his radically modern views and was shunned. His books were later put on the Catholic Church's Index of forbidden books.

He was a forerunner of the modern Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism.

Spinoza lived an outwardly simple life supporting himself as a lens grinder and turned down all honors and teaching opportunities and died of a lung disease at age 44. He also turned down his inheritance and allowed it to go to his sister. He has been called the Prince of Philosophers.

IEP: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley and JFK all died 50 years ago today

JFK was assassinated 50 years ago today. That same day, authors C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley also died.

Huxley was the author of "Brave New World" and numerous essays of social and cultural criticism.

Lewis was the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain and the Great Divorce.

JFK guided the nation through the Cuban Missile Crisis and came up with the idea of reducing taxes to stimulate economic productivity (believe it or not!)

Zapruder Film Slow Motion (HIGHER QUALITY):

First manned hot air baloon flight in 1783.Ben Franklin was watching!

The first manned flight in an un-tethered hot-air balloon took place in Paris on this day in 1783.

On November 21, 1783, physicist Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, along with the Marquis d'Arlandes, became the first humans to fly. Their flight, in a hot air balloon designed by brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier, was witnessed by thousands in Paris, including the royal family and Benjamin Franklin, and soon inspired a ballooning craze.

Wikipedia: First manned flight

King Louis XVI had proposed sending condemned criminals on that dangerous first flight, but was persuaded otherwise.

APS Physics: Today in Physics History

On November 21, 1783, the balloon was ready for the first human passengers. Although King Louis XVI said he wanted to send prisoners on this potentially dangerous experiment, physicist Pilatre de Rozier volunteered for the honor of being the first to fly in an untethered hot air balloon.

He and the Marquis d’Arlandes, who bravely agreed to accompany him, lifted off from the center of Paris, rose to a height of about 3000 feet, and drifted for about 25 minutes before landing in the outskirts of the city, about five miles from where they began.

These early balloon flights were witnessed by Benjamin Franklin, who was in Paris at the time as ambassador to France. Franklin, intrigued by the idea of flight, predicted that hot air balloons would soon be used in the military for spying. Franklin died before being able to take a balloon ride himself.

Mike Dukakis and the "Tank Ad" -- the worst political ad ever

"Dukakis and the Tank, the inside story of the worst political ad ever."
Politico Magazine, Josh King, Nov. 17, 2013

Nov. 16, 1807 Zheng Yi Sao became a pirate

Nov. 16, 1807 - Zheng Yi Sao became one of the world's most powerful female pirates.


History Channel: This Day in History - November 16, 1807

Ching Shih

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zheng Yi Sao character reel

75 years ago tonight in 1938 "Kristallnacht," happened, the disaster before the disaster

>INTERNATIONAL

How the World Shrugged 

Off Kristallnacht  (ABC News)

The American Experience: People and Events,

"Kristallnacht"

History Channel: Nazis launch Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht - A Documentary Part 1 of 5

Today in 1946, young John Kennedy was first elected to Congress

From the JFK library

Kennedy easily won 69,000 votes to 26,000.

Below (right) is a photo of young JFK with his father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and his grandfather John F. (Honey Fitz) Fitzgerald.

The new U.S. Congressman from the 11th Congressional Distric was only 29-years-old. Kennedy was easily re-elected to the seat in 1948 and 1950 during the Truman Presidency (below: left).

Today in 1956, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary

BBC On This Day in History:

Some 30,000 people were killed in Budapest and about 200,000 Hungarians sought political asylum in the West.

Over the next five years, thousands were executed or imprisoned under Janos Kadar's puppet regime.

Nagy and others involved in the revolution were secretly tried and executed in June 1958.

Soviet troops finally withdrew from Hungary in 1991.

This event (in addition to knowledge about Stalin's excesses) caused many western sympathizers with communism to begin to question Soviet Marxism and led to the development of the "new left."

Hungarian Revolution crushed by Soviets - 1956

(Right: Diario de la Marina, Nov. 17, 1956)

Today in 1936, Mussolini announced the Rome-Berlin "axis"

Speaking in Milan on this day in 1936, Benito Mussolini announced the establishment of a Rome-Berlin "axis."

"History Today" The following article is brief but worth the time to read. I learned a lot about Italy before the war that I did not know.

(English Subtitles) Mussolini's speech against Germany,in Bari 1934

(before he became Hitler's ally)