<< Nov 28|          HISTORY “4” “2”DAY          |Nov 30 >>
Events, deaths, births, of 29 NOV
v.5.a2
[For Nov 29 Julian go to Gregorian date: 1582~1699: Dec 091700s: Dec 101800s: Dec 111900~2099: Dec 12]
ALTERNATE SITES    ANY DAY  OF THE YEAR IN HISTORY    ART “4” NOV 29   wikipedia
^  On a 29 November:
2004 A view of a “liberated” part of Fallujah, Iraq, while US troops continue attacking insurgents, and killing some civilians “accidentally” or because they might be insurgents, in other parts of the city.
the Pope, 29 Nov 2002

2002 Il Papa Giovanni Paolo II, nell'udienza alla Pontificia Università Urbaniana [foto >], volge lo sguardo con sofferenza sul mondo di oggi che come dimostrano i recenti, feroci attentati continua ad essere lacerato ed in balia dell'odio: “ La violenza, il terrorismo, la guerra costruiscono nuovi muri tra i popoli”.

2002 Hoping for diminished attention from the public on this Friday following Thanksgiving US minority-president George “Dubya” Bush announces by E-mail that he is using his [creepingly dictatorial] “authority” to deny civilian Federal employees the pay raise they were to receive starting on 01 January 2003, limiting it to 3.1%. (he does not cut the military's 4.1% increase in pay). His pretext: “A national emergency has existed since Sept. 11, 2001. Such cost increases would threaten our efforts against terrorism or force deep cuts in discretionary spending or federal employment to stay within budget. Neither outcome is acceptable.” Dubya ignores his own administration's estimate that Federal workers earn an average of 18.6% less than private workers in similar jobs. Dubya cuts the increase in locality pay, intended to reduce that salary gap in more than 30 metrolitan areas, including New York, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Cincinnati, Orlando, Kansas City, and Washington DC. After citing the current 2.1% inflation rate in the US, the arrogant minority-president adds: “I do not believe this decision will materially affect our ability to continue to attract and retain a quality federal work force.” And he does not even have the excuse of being a moron! (On 26 November 2002, Françoise Ducros, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's communications director, resigned after she was overheard, on 20 November at the NATO summit meeting in Prague, saying about Dubya: “Quel crétin!”)

1999 Protestant and Catholic adversaries form a common Northern Ireland government.

Elian and his great-aunt Caridad Gonzalez1999 The Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez retain attorney attorney Spencer Eig to become his legal guardians and to block any move to take the boy back to Cuba. [< photo: Elian and his great-aunt Caridad Gonzalez ]

1998 Rogue policemen beat up innocent Cuban immigrant
      Cuban immigrant Yoel Pacheco is allegedly beaten by two Hialeah, Florida, police officers, Rolando Bolanos Jr. and his brother Daniel. On the night of November 29, the brothers, who were responding to a domestic violence call, found Yoel Pacheco trying to resolve a dispute between his cousin and her husband. When he later tried to leave, the two officers stopped Pacheco, a 23-year-old welder with no criminal record. According to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, whose office conducted an eight-month investigation into the incident, Pacheco was then "taken to a remote location and beaten by the defendants after he had been arrested and placed in handcuffs." Pacheco's attorney claimed that doctors could not examine Pacheco's left eye three days after the incident because his face was so swollen. After Pacheco's claims became public, eight others came forth to say that they too had been beaten by one or both of the brothers. Daniel Bolanos had been accused of police brutality twice before, but both incidents were dismissed. In 1997, his application to the Miami police force was rejected because he admitted to using steroids. In 1989, his brother Rolando, who was 17 years old at the time, pled guilty to a charge of grand theft auto. He had also been arrested for aggravated assault, burglary, and other minor charges, which he failed to mention on his application to become a police officer 10 years later. The Bolanos brothers, who tried to cover up their attack on Pacheco by falsifying a police report, were arrested for battery and official misconduct. Police brutality and corruption has received much attention in the national press in recent years, and many groups have lobbied for police reforms and closer investigation into illegal police activity. Miami-Dade State Attorney Rundle said that more efforts were being made in her county to punish officers who break the law. Her office also reported that of 159 officers charged with various crimes from 1994 to 1995, 77 of them were convicted.
^ 1999 Wrong man shot by murderer-for-hire
      Tuesday 14 November 2000 update: Hitman who botched the job:
     A hired gunman shot his intended victim's neighbor by mistake, blasting him with a sawn-off shotgun. Paul Garfield Jones shot 56-year-old Ernest Broom in the stomach from 2.5 m away, leaving him for dead. Mr Broom survived the shooting after weeks in hospital.
     But he has been left with 280 pellets in his abdomen because surgeons decided it was safer to leave them. Jones, 39, of Wallis House, Glenn View, East Grinstead, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and of firearms offences at Kingston Crown Court, south London, yesterday 13 November 2000. Jones, who denied the charges throughout a six-week trial, will be sentenced on December 4. The court heard how Jones, an antiques dealer with a string of burglary and firearms convictions, was hired to kill a business rival. Tony Bristow, 48, ran a security guard firm in south London and decided on revenge when his manager Douglas Burns, 49, announced he was setting up his own business, taking customers with him. Bristow promised Jones a Ford Granada car worth £1,000 and a £200 down-payment in cash if he would kill Mr Burns. Jones agreed but picked the wrong house when he arrived at Mr Burns's street in Cheam, south London, on November 29 last year. After shooting the nextdoor neighbour by mistake, Jones went to Bristow's London home to collect the car. When Bristow told Jones he had shot the wrong man, Jones still insisted on being paid and drove off in the Granada. Scotland Yard quickly established Mr Broom had been shot by mistake and that Mr Burns was the intended victim. Through intelligence and checking associates of Mr Bristow, they identified Jones as a suspect. He was arrested in an armed operation. Police raided a number of addresses and found Jones's jacket which fitted the description of the gunman. Tests showed it carried traces of gunpowder. A shotgun cartridge was found in one pocket and two more were recovered later at an address where Jones had been. The cartridges were linked through ballistics to the shooting. Detectives also discovered a boot, belonging to Jones, that matched footprints found at the scene of the crime. Jones claimed he was with a girlfriend at the shooting but the girlfriend decided not to give evidence. Bristow's wife testified she saw Jones arrive to collect his payment. Bristow, found guilty of conspiracy to murder at an earlier hearing, will also be sentenced on December 4. The inquiry was led by Detective Chief Inspector Richard Heselden, of the serious crime squad. He described Jones as "very cold" and said: "Jones showed no emotion and remained calm throughout police interviews and the long trial. "We are more than satisfied we charged the right man and very satisfied with the outcome."


update 2003 Jan 16, 12:29 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's High Court on Thursday 16 January 2003 jailed a bungling hitman who agreed to kill a businessman in return for $160 and an old car -- but confused the address and shot the wrong man. Paul Jones, 41, ended up shooting and severely wounding his intended victim's next-door neighbor Ernest Broom. Sentencing Jones to 17 years in prison, Judge Brian Barker said: "You shot him at point-blank range and it is a miracle he survived. You have ruined his life." Jones had committed a "terrible and arrogant" crime in shooting Broom, who needed emergency surgery following the attack, the judge added. The court heard earlier in the trial how businessman Tony Bristow had hired Jones, promising him $160 (? 200 pounds) and a second-hand Ford Granada to shoot a business rival and former employee in November 1999. But Jones muddled the address and lay in wait outside Broom's house, next door to his target Douglas Burns. When Broom was alerted by his wife to Jones lurking outside and gave chase, the hitman fired with a shotgun, peppering his stomach with 250 perforations. "He just shot me and left me there. He didn't give me a chance and never said a word," Broom told the court. When Burns heard about the attack and realized he had been the intended target he rang Bristow to brag: "You shot the wrong man." Bristow, convicted at an earlier trial of conspiracy to murder, had promised Jones the equivalent of about $5000 for the contract killing -- $160 in cash and the $4800-valued car (? 1000 pounds). "You would think that life had a higher price. Sadly it does not," prosecutor Anthony Munday said. A jury found Jones, from West Sussex in southern England, guilty of conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
^ 1996 VW executive resigns accused of spying for GM.
      Volkswagen executive Jose Ignacio Lopez resigns day under charges of industrial espionage from General Motors, his former employer. As part of a major lawsuit against Volkswagen, GM charged that Lopez, its former worldwide chief of purchasing, had stolen trade secrets from the company in 1993 when he defected to Volkswagen along with three other GM managers. Lopez's resignation was likely a result of pressure from the German carmaker, which sought to reach a settlement before the scheduled lawsuit began under US jurisdiction. In January 1997, VW and GM announced a settlement in which Volkswagen would pay General Motors $100 million and agree to buy at least $1 billion in parts from GM. VW also confirmed that the three other former GM managers accused of industrial espionage had all either resigned or were due to take administrative leave. In return, GM agreed to drop all legal action.
1996 MTV Networks was demands fees from online services that link to its site.
1994 Russian aircraft bomb Chechen capital of Grozny, in advance of long-planned ground attack to enslave the independent little republic.
^ 1994 Intel CEO apologizes for Pentium bug
      Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel Corp., posts a message on an Internet chat group, apologizing for a bug in the recently-released Pentium chip. The problem, first revealed in the November 7, 1994, issue of an electronics trade journal, caused the chip to make occasional mathematical errors. Although Intel had discovered the problem over the summer, it had not publicized the bug and had continued to sell the chip, believing the error would occur only once in nine billion random division operations. Users were upset that Pentium had not immediately publicized the problem and stopped shipments. Also, the company initially required computer users to prove that their work might be affected by the bug, but after a public outcry, the company switched to a no-questions-asked replacement policy. However, news reports six months later said only about three% of customers had requested a replacement chip.
1990 The UN Security Council, led by the United States, votes 12-2 to authorize military action if Iraq did not withdraw its troops from Kuwait and release all foreign hostages by 15 January 1991.
^ 1987 Cuban detainees release hostages
      At the Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, Louisiana, Cuban detainees agree to release the thirty hostages that they took eight days before in exchange for a US pledge to grant them an indefinite moratorium on their repatriation to Cuba, and a "full, fair, and equitable review" of their immigration cases. The approximately one thousand Cuban detainees held at Oakdale rioted on November 21, the day after the US government announced that it had restored immigration relations with Cuba, signaling the imminent deportation of nearly 3000 non-political Cubans held (under US laws which violate human rights) in various locations around the country. Two days after the Oakdale riots began, the 1400 Cuban detainees held at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, also rioted. The two groups took a combined total of approximately 100 hostages and caused considerable damage to both detention complexes. After a week of tense negotiations, mediated by Bishop Agustín Roman, the Oakdale group releases its hostages and surrenders, followed by the Atlanta detainees five days later. As part of the agreement, the detainees are not held financially responsible for damage caused during the riots, and a few of them are released into American society within months
1978 UN observes "international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people," boycotted by US & about 20 other countries
1975 Kilauea Volcano erupts in Hawaii
1973 Chrysler Corp. announces plans to halt production at seven plants, affecting 38,000 workers, to reduce inventory and move production away from gas-guzzlers. Generals Motors had taken similar measures a week earlier.
^ 1971 US 23rd Division withdraws from Vietnam
      The US 23rd Division (Americal) ceases combat operations and begins its withdrawal from South Vietnam. The division had been activated in Vietnam on September 25, 1967, after which it assumed control of the 11th, 198th, and 199th Infantry Brigades (and associated support troops). Its headquarters was at Chu Lai in I Corps Tactical Zone and division troops conducted operations in Quang Nam, Quang Tri, and Quang Ngai Provinces. In 1970, the division continued to fight in the Duc Pho, Chu Lai, and Tam Ky areas along the coast. When the division headquarters departed South Vietnam, the division colors were returned to Fort Lewis, Washington, where the Americal Division was officially inactivated. The only unit that remained in South Vietnam was the 199th Infantry Brigade, which continued to conduct operations as a separate brigade.
1970 In Nagpur, India, six church bodies: the Anglicans, the United Church of Northern India, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Church of the Brethren and the Disciples of Christ, merge to form the Church of India.
^ 1968 Viet Cong vows to smash CIA's assassination program
      The Viet Cong High Command orders an all-out attempt to smash the Phoenix program. Hanoi Radio broadcasted a National Liberation Front directive calling for a new offensive to "utterly destroy" Allied forces. The broadcast added that the new operation was particularly concerned with eliminating the "Phoenix Organization." The Phoenix program (or "Phuong Hoang" as it was called in Vietnamese) was a hamlet security initiative run by the Central Intelligence Agency that relied on centralized, computerized intelligence gathering aimed at identifying and eliminating the Viet Cong infrastructure — the upper echelon of the National Liberation Front political cadres and party members.
      The program became one of the most controversial operations undertaken by US personnel in South Vietnam. Critics charged that American-led South Vietnamese "hit teams" indiscriminately arrested and murdered many communist suspects on flimsy pretexts. Despite the criticism and media attention, the program was acknowledged by top-level US government officials, as well as Viet Cong and North Vietnamese leaders after the war, to have been very effective in reducing the power of the local communist cadres in the South Vietnamese countryside.
1967 British troops withdraw from Aden
1967 US Secretary of Defense McNamara becomes President of the World Bank
^ 1967 US Defense Secretary resigns to head World Bank
      Robert S. McNamara announces that he will resign as Secretary of Defense and will become president of the World Bank. Formerly the president of Ford Motor Company, McNamara had served as Secretary of Defense under two presidents, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, from 1961 until 1968. He initially supported US involvement in the Vietnam War and encouraged President Johnson to escalate in 1964, but he later began privately to question US policy and eventually advocated a negotiated settlement to the war. In the summer of 1967, he helped draft the San Antonio formula, a peace proposal offering to end the US bombing of the north and asking North Vietnam to join in productive discussions. The North Vietnamese rejected the proposal in October. Early in November, McNamara submitted a memorandum to Johnson recommending that the United States freeze its troop levels, cease the bombing of the north, and turn over responsibility for fighting the ground war to the South Vietnamese. Johnson rejected these recommendations outright. McNamara subsequently resigned; Johnson adviser Clark Clifford succeeded him.
1965 Dale Cummings does 14'118 consecutive sit-ups
1964 Roman Catholic Church in US modernizes liturgy, including replacing Latin with English.
^ 1963 Warren Commission to investigate Kennedy assassination
      One week after President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes a special commission, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination. After ten months of gathering evidence and questioning witnesses in public hearings, the Warren Commission report was released, concluding that there was no conspiracy in the assassination, either domestic or international, and that Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, acted alone. The report also found that Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who murdered Oswald on live national television, had no prior contact with Oswald. However, the report failed to silence conspiracy theories surrounding the event, and in 1979 the House Assassination's Committee concluded that Kennedy likely was killed as part of a larger conspiracy that may have included members of organized crime. Some government officials disputed the committee's findings.

One week after President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, President Lyndon Johnson establishes a special commission, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination. After 10 months of gathering evidence and questioning witnesses in public hearings, the Warren Commission report was released, concluding that there was no conspiracy, either domestic or international, in the assassination and that Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, acted alone. The presidential commission also found that Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who murdered Oswald on live national television, had no prior contact with Oswald. According to the report, the bullets that killed President Kennedy and injured Texas Governor John Connally were fired by Oswald in three shots from a rifle pointed out of a sixth-floor window in the Texas School Book Depository. Oswald's life, including his visit to the Soviet Union, was described in detail, but the report made no attempt to analyze his motives. Despite its seemingly firm conclusions, the report failed to silence conspiracy theories surrounding the event, and in 1978 the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in a preliminary report that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" that may have involved multiple shooters and organized crime. The committee's findings, as with the findings of the Warren Commission, continue to be widely disputed.
1962 Algeria bans the Communist Party.
1961 Freedom Riders attacked by white mob at bus station in Mississipi
1961 Mercury-Atlas 5 takes chimp Enos to orbit the Earth twice.
1952 Archbishop Stepanic, still under house arrest in Yugoslavia, is created a Cardinal by the Vatican, making Tito's regime furious.
^ 1952 Eisenhower, elected to end the war in Korea, goes there.
      Making good on his most dramatic presidential campaign promise, newly elected US President Dwight D. Eisenhower goes to Korea to see whether he can find the key to ending the bitter and frustrating Korean War (called a "police action"). During the presidential campaign of 1952, Republican candidate Eisenhower was critical of the Truman administration's foreign policy, particularly its inability to bring an end to the conflict in Korea. President Truman challenged Eisenhower on October 24 to come up with an alternate policy. Eisenhower responded with the startling announcement that if he were elected, he would personally go to Korea to get a firsthand view of the situation. The promise boosted Eisenhower's popularity and he handily defeated Democratic candidate Adlai E. Stevenson. Shortly after his election, Eisenhower fulfilled his campaign pledge, though he was not very specific about exactly what he hoped to accomplish. After a short stay he returned to the United States, yet remained mum about his plans concerning the Korean War. After taking office, however, Eisenhower adopted a get-tough policy toward the communists in Korea. He suggested that he would "unleash" the Nationalist Chinese forces on Taiwan against communist China, and he sent only slightly veiled messages that he would use any force necessary (including the use of nuclear weapons) to bring the war to an end unless peace negotiations began to move forward. The Chinese, exhausted by more than two years of war, finally agreed to terms and an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953. The United States suffered over 50'000 casualties in this "forgotten war," and spent nearly $70 billion. The most frustrating war in US history had come to an end. America's first experience with a "limited war," one in which the nation did not seek (and did not obtain) absolute victory over the enemy, did not bode well for the future. Conflict in Vietnam was just around the corner.
1951 1st underground atomic explosion, Frenchman Flat, Nevada.
^ 1950 Chinese Communists overwhelm Allies in North Korea
     Three weeks after US General Douglas MacArthur first reported Chinese communist troops in action in North Korea, US-led UN troops begin a desperate retreat out of North Korea under heavy fire from the Chinese.
      Near the end of World War II, the "Big Three" Allied powers (US, USSR, UK) agreed to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and temporarily govern the nation. The country was split along the 38th parallel, with Soviet forces occupying the northern zone and Americans stationed in the south. By 1949, separate Korean governments had been established, and both the United States and the USSR withdrew the majority of their troops from the Korean Peninsula. The 38th parallel was heavily fortified on both sides, but the South Koreans were unprepared for the hordes of North Korean troops and Soviet-made tanks that suddenly rolled across the border on 25 June 1950. Two days later, President Harry Truman announced that the United States would intervene in the Korean conflict to stem the spread of communism, and on 28 June the United Nations approved the use of force against communist North Korea.
      In the opening months of the war, the US-led UN forces rapidly advanced against the North Koreans, but in October, Chinese communist troops entered the fray, throwing the Allies into retreat. By May 1951, the communists were pushed back to the 38th parallel, where the battle line remained for the rest of the war. In 1953, an armistice was signed, ending the war and reestablishing the 1945 division of Korea that still exists more than fifty years later..
      Approximately 150'000 soldiers from South Korea, the United States, and participating UN nations were killed in the Korean War, and as many as one million South Korean civilians perished. An estimated 800'000 communist soldiers were killed, and more than 200'000 North Korean civilians died. The original figure of US troops killed (54'246) became controversial when the Pentagon acknowledged in 2000 that all US troops killed around the world during the period of the Korean War were incorporated into that number. For example, any US soldier killed in a car accident anywhere in the world from June 1950 to July 1953 was considered a casualty of the Korean War. If these deaths are subtracted from the 54'246 total, leaving just the US soldiers who died (from whatever cause) in the Korean theater of operations, the total US dead in the Korean War number 36'516.
     US president Harry S. Truman, backed by Congress and the United Nations, ordered a US-led UN force to Korea in response to North Korea's invasion of South Korea across the 38th parallel in June. Two weeks after landing at Inchon in mid September, the allied force, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and two days later had pushed the North Koreans back to the 38th parallel. On 07 October, the US-led force crossed the 38th parallel into the North, ignoring China's threat to enter the war if the allied force failed to honor the 1945 division of Korea. Over the next eight weeks, invading UN forces crush the North Korean opposition as they push to the Yula River and Manchurian border. However, at the end of November, true to their threat, several hundred thousand Chinese Communist troops pour over the border into North Korea, and allied troops begin a long, hard retreat, at the cost of thousands of US soldiers killed, wounded, or missing in action. Chinese forces overrun South Korea, and by the beginning of 1951 have captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Allied forces recapture Seoul by March, and by mid 1951 have pushed as far north as the 38th parallel, reestablishing the 1945 division of Korea that still exists today, despite the three bloody years of the Korean War.
1949 The United States announces it will conduct atomic tests at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.
^ 1947 UN votes for the partition of Palestine
     Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations General Assembly adopts Resolution 181 which calls for the partition of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate into 3 parts: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and the City of Jerusalem. One member nation is absesnt and the vote is:
33 votes in favor
Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian S.S.R., Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian S.S.R., Union of South Africa, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Uruguay, Venezuela.
13 votes against
Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.
10 abstentions:
Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.

      The modern conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine dates back to the 1910s, when both groups laid claim to the British-controlled territory. The Jews were Zionists, recent emigrants from Europe and Russia who came to the ancient homeland of the Jews to establish a Jewish national state. The native Palestinian Arabs sought to stem Jewish immigration and set up a secular Palestinian state. Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews openly fought in Palestine, and Britain attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally entered Palestine during World War II. Radical Jewish groups employed terrorism against British forces in Palestine, which they thought had betrayed the Zionist cause.
      At the end of World War II, in 1945, the United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain, unable to find a practical solution, referred the problem to the United Nations, which on 29 November 1947, votes to partition Palestine. The Jews were to possess more than half of Palestine, though they made up less than half of Palestine's population. The Palestinian Arabs, aided by volunteers from other countries, fought the Zionist forces, but the Jews secured full control of their UN-allocated share of Palestine and also some Arab territory. On 14 May 1948, Britain withdrew two days before the expiration of its mandate, and the State of Israel was proclaimed by Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion. The next day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded. The Israelis, though less well equipped, managed to fight off the Arabs and then seize key territories, such as Galilee, the Palestinian coast, and a strip of territory connecting the coastal region to the western section of Jerusalem. In 1949, UN-brokered cease-fires left the State of Israel in permanent control of those conquered areas. The departure of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Israel during the war left the country with a substantial Jewish majority.
      In 1923, in the aftermath of World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to govern the territory of Palestine, effectively ending 400 years of Turkish rule and over 1300 years of Arab rule. Following the British takeover, an international movement for the establishment of an independent Jewish state began to mount, but negotiations were stalled by the outbreak of World War II. During the war, Jews fleeing the Holocaust in Europe increased Palestine's already sizable Jewish population to nearly 700'000, approximately half the number of Arabs living in the territory. Britain, whose mandate over Palestine had nearly expired, was unable to reach a compromise between the Zionists and Palestinians, and in 1947 turned the issue over to the United Nations. After the UN vote for partition, Britain does not attempt to implement the decision, and when the mandate expires on 16 May 1948, the British have already withdrawn. The day of the expiration, Palestine's Jews declare the state of Israel, and all across the territory areas designated as part of the new state of Israel are seized by Jewish forces. US recognition of Israel comes within hours, but so does an Arab invasion, launched by Jordan and Egypt the day after Israel's proclamation. However, when a cease-fire is declared in January of 1949, Israel has increased its original territory by 50%. The forced departure of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Israel during the war left the country with a substantial Jewish majority.
1945 Monarchy abolished as Yugoslavia proclaims it's republic 1945 est proclamée la République populaire de Yougoslavie. Très vite, le chef des communistes yougoslaves, Josip Broz Tito, va s'émanciper de la tutelle soviétique. Il va ériger la Yougoslavie en chef de file des pays non-alignés et devenir le mouton noir du monde communiste.
1944 Albania liberated from Nazi control (National Day)
1944 John Hopkins hospital performs 1st open heart surgery
1943 sont créées les Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur. Elle regroupent les différents groupes de résistance à l'occupant nazi en vue du futur combat aux côté des Alliés qui préparent leur débarquement.
^ 1942 Coffee rationing in US
      Americans are told by the Office of Price Administration (OPA) that coffee will be rationed. Rationing had begun as a voluntary crusade. With almost 90% of US rubber imports cut off by Japanese capture of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, the federal government faced the first of many resource crises. President Roosevelt launched a successful scrap-rubber drive, urging Americans to gather "old tires, old rubber raincoats . . . whatever you have that is made of rubber." Before long, rationing was extended to gasoline and, soon thereafter, food items. About one-third of civilian food items were rationed during the war. Latin American coffee producers exported record shipments during the war years. But shipping demands—as well as increased consumption by civilians and members of the armed forces—led the OPA to issue coffee rationing stamps. These stamps were removed only from the rationing books of children under fifteen.
1939 Soviet planes bomb an airfield at Helsinki, Finland
1931 The Spanish government seizes large estates for land redistribution. .
1929

^ 1929 Byrd flies over the South Pole NOT.
     Lt Cmdr Richard E Byrd flying an airplane over Antarctica radioes "My calculations indicate that we have reached the vicinity of the South Pole" (His calculations are wrong)
      US explorer Richard Byrd and three companions claim that they make the first flight over the South Pole, flying from their base on the Ross Ice Shelf to the pole and back in 18 hours and 41 minutes. Richard Evelyn Byrd learned how to fly in the US Navy and served as a pilot in World War I. An excellent navigator, he was deployed by the navy to Greenland in 1924 to help explore the Arctic region by air. Enamored with the experience of flying over glaciers and sea ice, he decided to attempt the first flight over the North Pole. On 09 May 1926, the Josephine Ford left Spitsbergen, Norway, with Byrd as navigator and Floyd Bennet as pilot. 15 hours and 30 minutes later, the pair returned and announced they had accomplished their mission. For the achievement, both men were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, some doubt lingered about whether they had actually flown over the North Pole, and in 1996 a diary Byrd had kept on the flight was found that seemed to suggest that the Josephine Ford had turned back 150 miles short of its goal because of an oil leak. In the late 1920s, however, few suspected Byrd had failed in his mission. In 1927, Byrd's prestige grew when he made a harrowing nonstop flight across the Atlantic with three companions. Famous as he was, he had little trouble finding financial backers for an expedition to Antarctica. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition was the largest and best-equipped expedition that had ever set out for the southern continent. The explorers set out in the fall of 1928, building a large base camp called "Little America" on the Ross Ice Shelf near the Bay of Whales. From there, they conducted flights across the Antarctic continent and discovered much unknown territory.
      At 15:29 on 28 November 1929, Byrd, the pilot Bernt Balchen, and two others took off from Little America in the Floyd Bennett, headed for the South Pole. Magnetic compasses were useless so near the pole, so the explorers were forced to rely on sun compasses and Byrd's skill as a navigator. At 20:15, they dropped supplies for a geological party near the Queen Maud Mountains and then continued on. The most challenging phase of the journey came an hour later, when the Floyd Bennett struggled to gain enough altitude to fly safely above the Polar Plateau. They cleared the 2800-meter pass between Mount Fridtjof Nansen and Mount Fisher by a few hundred meterss and then flew on to the South Pole, reaching it at about 01:00 on 29 November. They flew a few kilometers beyond where they thought the Pole vas and then to the right and the left to compensate for any navigational errors. Byrd dropped a small US flag on the pole, and the explorers headed for home, safely landing at Little America at 10:11.
      In 1933, Byrd, now a rear admiral in the navy, led a second expedition to Antarctica. During the winter of 1934, he spent five months trapped at a weather station 123 miles from Little America. He was finally rescued in a desperately sick condition in August 1934. In 1939, Byrd took command of the US Antarctic Service at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and led a third expedition to the continent. During World War II, he served on the staff of the chief of naval operations. After the war, he led his fourth expedition to Antarctica, the largest ever attempted to this date, and more than 1'300'000 sq km of the continent were mapped by his planes. In 1955, he led his fifth and final expedition to Antarctica. He died in 1957.

1916 US declares martial law in Dominican Republic
1887 US receives rights to Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii
1877 Thomas Edison demonstrates the hand-cranked phonograph
1864 Affair at Spring Hill, Tennessee
1863 The Battle of Fort Sanders, Knoxville, Tenn., ends with a Confederate withdrawal.
1863 Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee continues
1863 Mine Run Campaign continues in Virginia
^ 1850 L'union allemande retardée
     A Olmütz, la Prusse doit renoncer provisoirement à son projet de fédérer autour d'elle l'Allemagne. A la faveur des révolutions de 1848, les représentants du peuple allemand s'étaient réunis en Assemblée nationale à l'église Saint-Paul de Francfort et avaient décidé de restaurer sous une forme constitutionnelle l'empire dissous en 1806 (le 1er Reich). Le 28 mars 1849, les 568 membres de l'Assemblée avaient élu à une petite minorité le roi de Prusse Frédéric-Guillaume IV à la dignité impériale (de devenir le premier souverain d'Allemagne. Mais celui-ci n'avait pas voulu d'une "couronne ramassée dans la rue" tandis que l'empereur d'Autriche avait protesté contre cette entorse à sa traditionnelle hégémonie. Frédéric-Guillaume IV préfère solliciter les princes allemands. Un Parlement de l'Union est convoqué à Erfurt. S'y retrouvent surtout les petits Etats de l'Allemagne du Nord. Leurs représentants élaborent un projet de Constitution fédérale autour d'une Union restreinte (sans l'Autriche, coupable d'être plurinationale) et Frédéric-Guillaume IV se propose naturellement d'en être le monarque, avec les encouragements de son ministre Radowitz. L'initiative déplaît au nouvel empereur d'Autriche, le jeune François-Joseph 1er (20 ans), furieux d'être évincé. Le roi de Prusse n'ose pas risquer une épreuve de force. Il se sépare de Radowitz et appelle le baron von Manteuffel. Ce dernier rencontre son homologue autrichien Schwarzenberg à Olmütz, en Moravie (dans l'actuelle République tchèque). Sous la menace d'une guerre, le Prussien doit renoncer au projet d'Union restreinte et accepte le rétablissement de la Confédération germanique, une entité sans pouvoir créée en 1815 et dominée par l'Autriche. La reculade d'Olmütz convainc les Allemands qu'il faudra bien se battre contre l'Autriche pour fédérer le pays. C'est la voie dans laquelle s'engagera Otto von Bismarck, dès sa nomination à la tête du gouvernement prussien, en 1862.
^ 1830 Insurrection polonaise contre les russes
      Les Polonais se soulèvent contre l'occupant russe. Le bruit avait couru que le tsar allait envoyer des jeunes gens combattre l'insurrection belge au titre de la Sainte-Alliance. Les insurgés, d'abord victorieux, s'emparent de Varsovie et proclament l'indépendance du pays. Mais ils se montrent divisés et incapables de maîtriser leur succès. Le tsar Nicolas 1er reprend Varsovie le 08 septembre 1831 avec 110'000 hommes de troupe. Il exerce une répression féroce. A Paris, le gouvernement s'attire la colère de l'opinion en résumant en une phrase la situation: "l'ordre règne à Varsovie". 10'000 patriotes polonais sont contraints à l'exil et beaucoup se rendent en France, au nom de la vieille amitié entre les deux pays. Parmi eux figure Frédéric Chopin (20 ans). Le musicien apportera une contribution majeure au mouvement romantique. Après une longue histoire pleine de grandeur et de prestige, l'ancien royaume polonais avait été partagé entre l'Autriche, la Prusse et la Russie au XVIIIe siècle. Napoléon 1er l'avait brièvement rétabli dans son indépendance sous le nom de Grand-duché de Varsovie. En 1815, à la chute de Napoléon 1er, le Congrès de Vienne place la plus grande partie de la Pologne sous l'autorité du tsar Alexandre 1er. Celui-ci accorde à son royaume polonais (la "Pologne du Congrès") une large autonomie. Il se montre respectueux de sa culture, de sa langue et de sa religion catholique. Suite à l'insurrection de 1830, son successeur Nicolas 1er met fin à l'autonomie du pays. Il transforme le royaume en une simple province russe et entreprend une politique de russification forcée. L'insurrection de Varsovie marque un tournant pour les nombreuses minorités de l'empire russe. Celles-ci ne bénéficient plus de la bienveillance d'antan. Elles doivent se confronter désormais à la montée du nationalisme grand-russe.
1812 Napoleon's Grand Army crosses Berezina River in retreat from Russia 1812
Last remnants of Napoléon's Grande Armée retreat across the Beresina River in Russia.
1812 Passage de la Bérézina.

      Depuis trois jours la Grande Armée est arrivée devant la Bérézina. La température est moins 20 degrés centigrade le jour et la nuit la température descend jusqu'aux alentours de moins 30. Oudinot et Ney cherchent à retarder l'avancée des troupes russes de Koutouzov. Il faut que le gros des troupes passent le fleuve. A une heure du matin, le 28, les troupes de Victor s'engagent sur les deux ponts construient par les hommes de Eblé. Elles seront les premières engagées sur ceux-ci. 25'000 combattants parviennent à passer et 30'000 hommes qui ne peuvent plus combattre passent encore. L'armée n'a perdu que 25 de ses canons et peut se replier vers Wilna. Le 29 au matin, Eblé met le feu aux ponts pour empêcher les Russes de poursuivre l'armée française. Les traînards sont sacrifiés aux Russes ou se noient dans les eaux glacées. Quelques 8000 hommes qui n'ont pas eu le temps de passer sont massacrés par l'avant-garde et les cosaques de Koutouzov. Avant d'arriver à Wilna l'empereur écrit : "L'armée n'est pas belle à montrer aujourd'hui."
1791 En France, la Législative prend un décret contre les prêtres réfractaires qui refusent la Constitution civile du clergé, votée un an plus tôt. La Révolution démocratique et quasi-unanime des débuts tourne à la guerre civile
1789 Près de Valence, 12'000 gardes nationaux et les représentants des villages environnants célèbrent la première "Fédération". C'est l'époque bénie de la première Révolution, avant que les contraintes financières, le sectarisme religieux et les égoïsmes des uns et des autres n'engagent le pays dans la voie de la Terreur et de la guerre.
1787 Louis XVI promulgates an edict of tolerance, granting civil status to Protestants.
1760 Major Roger Rogers takes possession of Detroit on behalf of Britain.
1644 The Massachusetts General Court issued a call for local pastors to learn the dialects of neighboring Indian tribes, as an aid toward converting them to the Christian faith.
1516 Le roi de France François 1er signe une "paix perpétuelle" avec les cantons suisses. C’est la conséquence de sa victoire sur les Suisses à Marignan. 1516 Paix de Fribourg. Le roi de France François Ier signe avec les Suisses : la "paix perpétuelle". Les Suisses s'engagent à ne plus apporter leur concours à des adversaires de la France,et celle-ci paye près de 300'000 écus d'or pour leurs frais.
1226 Sacre de Louis IX, 11 ans: Sa mère, Blanche de Castille, précipite le sacre de son fils car une révolte des vassaux menace la couronne. La cathédrale est en construction et le siège épiscopal de Reims est vacant. C'est l'évêque de Soissons qui officie. Seul parmi la noblesse, Thibaud IV de Champagne apporte son soutien à la régente
1223 Through publication of "Regula Bullata," Pope Honorius III formally authorized the "Regula Prima," a settled rule of organization and administration for the Franciscan order. . The Franciscans are to be marked by complete poverty and preaching.
TO THE TOP
< 28 Nov 30 Nov >
^  Deaths which occurred on a 29 November:

2005 Two members of the Assyrian Movement, shot by terrorists in Mosul, Iraq, as they were placing posters urging votes for their party in the 15 December 2005 parliamentary elections. — (051129)

2005 A suicide car bomber and 8 Iraqi soldiers on patrol in Tarmiyah, Iraq. 5 Iraqi soldiers are wounded.— (051129)

2005 Two US soldiers of Task Force Baghdad, on patrol north of Baghdad, Iraq, killed by a roadside bomb. — (051129)

2004 Sister Anne Samson, born 27 February 1891 113, oldest living Canadian since the death of Evangeline Saulnier [11 Sep 1890 – 19 Mar 2002], and oldest nun ever, since 04 May 2003 when she surpassed the 112 years 65 days of Augustine Teissier (Sister Julia) of France [02 Jan 1869 – 08 Mar 1981).. — (051122)

2004 Billy James Hargis, 03 August 1925, US Christian minister, missionary and right-wing extremist political activist. He was disgraced because of sexual misconduct against young adults in his organization. — (051122)

2004 John Victor Monckton, born on 13 October 1955, dies within one hour after being stabbed at 19:30 UT in his home in Upper Cheyne Row in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, by robbers Damien Hanson, 23, and Elliot White, 23. They also stab his wife Homeyra Monckton, 45. His daughter Isobel Monckton, 9, phones the police. John Monckton was the manager of bonds at the insurance company Legal & General Group. — (051122)
Oku
2004 Seven Iraqi policemen and National Guardsmen, and a suicide car bomber near a police checkpoint in Baghdadi, Iraq. Nine policemen and guardsmen are wounded.

2004 Thirteen persons, including a suicide car bomber who plows into policemen waiting to collect their salary at a police station the town of Hit, Iraq. At least 10 persons are wounded. Almost all the casualties are policemen.
Faheem Williams
2003 Katsuhiko Oku, 45, and Masamori Inoue, 30, in an ambush near Tikrit, Iraq, where the two Japanese diplomats were headed for an aid conference. Their driver is seriously injured. Oku [< photo] headed the cultural affairs section of Japan's embassy in London and had been on assignment in Iraq. Inoue was a second secretary at the Japanese embassy in Baghdad.

2003 Alberto Martínez González, born 07 Jul 1960; José Merino Olivera, 49; José Carlos Rodríguez Pérez, 41; José Lucas Egea, 42; Alfonso Vega Calvo, 41; Luis Ignacio Zanon Tarazona, 36; and Carlos Baro Ollero, 36; Spanish military agents of the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia, in a 15:45 (12:45 UT) rifle and rocket-propelled grenade attack on their two civilian four-wheel-drive vehicles, in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, 30 km south of Baghdad, from where they were heading to Hillah. Then a dozen Iraqi youths are TV-videotaped rejoicing, kicking the bodies, and chanting slogans in support of Saddam Hussein.

2002 (estimated date) Faheem Williams, 7 [photo >], of starvation, and beating to the abdomen; he has been beaten elsewhere too, and burned with cigarettes. The mummified body is found on 05 January 2003 in a plastic storage bin in the Newark NJ row house home of Sherry Murphy, in a locked filthy basement of which, on 04 January 2003, Faheem's twin Raheem Williams and (half?) brother Tyrone Hill, 4, were found abandoned, starved, dehydrated, with bruises and burns. Raheem tells investigators that he had a twin which he had not seen “for a long time” (estimade by police to be “more than a month”). Sherry Murphy, 41, had been entrusted with the boys while their mother was in prison. When she was released in August 2002, Murphy and the children were nowhere to be found. Fugitive Murphy would be arrested on 09 January 2003. Joseph Reese, 45, would be arrested on 08 January 2003, charged with sexual assault of Raheem.

2001 US Army Pvt. Giovany Maria, 19, of Company A, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, of an accidental gunshot wound, in Uzbekistan. — (051108)

2000 Barry Schneider, 43, of a heroin overdose, in his home in Courtenay, British Columbia. He was a constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, their drug awareness co-ordinator on Vancouver Island

1987 All 115 aboard Korean Air Boeing 707 which disappears off Burma, on route to Seoul.
^ 1980 Dorothy Day, 83, founder of the Catholic Worker movement.
      Dorothy Day was born on 08 November 1897.
      In November 1917 Day went to prison for being one of forty women in front of the White House protesting women's exclusion from the electorate.
      As a child she had attended services at an Episcopal Church. But the Catholic climate of worship appealed to her. While she knew little about Catholic belief, Catholic spiritual discipline fascinated her. She saw the Catholic Church as "the church of the immigrants, the church of the poor."
      On 03 March 1927, she gave birth to Tamar Theresa Day was born. Day could think of nothing better to do with the gratitude that overwhelmed her than arrange Tamar's baptism in the Catholic Church. "I did not want my child to flounder as I had often floundered. I wanted to believe, and I wanted my child to believe, and if belonging to a Church would give her so inestimable a grace as faith in God, and the companionable love of the Saints, then the thing to do was to have her baptized a Catholic."
      On 28 December 1927 , Day was received into the Catholic Church. A period commenced in her life as she tried to find a way to bring together her religious faith and her radical social values.
      In the winter of 1932 Day travelled to Washington, D.C., to report for Commonweal and America magazines on the Hunger March.
      Back in her apartment in New York the next day, Day met Peter Maurin, a French immigrant 20 years her senior. Maurin, a former Christian Brother, had left France for Canada in 1908 and later made his way to the United States. When he met Day, he was handyman at a Catholic boys' camp. During his years of wandering, Maurin had come to a Franciscan attitude. As remarkable as the providence of their meeting was Day's willingness to listen.
      What Day should do, Maurin said, was start a paper to publicize Catholic social teaching and promote steps to bring about the peaceful transformation of society.
      Day found that the Paulist Press was willing to print 2500 copies of an eight-page tabloid paper for $57. Her kitchen was the new paper's editorial office. She decided to sell the paper for a penny a copy, "so cheap that anyone could afford to buy it."
      On 01 May 1933, the first copies of The Catholic Worker were handed out on Union Square.
      By December, 100'000 copies were being printed each month. Readers found a unique voice in The Catholic Worker. It wasn't only radical but religious.
      For the first half year The Catholic Worker was only a newspaper, but as winter approached, homeless people began to knock on the door.
      Surrounded by people in need and attracting volunteers excited about ideas they discovered in The Catholic Worker, it was inevitable that the editors would soon be given the chance to put their principles into practice. Day's apartment was the seed of many houses of hospitality to come.
      Many were surprised that, in contrast with most charitable centers, no one at the Catholic Worker set about reforming them. A crucifix on the wall was the only unmistakable evidence of the faith of those welcoming them. The staff received only food, board and occasional pocket money.
      The Catholic Worker became a national movement. By 1936 there were 33 Catholic Worker houses spread across the country.
      The Catholic Worker also experimented with farming communes.
      Long before her death, Day found herself regarded by many as a saint. The Claretians have launched an effort to have her canonized.
      "If I have achieved anything in my life," she once remarked, "it is because I have not been embarrassed to talk about God."
MORE
DOROTHY DAY ONLINE: Complete on-line worksFrom Union Square to RomeHouse of HospitalityOn Pilgrimage
1924 Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer, in Brussels.
1910 Étienne Prosper Berne-Bellecour, French artist born on 29 July 1838.
1892 Alexander Helwig Wyant, US artist born on 11 January 1836. — MORE ON WYANT AT ART “4” NOVEMBER with links to images.
1872 Mary Somerville, mathematician
^ 1864 Hundreds of peaceful Cheyennes, murdered by the Colorado militia: the Sand Creek Massacre, also 9 militiamen.
      At dawn in Colorado territory, the 3rd Colorado Volunteers, a militia under Major John M. Chivington [1821-1894], attacks a winter encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians at Sand Creek, massacring 150 or over 400 (depending on accounts) Amerindians, the majority of whom are women, children, or old men. Chief Black Kettle escapes miraculously and remains peaceful, but will perish in the 27 November 1868 Washita Massacre led by the infamous Custer. .
      At dawn in Colorado territory, the 3rd Colorado Volunteers, a militia under Major John M. Chivington, attacks a winter encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians at Sand Creek, massacring 150 or over 400 (depending on accounts) Indians, the majority of whom are women, children, or old men. During the summer of 1964, Indian raids along the Santa Fe Trail prompted the Colorado territorial government to order that the Cheyenne Indians living under a land treaty in Colorado, report to the nearest U.S. fort and lay down their arms. Despite the fact that these tribes were not the chief proponents of the raids, conducted mostly by Comanche and Sioux raiders, Cheyenne leader Black Kettle obliged, leading his band to Fort Lyon on the Santa Fe Trail, where he expressed his willingness to honor the terms of his land treaty, even though the government had failed to pay the compensation promised in the agreement. The fort's Federal Army officers ordered Kettle to lead his band back to Sand Creek, and assured him that they would remain under U.S. protection.
      Meanwhile, a volunteer militia regiment was formed in Denver by Union Major John Chivington, for the express purpose of permanently settling the Indian problems in the territory. In late November, Chivington marched his force, augmented by regular troops from Fort Lyon, to the Sand Creek site. At dawn on 29 November, the soldiers descended on the encampment without warning, and Chivington ordered his men to take no prisoners. Several hours later, at least 400 Cheyenne were dead, the majority of whom were noncombatants. Only nine U.S. soldiers were killed during the attack. At first, Chivington was widely praised for his "victory" at the Battle of Sand Creek, and he and his troops were honored with a parade in Denver where they exhibited Indian scalps to cheering crowds. Soon, however, rumors of drunken soldiers butchering unarmed women and children began to circulate, and Congress ordered a formal investigation of the Sand Creek Massacre. Chivington was eventually threatened with a court-martial by the U.S. Army, but as he had already left his military post, no criminal charges were ever filed against him.
     John Chivington and his Colorado volunteers massacre a peaceful village of Cheyenne camped near Sand Creek in Colorado Territory, setting off a long series of bloody retaliatory attacks by Indians. Chivington, a former Methodist preacher with ambitions to become a territorial delegate to Congress, saw in the Indian wars an opportunity to gain the esteem he would need to win a government office. Disappointed that the spring of 1864 failed to produce any major battles, Chivington apparently determined to burn villages and kill Cheyenne whenever and wherever he could, making little distinction between peaceful or aggressive bands. Angered by frequent Indian attacks on settlers and the theft of their horses and cattle, many Colorado settlers supported Chivington's methods, and a number of men volunteered to join his forces on hundred-day enlistments, forming the 3rd Colorado Volunteers.
      Fearing that U.S. troops might mistakenly identify his band of peaceful Cheyenne as having participated in the attacks on settlers, Chief Black Kettle traveled to Denver under escort of U.S. Army Major Edward Wynkoop to affirm his non-hostile intentions. Chivington and the territorial governor of Colorado clearly did not want peace, yet they could not openly reject the overtures of Black Kettle. Believing that he had a promise of safety if he brought his people into Fort Lyon, Black Kettle lead the band of Cheyenne to a spot designated by Major Wynkoop near the fort along a small stream known as Sand Creek. The tribe flew an American flag and a white flag at the camp to indicate their alliance with the U.S. and alert all to their generally peaceful intentions.
      Determined to have his glorious battle, Chivington refused to recognize that Black Kettle's settlement was peaceful. At daybreak, Chivington and his 700 volunteers, many of them drunk, attacked the sleeping village at Sand Creek. Most of the Cheyenne men were away hunting, so the women, children, and elders were largely defenseless. In the frenzied slaughter that followed, Chivington and his men killed more than 100 women and children and 28 men. Black Kettle escaped the attack. The soldiers scalped and mutilated the corpses, hacking off body parts that included male and female genitals, and then returned to Denver where they displayed the scalps to approving crowds during intermission at a downtown theatre.
      Because of Chivington's depraved slaughter, the central plains exploded with retaliatory attacks from Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho Indians. Fortunately, not everyone applauded Chivington's behavior -- many people in the US, particularly in the east, strongly condemned Chivington's attack and the barbaric mutilations. Subsequent congressional and military investigations denounced Chivington, but claimed they could not punish him because he had resigned from the army and was no longer under military jurisdiction. Nonetheless, Chivington spent the rest of his life trying to escape the stigma of his deplorable behavior at Sand Creek.
^ 1847 Marcus & Narcissa Whitman, and 11 settlers, killed by Amerindians.
      Amerindians massacre missionary Marcus Whitman, his wife and 12 others near the site of the future Walla Walla, Washington state. They kidnap 53 women and children. Whitman had recently returned from a successful 5000 km journey to convince the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions not to close down one of his three mission stations. Amerindian fury comes to a head when many die after an epidemic of measles broke out. Both White and Amerindian children were afflicted, and Whitman cared for them with equal concern. Because the White children recovered and many of the Indians (lacking any degree of immunity) died, he was suspected of practicing sorcery, in order to remove the Indians to make way for White settlers.
      The Whitman Massacre directed US attention to the difficulties faced by settlers in the Far West and contributed to early passage of a bill toorganize the Oregon Territory (1848). It also led directly to the Cayuse War, which did not end until 1850.
— Born on 04 September 1802, Marcus Whitman was a US physician, Congregational missionary to the Indians in the territories of present-day Washington and Oregon, and a pioneer who helped open the Pacific Northwest to settlement.
      After practicing medicine in Canada and New York, Whitman in 1835 offered his services to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. With another missionary, Samuel Parker, he was sent to investigate the possibilities for establishing missions in Oregon country, then jointly occupied by the United States and Great Britain. The friendly interest of the Flathead, Nez Percé, and other Indians they encountered in the territory of present-day Wyoming greatly encouraged the missionaries. Parker continued west, while Whitman returned to New York for additional recruits and assistance. There he married his fiancée, Narcissa Prentiss, who was also registered with the mission board. When the Whitmans set out for the West, they were accompanied by another married couple, the Reverend Henry H. Spalding [1803-1843] and his wife, Eliza Hart Spalding, and two single men. The two wives were the first White women to cross the continental divide. The party reached Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Washington state) in September.
      In 1836 Whitman founded a mission among the Cayuse Indians at Waiilatpu, 10 km west of present-day Walla Walla. The Spaldings established a mission among the Nez Percé atLapwai, Idaho, 200 km northeast of Waiilatpu. The men helped the Indians build houses, till their fields, and irrigate their crops. They also taught them how to erect mills for grinding corn and wheat. The wives established mission schools. Progress was slow, however,and the board in 1842 decided to abandon its missions at Waiilatpu and Lapwai and concentrate on those in what is now the area of Spokane, Wash.
      In response, Whitman in the winter of 1842–43 made a 5000-km journey on horseback to Boston to protest the board's decision. After persuading mission authorities to continue support of the Waiilatpu and Lapwai missions, he went to Washington to inform federal officials of conditions in Oregon country and the possibilities for settlement. Assured of federal aid for immigration, Whitman began his return journey. En route he joined a caravan of some 1000 immigrants that later became known as the “great migration.” It was through his determination and courage that the first wagons crossed the mountains to the Columbia River.
      Although Whitman resumed his missionary work at Waiilatpu, he found the Indians apathetic. The more ceremonial form of worship conducted by Roman Catholic missionaries was attractive to the Indians, and competition for their conversion was introduced. Whitman's task was further complicated by the influence of lawless white newcomers. Sensing a growing coldness toward him on the part of the Cayuse, Whitman resolved to relocate his family, but, before he could do so, the epidemic of measles broke out.
Dr. Whitman massacred
.
From an account by Catherine Sager Pringle, who was present and 13 at the time:

The fatal 29th of November dawned a cold, foggy morning. It would seem as though the sun was afraid to look upon the bloody deed the day was to bring forth, and that nature was weeping over the wickedness of man. Dr. Whitman's brow was serene, with no trace of the storm that had raged in his breast during the night. He was somewhat more serious than usual. Most of the children were better, only three being dangerous; two of these afterwards died. We saw nothing of Mrs. Whitman. One of the girls put some breakfast on a plate and carried it to her. She was sitting with her face buried in her handkerchief, sobbing bitterly. Taking the food, she motioned the child to leave. The food was there, untouched, next morning.

An Indian child had died during the night, and was to be brought to the station for burial. While awaiting the coming of the corpse, Dr. Whitman sat reading and conversing with his assistant, Mr. Rogers, upon the difficulties that seemed to surround him, the discontent of the Indians, the Catholics forcing themselves upon him, and the insinuations of Jo Lewis. He made plans for conciliating the natives and for improving their condition. He said that the Bishop was coming to see him in a few days and he thought that then he could get the Indians to give him leave to go away in the spring, adding: "If things do not clear up by that time I will move mv family below."

Being informed of the arrival of the corpse, he arose, and after calling his wife and giving her directions in regard to the sick children, he wended his way to the graveyard.

A beef had to be killed for the use of the station, and my brother Francis, accompanied by Jo Stanfield, had gone early to the range and driven it in, and three or four men were dressing it near the grist mill, which was running, grinding grists for the Indians.

Upon the return from the funeral, the doctor remarked that none but the relatives were at the burying, although large numbers were assembled near by; but it might be owing to the beef being killed, as it was their custom to gather at such times. His wife requested him to go upstairs and see Miss Bewley, who was quite sick. He complied, returning shortly with a troubled look on his countenance. He crossed the room to a sash door that fronted the mill, and stood for some moments drumming upon the glass with his fingers. Turning around, he said: "Poor Lorinda is in trouble and does not know the cause. I found her weeping, and she said there was a preseniment of evil on her mind that she could not overcome. I will get her some medicine, and, wife, you take it up to her, and try and comfort her a little, for I have failed in the attempt."

As he said this he walked to the medicine case and was making a selection. His wife had gone to the pantry for milk for one of the children; the kitchen was full of Indians, and their boisterous manner alarmed her. She fled to the sitting room, bolting the door in the face of the savages who tried to pass in. She had not taken her hand from the lock when the Indians rapped and asked for the doctor.

Dr. Whitman told his wife to bolt the door after him; she did so. Listening for a moment, she seemed to be reassured, crossed the room and took up the youngest child. She sat down with this child in her arms. Just then Mrs. Osborn came in from an adjoining room and sat down. This was the first time this lady had been out of her room for weeks, having been very ill.

She had scarcely sat down when we were all startled by an explosion that seemed to shake the house. The two women sprang to their feet and stood with white faces and distended eyes. The children rushed out doors, some of them without clothes, as we were talking a bath. Placing the child on the bed, Mrs. Whitman called us back and started for the kitchen, but changing her mind, she fastened the door and told Mrs. Osborn to go to her room and lock the door, at the same time telling us to put on our clothes. All this happened much quicker than I can write it. Mrs. Whitman then began to walk the floor, wringing her hands, saying, "Oh, the Indians! the Indians! they have killed my husband, and I am a widow!" She repeated this many times. At this moment Mary Ann, who was in the kitchen, rushed around the house and came in at a door that was not locked; her face was deathly white; we gathered around her and inquired if father was dead. She replied, "Yes." Just then a man from the beef came in at the same door, with his arm broken. He said, "Mrs. Whitman, the Indians are killing us all." This roused her to action. The wounded man was lying upon the floor calling for water. She brought him a pitcherful from another room, locked all the doors, then unlocking that door, she went into the kitchen. As she did so several emigrant women with their small children rushed in. Mrs. Whitman was trying to drag her husband in; one of the women went to her aid, and they brought him in. He was fatally wounded, but conscious. The blood was streaming from a gunshot wound in the throat. Kneeling over him she implored him to speak to her. To all her questions he whispered "yes" or "no," as the case might be. Mrs. Whitman would often step to the sash door and look out through the window to see what was going on out of doors, as the roar of guns showed us that the bloodthirsty fiends were not yet satisfied. At such times she would exclaim: "Oh, that Jo Lewis is doing it all!" Several times this wretch came to the door and tried to get into the room where we were. When Mrs. Whitman would ask, "What do you want, Jo?" he would run away. Looking out we saw Mr. Rogers running toward the house, hotly pursued by Indians. He sprang against the door, breaking out two panes of glass. Mrs. Whitman opened the door, and let him in, and closed it in the face of his pursuers, who, with a yell, turned to seek other victims. Mr. Rogers was shot through the wrist and tomahawked on the head; seeing the doctor lying upon the floor, he asked if he was dead, to which the doctor replied, "No."

The school teacher, hearing the report of the guns in the kitchen, ran down to see what had happened; finding the door fastened, he stood for a moment, when Mrs. Whitman saw him and motioned for him to go back. He did so, and had reached the stairs leading to the schoolroom, when he was seized by a savage who had a large butcher knife. Mr. Sanders struggled and was about to get away when another burly savage came to the aid of the first. Standing by Mrs. Whitman's side, I watched the horrid strife until, sickened, I turned away. Just then a bullet came through the window, piercing Mrs. Whitman's shoulder. Clasping her hands to the wound, she shrieked with pain, and then fell to the floor. I ran to her and tried to raise her up. She said, "Child, you cannot help me, save yourself." We all crowded around her and began to weep. She commenced praying for us, "Lord, save these little ones." She repeated this over many times. She also prayed for her parents, saying: "This will kill my poor mother."

The women now began to go upstairs, and Mr. Rogers pushed us to the stairway. I was filled with agony at the idea of leaving the sick children and refused to go. Mr. Rogers was too excited to speak, so taking up one of the children, he handed her to me, and motioned for me to take her up. I passed her to some one else, turned and took another, and then the third and ran up myself. Mr. Rogers then helped mother to her feet, and brought her upstairs and laid her on the bed. He then knelt in prayer, and while thus engaged, the crashing of doors informed us that the work of death was accomplished out of doors, and our time had come. The wounded man, whose name was Kimball, said that if we had a gun to hold over the banisters it might keep them away. There happened to be an old broken gun in the room, and this was placed over the railing. By this time they were smashing the door leading to the stairway. Having accomplished this they retired. All was quiet for awhile, then we heard footsteps in the room below, and a voice at the bottom of the stairway called Mr. Rogers. It was an Indian, who represented that he had just come; he would save them if they would come down. After a good deal of parleying he came up. I told mother that I had seen him killing the teacher, but she thought I was mistaken. He said that they were going to burn the house, and that we must leave it. I wrapped my little sister up and handed her to him with the request that he would carry her. He said that they would take Mrs. Whitman away and then come back for us. Then all left save the children and Mr. Kimball. When they reached the room below mother was laid upon a settee and carried out into the yard by Mr. Rogers and Jo Lewis. Having reached the yard, Jo dropped his end of the settee, and a volley of bullets laid Mr. Rogers, mother and brother Francis, bleeding and dying, on the ground. While the Indians were holding a council to decide how to get Mrs. W. and Mr. Rogers into their hands, Jo Lewis had been sent to the schoolroom to get the school children. They had hid in the attic, but were ferreted out and brought to the kitchen, where they were placed in a row to be shot. But the chief relented, and said they should not be hurt; but my brother Francis was killed soon after. My oldest brother was shot at the same time the doctor was.

Night had now come, and the chief made a speech in favor of sparing the women and children, which was done, and they all became prisoners. Ten ghastly, bleeding corpses lay in and around the house. Mr. Osborn's family had secreted themselves under the floor, and escaped during the night, and after great hardships reached Fort Walla Walla. One other man escaped to this fort, but was never heard of again. Another fled to Mr. Spaulding's station; Mr. Kimball was killed the next day; Mr. Spaulding remained at Umatilla until Wednesday, and was within a few miles of the doctor's station when he learned the dreadful news. He fled, and after great suffering, reached his station, which had been saved by the presence of mind and shrewdness of his wife. Mr. Canfield was wounded, but concealing himself until night, he fled to Mr. Spaulding's station.

The manner of the attack on Dr. Whitman I learned afterward from the Indians. Upon entering the kitchen, he took his usual seat upon a settee which was between the wall and the cook stove; an Indian began to talk to him in reference to a patient the doctor was attending. While thus engaged an Indian struck him from behind on the head with a tomahawk; at the same moment two guns were discharged, one at the doctor, and the other at brother John, who was engaged in winding twine for the purpose of making brooms. The men at the beef were set upon; Mr. Kimball had his arm broken by a bullet, and fled to the doctor's house. Mr. Hoffman fought bravely with an axe; he split the foot of the savage who flrst struck the doctor, but was overpowered. Mr. Canfield was shot, the bullet entering his side, but he made hi escape. The miller fell at his post. Mr. Hall was laying the upper floor in a building; leaping to the ground, he wrested a gun from an Indian, and fled to the fort. He was never seen or heard of afterwards, and it is surmised that he was murdered there. The tailor was sitting upon his table sewing, an Indian stepped in, shot him with a pistol, and then went out; he died at midnight after great suffering. Night came and put an end to the carnival of blood.

The November moon looked down, bright and cold, upon the scene, nor heeded the groans of the dying who gave forth their plaints to the chill night air. Mr. Osborn's family were concealed where they could hear Mr. Rogers's words as he prayed to that Saviour whom he had loved and served for many years. His last words were: "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" The clock tolled the midnight hour ere death came to the relief of these victims of savage brutality. The dead bodies lay where they fell from Monday night until Wednesday, when the Christian Indians, among whom the doctor and his wife had labored for eleven years, and from whom the natives had received nothing but kindness, gave consent to have them buried, but not one of them would help in the task. Jo Stanfield was set at the work. A grave three feet deep and wide enough to receive the eleven victims was dug, and the bodies placed in it. Wolves excavated the grave and devoured the remains. The volunteers who went up to fight the Indians gathered up the bones, placed them in a wagon box, and again buried them, and this is all the burial these martyrs of Americanism in Oregon have ever received.

1780 Maria Theresa, 63, leader of Austria
1759 Nicolaus (I) Bernoulli, mathematician
1742 Louis Dorigny, French artist born on 14 June 1654. — more
1530 Cardinal Thomas Wolsey adviser to England's King Henry VIII
1516 Giovanni Bellini, Italian painter born in 1430. — Giovanni Bellini, 87 ans, peintre, meurt à Venise. Il appartient à une famille vénitienne qui compte plusieurs peintres illustres. Son père Jacopo (1400-1470) fut grand peintre, de même que son frère aîné Gentile (1429-1507); mais on s'accorde à reconnaître que Giovanni est le plus grand de tous. La plus belle de ses toiles La Madone et les Saints, date de 1490. On peut admirer les brillantes couleurs qui caractérisent l'École Vénitienne. Deux de ses élèves, Giorgione (1477-1510) et surtout Le Titien (1485?-1576) deviendront aussi célèbres que leur maître. — MORE ON BELLINI AT ART “4” NOVEMBER with links to images.
1314 Philippe IV le Bel, de maladie après un long règne troublé sur sa fin par les déboires de ses fils et les infidélités de ses brus.
 
< 28 Nov 30 Nov >
^  Births which occurred on a 29 November:

1972 “The Mellow Yellow” is opened by Wernard Bruining, 22, in Amsterdam, as its first marijuana café. It would close six years later, but others would sprout up like... well ... like weeds, numbering some 800 in the Netherlands 30 years later and tolerated by the authorities. Possession of up to 30 grams of “soft” drugs (marijuana and hashish, considered no more harmful than alcohol and tobacco) would be decriminalized in the Netherlands in 1978.
1953 Rosemary Letts, who would, after mating in 1968 with Fred West [29 Sep 1941 – 01 Jan 1995] (whom she married in January 1972), would become with him a British serial sex killer of women and girls, including his wife, Catherine (Rena) Costello West [–Aug 1971], and his daughter by Rena, Charmaine West [Mar 1963 – 1971]. — (051122)
1950 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States is founded in Cleveland, Ohio, by Protestant and Eastern Orthodox denominations. It has would become a strong voices for its brand of social justice.
^ 1948 The First All-Australian automobile
      Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley attends the unveiling of the first car to be manufactured entirely in Australia, an ivory-colored motor car officially designated the 48-215, but fondly known as the Holden FX. In 1945, the Australian government had invited Australia's auto-part manufacturers to create an all-Australian car. General Motors-Holden's Automotive, a car body manufacturer, obliged, producing the 48-215, a six-cylinder, four-door sedan. The 48-215 was an instant success in Australia, and 100'000 Holden FXs were sold in the first five years of production. During the next few decades, General Motors-Holden's Automotive went on to introduce a number of other successful marquees, including the Torana and the Commodore. Four million Holdens, with their trademark "Lion-and-Stone" emblem, were sold in Australia and exported around the world by the 1980s. In 1994, General Motors-Holden's Automotive finally adopted Holden as its official company name, and today Holden continues its mission of meeting Australia's unique motoring needs.
^ 1943 Sue Miller, novelist, in Boston.
      Miller graduated from Radcliffe College in 1964 and briefly worked as a high school teacher. She later worked as a model, a cocktail waitress, and administered psychological tests to rats in a university lab. She took three different masters' degrees, in creative writing, teaching English, and early-childhood education. She taught preschool for eight years and married. When she was 35, she took a creative writing workshop and almost immediately published several short stories.
      In 1986, she published her first novel, The Good Mother, about a single mother whose ex-husband sues for custody of their child because she's involved with another man. Critics praised the book's maturity, grace, and subtlety, and expressed surprise at finding these qualities in a first novel. Miller has continued to write accomplished novels portraying the modern family, including Family Pictures (1990), about rearing an autistic child; For Love (1993), about a woman who returns to her childhood home after her mother's death; and While I Was Gone (1999), about a happily married veterinarian who flirts with the idea of an affair when an old lover moves to town.
1933 James Rosenquist, US Pop painter, printmaker and sculptor. — MORE ON ROSENQUIST AT ART “4” NOVEMBER with links to images.
1933 Dr David Reuben writer (Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex)
1932 Jacques Chirac, à Paris, président de France.
1928 Paul Simon (Sen-D-Ill), presidential candidate
1918 Madeleine L'Engle, writer (A Wrinkle in Time).
1911 Konrad Fuchs, German atomic physicist.
1908 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., US Black public official and pastor who became a prominent liberal legislator and civil-rights leader. He died on 04 April 1972. — Powell Portrait by Bernard Safran [03 Jun 1924 – 14 Oct 1995].
1902 Carlo Levi Italian painter and novelist (Of Fear & Freedom)
1900 Mildred Elizabeth Sisk, aka Axis Sally, Nazi propagandist.
1898 Clive Staples Lewis English writer / scholar (Le Roman de la Rose, Out of the Silent Planet) CS LEWIS ONLINE: Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics, Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics.
1895 William V.S. Tubman (Whig), 17th Liberian President (1943-1970)
1879 Nikolai Krylov, mathematician
1874 António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz, Portuguese neurologist and statesman who died on 13 December 1955. He was the founder of modern psychosurgery. With Walter Hess [17 Mar 1881 – 12 Aug 1973] he was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the development of prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy) as a radical therapy (since discredited) for certain psychoses, or mental disorders.
1866 Brown, mathematician
1866 Jozef Pankiewicz, Polish artist who died in 1943. — more
1863 Jules Alexis Meunier, French artist who died in 1942.
1858 Emil Karl Rau, German artist who died in 1937.
1852 Grace Elizabeth King, US author who died in January 1932.
1849 Sir Ambrose Fleming inventor (diode)
1849 Lamb, mathematician
1847 Greenhill, mathematician
1846 Konrad Kiesel, German artist who died on 28 May 1921.
1840 Francesco Beda, Italian artist who died on 21 June 1900.
1832 Louisa May Alcott, novelist (Little Women).
1818 George Brown Canada, publisher (Toronto Globe), PM (L) (1858)
^ 1815 Augusta Ada Byron (later Countess of Lovelace)
      Lovelace, a mathematical prodigy and daughter of the poet Lord Byron, was an important influence on Charles Babbage, who developed one of the first mechanical computers. She is sometimes credited with the invention of computer programming. In June 1833, Lovelace first met Babbage, while attending one of his celebrated parties. A well-known mathematician whose frequent salons drew luminaries like Darwin, Longfellow, and Dickens, Babbage was hard at work on a calculating machine he called the "Difference Engine." Lovelace became fascinated by the machine and quickly befriended Babbage. The two kept up a lively correspondence about the machine for many years. Lovelace helped spread the ideas behind the Difference Engine by publishing scientific papers describing the machine. These papers were published anonymously — women in nineteenth-century England rarely published under their own names. In 1852, she died at age thirty-six.
1803 Christian Doppler, mathematician, physicist, discoverer of Doppler Effect (frequency shift)
1789 Jan van Ravensway, Dutch artist who died on 02 March 1869.
^ 1781 Andrés Bello, South American poet, scholar, and diplomat who died on 15 October 1865 in Santiago, Chile.
Bello      His early reading in the classics, particularly Virgil, influenced his style and theories. At the University of Venezuela in Caracas he studied philosophy, jurisprudence, and medicine. His 1799 acquaintanceship with the German naturalist and traveler Alexander von Humboldt [] led to the interest in geography so apparent in Bello's later writings. He was a friend and teacher of the South American liberator, Simón Bolívar [24 Jul 1783 – 17 Dec 1830], with whom he was sent to London in 1810 on a political mission for the Venezuelan revolutionary junta. Bello elected to stay there for 19 years, acting as secretary to the legations of Chile and Colombia and spending his free time in study, teaching, and journalism.
      Bello's position in literature is secured by his Silvas americanas, two poems (“silva” is a verse form), written during his residence in England, which convey the majestic impression of the South American landscape. These were published in London (1826–1827) and were originally projected as part of a long, never-finished epic poem, América. The second of the two, Silva a la agricultura de la zona tórrida, is a poetic description of the products of tropical America, extolling the virtues of country life in a manner reminiscent of Virgil. It is one of the best known poems in 19th-century Spanish-American letters. In 1829 he accepted a post in the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, settled in Santiago, and took a prominent part in the intellectual and political life of the city. He was named senator of his adopted country and founded the University of Chile (1843), of which he was rector until his death. Bello was mainly responsible for the Chilean Civil Code, promulgated in 1855, which was also adopted by Colombia and Ecuador and had much the same influence throughout South America as the Code Napoléon in Europe.
      Bello's prose works deal with such varied subjects as law, philosophy, literary criticism, and philology. Of the last, the most important is his Gramática de la lengua castellana (1847), long the leading authority in its field.
^ 1781 John Ray, leading 17th-century English naturalist and botanist who contributed significantly to progress in taxonomy. His enduring legacy to botany was the establishment of species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy.
      John Ray and his friend Francis Willughby made an amazing pact together: they would make a systematic description of all the plants and animals! Ray was to do the plants; Willughby the animals. The two naturalists traveled throughout England and Europe carefully observing the flora and fauna. Their descriptions were to be totally based on observations; they would not include the mythical creatures often included by naturalists in their works. Though
      Willughby died in 1672 at the age of 37, he left Ray a stipend in his will, and Ray faithfully edited and published Willughby's notes on birds and fishes while continuing his own work on plants. Ray's true contribution to science was in his system of organization and definition of species. If plants were to be arranged logically according to types or species, what would be the guiding principle? Should a plant be classified according to its root system, leaf shape, blossom, fruit, or habitat? Ray's definition of a species was boldly simple, yet could apply equally to plants and animals. He asked himself the question, "What fundamental ordering principle had God used?" Based on Genesis 1, Ray said species were descendants of a male-female pair created by God, like the human race. A species, then, was a set of individuals who reproduce new individuals similar to themselves. Though there might be vast variations and mutations within a species, Ray believed there was a fixity of species. The German Lutheran scientist Carl Linneaus based his famous classification system on Ray's important definition of species.
      Once the detailed observations of plants and animals had been made, then Ray began the task of interpreting the significance of physical processes, including how form and function were adapted to the environment and the nature of instinctual behavior. For example, Ray asked the question, "Why are there so many unpleasant creatures like insects?" His answer looked for God's purpose in creation. Ants were more numerous than any other tribe of insects because so many other creatures lived upon them and their eggs. Some insects yielded medicines for men, while others might be used by God as a scourge on the wicked.
      Ray wrote Catalogus Plantarum Angliae (1670). After Willughby's death, Ray completed Willughby's Willughbeii . . . Ornithologia (1676) and Willughbeii . . . de Historia Piscium (1685).
     In 1682 Ray had published Methodus Plantarum Nova (1682, revised in 1703 Methodus Plantarum Emendata...), his contribution to classification, which insisted on the taxonomic importance of the distinction between monocotyledons and dicotyledons, plants whose seeds germinate with one leaf and those with two, respectively. On the basis of the Methodus, he constructed his masterwork, Historia Plantarum, three huge volumes that appeared between 1686 and 1704. After the first two volumes, he was urged to compose a complete system of nature. To this end he compiled brief synopses of British and European plants, Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium (published posthumously, 1713), and Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis (1693). Much of his final decade was spent on a pioneering investigation of insects, published posthumously as Historia Insectorum. In all this work, Ray contributed to the ordering of taxonomy. Instead of a single feature, he attempted to base his systems of classification on all the structural characteristics, including internal anatomy.
      In the 1690s Ray also published three volumes on religion. The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691), an essay in natural religion that called on the full range of his biological learning, was his most popular and influential book. It argued that the correlation of form and function in organic nature demonstrates the necessity of an omniscient creator. This argument from design, common to most of the leading scientists of the 17th century, implied a static view of nature that impeded the development of evolutionary ideas even throughout the 19th century. Still working on his Historia Insectorum, John Ray died on 17 January 1705.

 
Holidays Albania : Liberation Day (1944) / Liberia : President Tubman's Birthday / UN : International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People / Yugoslavia : Proclamation Day of Socialist Federal Republic

Religious Observances RC : St Saturninus, bishop and martyr / Saint Saturnin Premier évêque de Toulouse, Saturnin (ou Sernin) aurait été martyrisé vers 250, au temps des empereurs illyriens. Il fut attaché à un taureau sur le Forum de Toulouse, l'actuelle place Esquirol, et traîné dans les rues jusqu'à l'endroit où s'élève aujourd'hui l'église Notre-Dame du Taur (ou du taureau). Son corps fut enseveli sur place par deux soeurs dénommées Puelles. Les restes du saint reposent aujourd'hui dans la basilique Saint-Sernin. C'est un magnifique exemple d'architecture romane en pierres et briques roses, construite au XIIe siècle pour recueillir les prières des pélerins à destination de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle. / Christian : St Francis Fasani, Italian priest.


click click


Thoughts for the day:
“Patience is the invention of dullards and sluggards.”
— Grace Elizabeth King, US author [29 Nov 1852 – Jan 1932].
“Losing weight: the triumph of mind over platter.”
“Monastic silence: the triumph of mind over chatter.”
“Spring cleaning: the triumph of mind over clutter.”
“Triumph of mind over matter: if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”
“Don't pull out from under me the rug under which you swept the dirt of the skeleton in your closet.”
“It's of no use to lock the barn door after beating a dead horse which was changed in midstream.”
“Don't call me a wet blanket when you're the one who rained on my parade.”
“When Hell freezes over the cows will come home to roost skating on thin ice.”
“You work best when you're thoroughly tired, or else after you're retired, if you are a car wheel.”
“Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better.” —
USurper-President George “Dubya” Bush. — {Yeah... but are they as good as the border relations between the US and Nepal?}
TO THE TOP
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WRITE TO “TODAY IN HISTORY”
http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/history/h4nov/h4nov29.html
http://www.intergate.com/~canu/history/h4nov/h4nov29.html
http://www.freewebtown.com/canu/history/h4nov/h4nov29.html
updated Sunday 26-Nov-2006 2:20 UT
previous updates:
v.5.a2 Tuesday 29-Nov-2005 18:44 UT
Saturday 04-Dec-2004 17:41 UT
Friday 26-Dec-2003 1:07 UT

safe site site safe for children safe site