November 9 in Pop Culture History

November 9th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

November 9th History Highlights

  • Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower caught sight of land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in 1620.
  • Thirteen people died in The Great Boston Fire of 1872.
  • The mutilated body of Mary Jane Kelly, believed to be the final victim of Jack the Ripper, was discovered in Spitalfields, London, England (1888).
  • 1938 – Crystal Night (Kristallnacht) took place in Germany. 30,000 Jews were arrested and nearly 100 were killed.
  • 1965- Roger Allen LaPorte, protesting against the Vietnam War, set himself on fire in front of the United Nations building.
  • 1965 – There was a blackout over much of the Northeastern United States, more than 30 million people were affected.
  • 1989 – The Berlin Wall opened.
  • In 2005, The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
  • If you were born on November 9th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… February 16th (same year)

November 9th is…

Go to an Art Museum Today Day
Microtia Awareness Day
National Louisiana Day
National Scrapple Day

Jack The Ripper

Jack the Ripper is the name of one of history’s most famous serial killers, who is said to have killed at least five people in the London borough of Whitechapel since 1888. Violence against sex workers was commonplace in London at the time of the murders, as was the rumor of Jack. The area was the poorest in London and a vast crime-ridden slum, and it was one of the most dangerous areas in London at the time. At the time of the murder, more than 1,000 prostitutes were working in white chapels in east London, and violence against them was definitely seen as the work of a man.

The true identity of the killer has never been revealed, but as far as the cold cases are concerned, few people are claiming that a serial murder took place in the East End of London by an unknown killer known publicly as Jack the Ripper.

November 9th Birthday Quotes

“The time has come”, the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes -and ships -and sealing wax –
Of cabbages -and Kings –
And why the Sea is boiling hot –
And whether pigs have wings.

– Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”
– Carl Sagan

“In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the artist’s signature.”
– Carl Sagan

“I can’t play a slave.”
– Dorothy Dandridge

“Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”
-Hedy Lamarr

November 9th Birthdays

1914 – Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress, and inventor (died in 2000)
1918 – Spiro Agnew, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (39th Vice President of the United States, died in 1996)
1922 – Dorothy Dandridge, American actress, singer, and dancer (died in 1965)
1934 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (died in 1996)
1936 – Mary Travers, American Singer/Songwriter (died in 2009)
1946 – Benny Mardones, American Singer/Songwriter
1951 – Lou Ferrigno, American bodybuilder, and actor
1970 – Chris Jericho, American-Canadian wrestler
1973 – Nick Lachey, American Singer/Songwriter, producer, and actor
1978 – Sisqó, American Singer/Songwriter, producer, and actor
1980 – Vanessa (née Minnillo) Lachey, Filipino-American TV host, and actress
1988 – Nikki Blonsky, American actress, singer, and dancer

November 9th History

In Germany, November 9th is called Schicksalstag (Fateful Day) it was the day that Robert Blum was executed in 1848, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated in 1918, Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, Kristallnacht in 1938, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

1799 – Napoleon Bonaparte became dictator (first consul) of France.

1842 – The first U.S. design patent (Design Patent # D1) was issued for typefaces and borders patented by George Bruce of New York City.

1857 – The Atlantic was founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

1872 – The Great Boston Fire of 1872. 13 people died.

1887 – The United States received rights to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1888 – Jack Ripper’s 5th, and probably last victim, Mary Jane Kelly, was found on her bed. His first four victims were Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, and Catherine Eddowes.

1906 – Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country. He did so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.

The first pig to fly was by English aviator John Moore-Brabazon on November 9, 1909. He flew with the pig in a basket, attached to his plane. He did it, just because he could. Technically, he may have been the first person to fly with any cargo.

1925 – Robert A. Millikan confirmed the existence of cosmic rays from outer space in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences at Madison, Wisconsin. He also helped find the charge in an electron, which is a key part of the constants in physics.

1938 – Al Capp, cartoonist of Lil’l Abner created Sadie Hawkins Day. It was now “celebrated” on the first Saturday after November 9th.

1953 – Supreme Court ruled Major League baseball exempt from anti-trust laws. It was a mechanism to ensure a player could not just quit one team to work for another.

1955 – The National Child Safety Council (NCSC) was founded.

1957 – Gordon Gould began writing his description of a laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation).

1961 – The X-15 rocket plane achieved a world record speed of 4,093 mph (Mach 6.04) and reached 101,600 feet (over 19 miles) altitude, piloted by US Air Force Major Robert M. White.

1965 – Several U.S. states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 hours in the Northeast Blackout of 1965.

There was a rumor that Paul McCartney had been killed in an auto accident on November 9, 196.

1967 – The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine was published.

1974 – #1 Hit November 9, 1974 – November 15, 1974: Bachman-Turner OverdriveYou Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

November 9, 1984 (fiction) The Ghostbusters defeated Gozer, Ghostbusters, Film

1985 – Garry Kasparov, 22, of the Soviet Union, became the youngest World Chess Champion by beating Anatoly Karpov, also of the Soviet Union.

1985 – #1 Hit November 9, 1985 – November 15, 1985: Jan HammerMiami Vice Theme

1989 – The Berlin Wall fell. It was constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on August 13, 1961.

1994 – The chemical element Darmstadtium (#110) was discovered/created in Germany. It was named in honor of the city of Darmstadt, where it was discovered.

1996 – #1 Hit November 9, 1996 – December 6, 1996: Blackstreet featuring Dr. DreNo Diggity

1997 – In the Montreal Screwjob, wrestler Bret Hart lost his final match in the WWF via submission to Shawn Michaels.

1997 – Broadway Show – The Lion King (Musical) opened on November 9, 1997

1991 – #1 Hit November 9, 1991 – November 22, 1991: Prince & The New Power GenerationCream

2002 – #1 Hit November 9, 2002 – January 31, 2003: EminemLose Yourself

2011 – At 2:00 PM EST, all US TV and radio stations in the Emergency Alert System were tested simultaneously, the first nationwide test of the system since the 1997 inception of the EAS.

#1 Hit November 9, 2019 – November 29, 2019: Selena Gomez – Lose You to Love Me

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

What to do: Use only low level kinetic or mechanical energy products.

Four years after it was released, an Arizona DJ played UB40’s Red Red Wine as part of a feature on songs that should have been hit songs. Listeners started requesting it and within weeks it was the national #1 single

The Capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa

PEZ was originally marketed as a sophisticated adult treat. The early flavors included peppermint, lemon, and chlorophyll mint.

In 1518 there was an unexplained event called the “Dancing Plague” in Strasbourg, in which 400 people danced for days without rest, some until they died.

“That’s what she said!” #TVCatchphrase

Dolphins know each other by name just like humans, except dolphin infants choose their own names while very young.

silent and “listen” are anagrams of each other. #silent #listen

There is enough water in Lake Superior to flood the entire landmasses of North and South America to a depth of 1 foot. It contains over 3 quadrillion gallons of freshwater.

The Capital of Estonia is Tallinn

Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues #9 – Moderation.

Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

1 in 5,000 north Atlantic lobsters is born bright blue.

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