It’s World Pancreatic Cancer Day, which has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. My husband’s best friend died from the disease on February 27, 2020, just 90 days after being diagnosed. We miss him. Know the warning signs and prioritize your health.
It’s also the International Day for Tolerance, which appears to be another ploy of the global communists. They don’t tolerate traditional values, and much of the write up focuses on discrediting people who don’t think like globalists.
Finally, check your wiper blades. Now let’s get onto today’s history…
In Government…
Ah, government. As we plod through the establishment of the colonies in early America, we see the build up of institutions – slowly and then all at once. In 1676, the first colonial prison was organized in Nantucket, Massachusetts. In 2023, there are 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories, collectively housing almost 2 million people.
In 1798, Kentucky became the first state to nullify an act of Congress. The action was aimed at the Alien and Sedition Acts, a set of four laws restricting immigration and speech in the United States. The worst of these in my opinion is the Sedition Act which criminalized criticizing the government. Less known is that the Kentucky resolution was secretly written by Thomas Jefferson.
In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state. The word “Oklahoma” means “red people,” and according to Britannica:
“The word Oklahoma is derived from two Choctaw words: okla, “people,” and humma, “red.” During the 19th century the future state was a symbol of one of the least glorious chapters in American history, becoming known as Indian Territory, the dumping ground for eastern Native American tribes displaced by settlers’ ever-increasing hunger for land. Since its admission in 1907 as the 46th state of the union, however, Oklahoma has achieved an integration of its Native American citizens into modern economic and social life that probably is unmatched by any other state. There is no reservation in the usual sense for the Native American population. Though poverty is endemic among them, many Oklahoma Indians have risen to positions of distinction, and tribal revenue distributions have enabled many more to share in the great wealth that petroleum resources have brought to the state.”
As the government continued to expand, so did the loss of freedom. In 1914, the Federal Reserve System formally opened, the beginning of the end for American individual independence. The founders knew this would happen, and again Thomas Jefferson’s wisdom is at play here. He warned about it.
“Paper is poverty. It is only the ghost of money, and not money itself.”
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies," Jefferson wrote. " If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around(these banks) will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
"The issuing power of currency shall be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
- Thomas Jefferson
The founders tried to prevent it. But early 20th Century Americans allowed it to happen. Notably, on the same day that the Federal Reserve opened, Milton Friedman died – 92 years later. He was 94.
In 1933, President Roosevelt established diplomatic relations with the USSR which, of course, didn’t last long. Notably, in 1950 President Truman proclaimed an emergency crisis caused by communist threat. Then there was the Cold War.
And now Russia! hysteria. Nothing new under the sun.
In 1961, President Kennedy increased military aid to South Vietnam without committing US combat troops. Two years and one week later he was assassinated in Texas, and a year later his unelected successor sent those troops.
The CIA coined the term “conspiracy theory” in the wake of Kennedy’s assassination, and spent decades lying about their involvement which was confirmed earlier this year. Governments, bankers, and wars are prominent features of this show – but the lack of accountability for the assassination of a US president is stunning. In 2000 on this day, President Clinton became the first US President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.
Funny, in 2018 on this day, the CIA concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi just weeks after his assassination. So, if history is our guide, I guess we can conclude that it was the CIA.
In world government history…
14 AD: Roman emperor Tiberius was born in Rome
1519: City of Havana moved to its current location to avoid mosquito infestations
1840: New Zealand officially became a British colony
1885: Louis Riel, founder Canada’s Manitoba, hanged for treason
1917: British occupied Tel Aviv and Jaffa
1918: Hungarian People's Republic was declared
1933: Brazilian President Getulio Vargas declared himself dictator
1947: 15,000 demonstrated in Brussels against the mild sentencing of Nazis
1961: United Kingdom limited immigration from Commonwealth countries
2010: Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement
In Culture…
Last week we talked about the practice of dueling being outlawed in Kentucky on November 10, 1801, and today we remember that time English journalist John Wilkes was injured in a duel in 1763. Notably, he was injured, not killed. Make dueling great again.
There were some notable events in New York on this day, with Fifth Avenue opening for business in 1824, and the National Rifle Association was first chartered in the state in 1871. Decades later in 1925, the American Association for Advancement of Atheism formed in the state, and twenty years later on the same day in 1945, Yeshiva College, the first US Jewish college, was chartered in New York.
In science history, in 1933, Swiss physicist Fritz Zwicky published the first “evidence” for the existence of dark matter in an article entitled, "The Redshift of Extragalactic Nebulae." Five years later in 1938, LSD was first synthesized by Dr. Albert Hofmann in Basel, Switzerland. Seven years later in 1945, the discovery of two new elements were announced: americium (atomic number 95) and curium (atomic number 96). In 1966, the inventor of the gas mask died – a Canadian doctor named Cluny MacPherson.
In more recent science, in 2002, the first case of SARS was recorded in China – yes, China – with patient zero theorized to be a local farmer. On the same day 18 years later, Moderna reported that its COVID-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective. And that was a lie.
In happier science, the largest diamond was discovered in more than a century in 2015. The Lesedi La Rona 1,109 carat stone was found in the Karowe mine in Botswana. Don’t get too happy though as, on the same day in 2022, the FDA gave its first safety approval on lab-grown meat – “chicken” grown from animal cells. As a reminder, the FDA has an allowable number of maggots in canned goods, so trust the science.
In firsts today: patents dental mallet to impact gold into cavities
1875: First dental mallet patent to hammer gold into cavities (William Bonwill)
1920: First postage stamp meter is set in Stamford Conn
1974: First intentional interstellar radio message allegedly sent
Moving from science to music, in 1873, the “Father of the Blues” W.C. Handy was born in Alabama. In 1966, The Temptations released their Greatest Hits album, which won Billboard Album of the Year 1967, and in 1974, ABBA began their first tour outside of Sweden.
On screen, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was released in 2002. It was released in the UK as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.” The change was made to better appeal to the American markets or, according to some critics, to dumb it down for the American markets. In 2009, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" premiered in Los Angeles. Actress Lisa Bonet was born in 1967, and actor Pete Davidson was born in 1993. Actor Clark Gable died in 1969.
Other entertainment:
1952: Shigeru Miyamoto creator of Mario and The Legend of Zelda was born
1959: "The Sound of Music" stage production opened in NY
1965: Walt Disney launched Epcot Center
2012: 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2' launched, grossing $500 million in 24 hours
There are a number of controversies on November 16 throughout history. In 1966, Dr Sam Sheppard was freed by a jury after spending nine years in jail for killing his wife. This is a fascinating case, and there are a lot of details and pictures at Famous Trials.
A couple decades later, in 1988, Robin Givens sued Mike Tyson for libel, asking $125 million. In 1998, Monica Lewinsky signed her book deal. Finally, in 2019, Prince Andrew refuted the underage sex claims made in conjunction with his friend Jeffery Epstein in a BBC interview.
In Death & Destruction…
In 1581, Ivan the Terrible attacked his son and heir, Ivan Ivanovich, with a scepter after an argument. His son died three days later. Additionally, American murderer and bodysnatcher Ed Gein killed his last victim in 1957, and that sets the stage for today’s D&D.
1863: 492 killed in the Battle of Campbell's Station in Tennessee
1894: 6,000 killed (Armenians) by Turks in Kurdistan
1916: 1,000 killed when Russian ammunition factory exploded
1970: 2 killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA)
2019: 6 children killed in measles epidemic in Samoa
On This Day is published Monday through Friday. Watch the Today’s History podcast weekdays at 12PM ET! Don’t forget to visit bootlegproducts.com and use coupon code MYAMERICA!