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This Day in HistoryNovember 18
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326
According to tradition, construction begins on the original St.
Peter’s Basilica—the building was completed c. 360 and was torn
down in 1505 to build a new one
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1626
After more than a hundred years of construction, a new St.
Peter’s Basilica is dedicated in Rome—it is still the largest
church in the world
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1872
Women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony is arrested by a U.S.
Deputy Marshall and charged with illegally voting in the
presidential election two weeks earlier—she is eventually fined
$100
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1883
American and Canadian railroads begin using four continental
time zones to end the confusion of dealing with thousands of
different local times
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1916
World War I’s epic Battle of the Somme in France finally ends
after 140 days and over one million casualties
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1928
Walt Disney releases Steamboat Willie, an animated short film
that introduces Mickey Mouse to the world
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1936
Three years before World War II begins, Hitler’s Germany and
Mussolini’s Italy recognize the government of Spanish fascist
dictator Francisco Franco
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1949
Two years after Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier and
becomes the first African-American in Major League Baseball, he
wins the National League’s Most Valuable Player award, hitting .349
with 16 homeruns, 124 RBI, 122 runs scored, and 37 stolen bases
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1978
The Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones leads hundreds of his
followers, mostly Americans, in a mass murder-suicide at their
agricultural commune in a remote part of South America
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1960
English pop star KimWilde, who would notch 1980s #1 hits with
“Kids in America” and a remake of the Supremes’ “You Keep Me
Hangin’ On,” is born in Chiswick, England
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1991
Irish rock band U2 releases its 7th studio album, Achtung
Baby—the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album Chart, won a
Grammy for Best Rock Performance, and has sold more than 18 million
copies worldwide
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1991
Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon free Englishman Terry Waite
after more than four years of captivity following intense
negotiations by the United Nations—Waite had worked to free ten
other hostages before his capture in 1987
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1993
Black and white leaders in South Africa approve a new democratic
constitution, paving the way for an end to the nation’s strict
racial segregation called apartheid
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1996
Florida man Tony Silva, a world-renowned expert on and outspoken
protector of exotic birds, is sentenced to seven years in prison
for leading an illegal parrot smuggling operation
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2019
All schools in Hong Kong close “for the sake of safety” because
of escalating and increasingly violent pro-democratic
protests—nearly one million students are affected by the
closures
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2019
Sometimes-violent anti-government protests in Iran spread to 100
cities and towns—the protests were sparked by a government decision
to raise gas prices by 50%
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2020
Boeing’s 737 MAX, the jetliner grounded for 20 months after two
international crashes that killed 346 people, was cleared to fly
again today by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—the
grounded planes will need to be refitted with FAA-mandated
improvements before flying again
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2020
Pfizer announced today that it plans to start the FDA approval
process “within days” for its candidate coronavirus vaccine after
further analysis shows it is 95% effective
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2020
Yesterday President Trump fired Chris Krebs, director of
cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security—last week
Krebs called the November 3 election “the most secure in American
history”
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2020
The 2020 NBA Draft, normally held in June, will take place
tonight—the Minnesota Timberwolves have the first pick, the Phoenix
Suns have the tenth pick
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2020
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will hold a press conference today
to provide an update on the state’s COVID-19 response as numbers
surge across the state and nation
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2020
Yesterday Phoenix again broke the record for the latest
90-degree day ever recorded—the previous record was set yesterday
and before that on November 15, 1999
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2020
87-year-old ChuckGrassley of Iowa, theoldest Republican inthe
Senate and third in line for the presidency, has tested positive
for the coronavirus
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2020
A 9-year-old Tennessee boy, missing for two days, was found
alive in a creek bed beneath a shelter he created with a tarp—he
was found in a wooded area about ¾ of a mile from his home and did
not have a jacket or shoes
