Today is Mickey Mouse’s birthday! At least that’s what the Disney company says. There’s plenty of room to argue about it. What happened on November 18, 1928 was that Steamboat Willie was released, starring Mickey and Minnie. It was a big hit, but it was really Mickey’s third film.  Mickey’s first film was called Plane… Continue reading

November 17 is a bit of an odd day in the history of, well, history. It’s not that nothing ever happened — it’s more like a number of things that did happen might was well not have. Maybe an example is in order. In 1810, the Napoleonic Wars were still in progress in Europe, and… Continue reading

When the colonists in North America first declared themselves the United States, I bet you don’t know which country was the first to officially recognize the new nation. It happened on November 16, 1776, and had to do with a ship — so there’s a hint; it had to be a country with a harbor.… Continue reading

Today is the international Day of the Imprisoned Writer. When it was instituted in 1981 the PEN International Writers in Prison Committee was about political writers and journalists, but any time you have the opportunity to appropriate a holiday, you should probably make the most of it. After all, there might be cake.  It’s also… Continue reading

It’s November 14, the day James Bruce discovered the source of the Nile River. He traced it all the way to an Ethiopian town called Gish Abay. There was a fresh water spring there, and Bruce declared it to be the source of the river. There was at least one hole in his story, though;… Continue reading

It’s November 13, and you are feeling sleeeepy… how do I know that? Simple — today’s the anniversary of the day in 1841 that James Braid, a reasonable and respected medical man from the UK, attended a demonstration of animal magnetism by Charles Lafontaine. “Animal magnetism” was supposedly an invisible force that was common to… Continue reading

November 12 marked a significant event in the life of Warren Harding. No, not that Warren Harding. I’m talking about Warren Harding the rock climber who was the first to climb El Capitan in Yosemite by the Nose ascent that at one time was considered impossible. He finished the climb on November 12, 1958. Harding… Continue reading

There are some odd events associated with November 11, many of them related to the numbers in the date “11/11.” On 11/11/11 — as in 1911 — an odd natural event occurred too: the Great Blue Norther. A number of cities across the central US were experiencing unseasonably high temperatures that day. In Kansas City,… Continue reading

One of the enduring questions of November 10 is Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Today is the anniversary of the show. In 1969 it was a big departure from the children’s TV shows of the time, but by now it’s the gold standard, having won 189 Emmy Awards. One of… Continue reading

November 9, 1801 was an important day in the history of both dairy products and fictional corporate representatives. Gail Borden II was born. He was named after his father, but somewhat unusual names seemed to run in the family; his mother’s given name was Philadelphia. The family moved to Kentucky when young Gail was about… Continue reading