November 17th is

Great American Smokeout *

Homemade Bread Day

Substitute Teachers Day *

Take a Hike Day *

Use Less Stuff Day *

World Philosophy Day *

World Prematurity Day *

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MORE! Sir Walter Raleigh, Giuseppe Verdi, and Benazir Bhutto, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Azerbaijan – Day of National Revival

Czech Republic – Students’ Day *

Equatorial Guinea – Malabo Festival

Fiji – Birthday for Prince Charles

France – Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Marshal Islands – Presidents Day

Turkmenistan – Student Youth Day

Zaire – Army Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

1558 – Queen Mary I of England dies, and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I

1603 – English courtier and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason

1777 – U.S. Articles of Confederation are submitted to the states for ratification

1800 – U.S. Congress holds first session in Washington, DC, in the partially completed Capitol building

1811 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the Chilean executive Junta

1820 – Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica. The Palmer Peninsula is later named after him

1839 – Oberto, Giuseppe Verdi’s first opera, debuts at La Scala in Milan, Italy

1856 – U.S. Army builds Fort Buchanan on the Sonoita River in southern Arizona, to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase

1869 – The Suez Canal opens in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean with the Red Sea

1870 – Winifred Holt, American sculptor and welfare worker; inspired others to the New York Association for the Blind, which later became Lighthouse International

1871 – The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York

1876 – Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slav premieres in Moscow, Russia

1880 – First 3 British women pass the exams and are awarded London University Bachelor of Arts degrees, the first university in the U.K. to admit women, beginning in 1878

1903 – Russia’s Social Democrats splits between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

1904 – First underwater submarine journey, Southampton, England, to the Isle of Wight

1911 – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the first black Greek-lettered organization is founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

1913 – The steamship Louise becomes the first ship through the Panama Canal, and
Kaiser Wilhelm bans German armed forces from dancing the tango.

1921 – The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Legion jointly sponsor the first American Education Week – Substitute Teachers Day * is part of this annual series of events to highlight the importance of education and honor educators

1922 – Siberia votes for union with the U.S.S.R.

1933 – The U.S. recognizes the Soviet Union

1939 – Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations over the death of  medical student Jan Opletal. All Czech universities are shut down and over 1,200 students sent to concentration camps, commemorated as Students’ Day *

1947 – The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath

1962 – U.S. President Kennedy dedicates Washington’s Dulles International Airport

1970 – From a local event in Randolph MA, the Great American Smokeout * grows to become a national event sponsored by the American Cancer Society which brings attention to deadly health risks of smoking and the newest aids to quitting smoking

1980 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s album Double Fantasy is released

1982 – Empire State Building is added to the National Register of Historical Places

1988 – Benazir Bhutto becomes the first woman leader of an Islamic country

1989 – American Hiking Society begins sponsoring Take a Hike Day * to encourage people to discover the hundreds of miles of hiking trails in our national parks system

1991 – The Blue Man group debuts at New York’s Astor Place Theatre

1998 – Jewel releases “Spirit” and Whitney Houston releases “My Love is Your Love”

2005 – UNESCO establishes World Philosophy Day * and Robert Lilienfeld founds Use Less Stuff Day *

2008 – Prematurity Day is begun by a coalition of European organizations – in 2011, it became World Prematurity Day, * now media campaigns and events in over 60 countries

2010 – Reasearchers trap 38 antihydrogen atoms, first antimatter ever trapped

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Visuals

• Great American Smokeout poster
• International flags
• Sir Walter Raleigh with Time quote
• Unfinished U.S. Capitol building, 1800
• Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869 – artist unreadable
• NEA American Education Week 2016 banner
• McCarthyism talking points
• Benazir Bhutto with Extremism quote

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