What Happened On
Bean, with Conrad reflected in visor
Bean, with Conrad reflected in visor
Apollo 12
November 14, 1969
The second successful manned-mission to the Moon is launched. Pete Conrad and Alan Bean became the 3rd and 4th men to walk on the Moon.
First U.S. General Killed During the Vietnam War by Enemy Fire
November 14, 1967
Major General Bruno Arthur Hochmuth is killed when the helicopter he was riding in is gunned down over Hué, Vietnam. Four other Marines, and a South Vietnamese Army aide were also killed in the incident.
The Problem We All Live With - Norman Rockwell, 1964
The Problem We All Live With - Norman Rockwell, 1964
New Orleans School Integration
November 14, 1960
First day of court-ordered school integration in New Orleans. Six-year-old Ruby Bridges attends an all-white school in New Orleans, Louisiana. Many whites pulled their children from the school and all but one teacher refused to teach her. This event was the subject of a Norman Rockwell painting.
AK-47
November 14, 1947
Initial development of the AK-47 assault rifle is completed. It was created by Russian firearms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, who named it the AK-47 (Avtomát Kaláshnikova 1947). Kalashnikov based his design on the features of the American M1 and the German StG44. It is estimated that about 1 out of every 5 firearms in the world is an AK-47 or a closely related weapon.
U.S. Navy Attempts to Assassinate President Roosevelt?
November 14, 1943
The USS William D. Porter accidentally launches a torpedo towards the USS Iowa with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard. The USS Iowa narrowly avoided the torpedo. The previous day, the Porter had accidentally dropped a depth charge near the Iowa, making the crew and President think they were under attack by German U-boats. When he heard about the incoming torpedo, wheelchair-bound Roosevelt asked that he be moved to the edge of the ship so that he could watch. Believing that the Porter might be involved in an assassination attempt, the captain and entire crew were arrested and investigated.
Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham
Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham
First Airplane Take-Off from a Ship's Deck
November 14, 1910
Eugene Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham. His plane nosedived after leaving the ship and his wheels touched water, but he was able to keep control and landed safely on the beach.
Two months later, he became the first to land an airplane on a ship.
Around the World in 72 Days
November 14, 1889
New York World reporter Nellie Bly sets sail from New York in an effort to beat Philéas Fogg's (from Jules Verne's novel) time of 80 days for a 24,899-mile (40071 km) trip around the world. When she first proposed the idea to her editor, he told her only a man could make such a trip. She replied, "Very well, start the man, and I'll start the same day for some other newspaper and beat him." Her editor conceded and off she went. Reports of her travels captivated the world and she made it with eight days to spare.
Ivan Boesky Fined $100 Million
November 14, 1986
The Wall Street investor Ivan Boesky pleads guilty to illegal insider trading. He agreed to return profits and pay a $100 million fine.
Jimmy Carter's Church Drops Ban on Blacks
November 14, 1976
The Plains Baptist Church of Georgia drops its 11-year-old ban on attendance by blacks. Jimmy Carter had been opposed to the ban.
First Dow-Jones Index Closing Above 1000
November 14, 1972
Closing at 1003.16.
World War II - Rickenbacker Rescued
November 14, 1942
U.S. Navy pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and two of his crew are rescued after their plane went down in the South Pacific. They had been drifting on a raft for three weeks.
Rickenbacker, with 26 aerial victories in World War I and known as "The Ace of Aces", was the most decorated pilot of the war.
Winston Churchill walking through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral
World War II - Coventry Cathedral Destroyed
November 14, 1940
The Luftwaffe raids Coventry, England, killing over 500 people and destroying the historic medieval Coventry Cathedral.
First American Bishop
November 14, 1789
Father John Carroll is chosen. He was ordained in 1790, and placed in charge of the Diocese of Baltimore.
Birthdays
Adam Walsh
Born November 14, 1974 d. 1981
American murder victim. When he was six years old he was abducted from a Sears department store in Florida. His severed head was found two weeks later in a drainage canal alongside Florida's Turnpike in rural St. Lucie County, Florida. His story was made into the 1983 TV movie Adam, seen by 38 million people in its original airing. His father, John Walsh, became an advocate for victims of violent crimes and hosted TV's America's Most Wanted (1988-2012).
His mother had left him playing video games with other boys while she shopped. A fight broke out and the security guard made the boys leave the building. After the other boys left, Adam was alone and was abducted.
In 1981, serial killer Ottis Toole, while in prison on unrelated murders, confessed to Adam's murder, but later recanted. Police had lost the impounded car with bloodstained carpets and machete that Toole claimed he used in Adam's murder, hindering their ability to validate his claim. In 2008, police announced the case was closed and they were satisfied that Toole had committed the murder, although Toole was never charged for the crime. Toole had died in prison of liver failure in 1996.
The "Code Adam" missing-child alert safety program is named after Adam Walsh.
First American to Walk in Space
Edward Higgins White II
Born November 14, 1930 d. 1967
American astronaut. First American to walk in space (1965).
He died in 1967 with two other astronauts when Apollo 1 caught fire on the launch pad during a simulation, making him and the crew the first American astronauts to die in a spacecraft.
Woman with a Parasol, 1886
Woman with a Parasol, 1886
Claude Monet
Born November 14, 1840 d. 1926
French impressionist painter, known of his landscapes using bright unmixed colors. In 1923 he had cataract surgery to restore his eyesight. The paintings done before surgery had a reddish tone, which is characteristic of the vision of cataract victims. After surgery his painting had a bluer tone.
Yanni (Yiannis Chryssomallis)
Born November 14, 1954
Greek musician. Known for his blending jazz, classical, soft rock, and world music and concerts at historical landmarks. Music: Live at the Acropolis (1994, second best-selling music concert video of all time).
Condoleezza Rice
Born November 14, 1954
American politician. First female African-American U.S. Secretary of State (2005-09).
Ray Sharkey (Red Hook)
Born November 14, 1952 d. 1993
American actor. TV: Wiseguy (Sonny Steelgrave). He died of AIDS.
James Young
Born November 14, 1949
American guitarist, with Styx. Music: Lady (1973), Grand Illusion (1977), and Babe (1979, #1).
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George)
Born November 14, 1948
King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Photo Credit: Cato Institute
Photo Credit: Cato Institute
P. J. O'Rourke (Patrick Jake O'Rourke)
Born November 14, 1947 d. 2022
American political satirist. Writings: Holidays in Hell (1988, about his visits to war zones as a foreign correspondent).
Quote: Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help mom do the dishes.
Photo Credit: HorsePunchKid
Photo Credit: HorsePunchKid
Buckwheat Zydeco (Stanley Dural, Jr.)
Born November 14, 1947 d. 2016
American Grammy-winning accordionist and zydeco musician. Popularized zydeco, the stomp style of music from the swamps of Louisiana.
Hussein I
Born November 14, 1935 d. 1999
King of Jordan (1952-99). He was the second Arab head of state to recognize Israel (1994, after Anwar Sadat in 1978).
McLean Stevenson
Born November 14, 1927 d. 1996
American actor. TV: M*A*S*H (1972-75, Lt. Col. Blake) and The McLean Stevenson Show (1976-77, Mac Ferguson).
Veronica Lake (Constance Ockelman)
Born November 14, 1922 d. 1973
American actress. Known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle with her long blonde hair covering one eye. She died at age 50 from acute hepatitis and acute kidney injury.
Film: Sullivan's Travels (1941) and Hold That Blonde (1945).
Brian Keith
Born November 14, 1921 d. 1997
American actor. TV: Family Affair (1966-71, Uncle Bill) and Hardcastle and McCormick (1983-86, Judge Milton C. Hardcastle). Film: The Parent Trap (1961).
Suffering from lung cancer, he was found dead in his home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, two months after his daughter Daisy committed suicide.
Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno
Born November 14, 1913 d. 1993
Italian-born American mob boss. In 1977, while he was head of the Los Angeles crime family, he became a government witness against the mob. His testimony contributed to the conviction of 26 mob members. He was the subject of the books The Last Mafioso and Vengeance is Mine.
Joseph McCarthy (Joseph Raymond McCarthy)
Born November 14, 1908 d. 1957
American politician, U.S. Senator (1947-57, Wisconsin). He led the Senate inquiry into the alleged communist activities during the 1950s. The term "McCarthyism" refers to McCarthy's practices of reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. They term soon was applied to similar anti-communist activities by others.
He was eventually censured by the Senate in 1954 for refusing to cooperate with, and abusing members of, the committee established to investigate whether or not he should be censured.
Harrison Evans Salisbury
Born November 14, 1908 d. 1993
American Pulitzer-winning reporter, Soviet expert, and editor of the New York Times. He was the first American reporter in Hanoi during the Vietnam War.
Dick Powell
Born November 14, 1904 d. 1963
American actor, singer. His death was attributed to radiation exposure received from an A-bomb test near the filming of a movie in 1953.
Aaron Copland
Born November 14, 1900 d. 1990
American composer. Music: Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring.
Mamie Doud Eisenhower
Born November 14, 1896 d. 1979
American First Lady (1953-61). Wife of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Sir Frederick Grant Banting
Born November 14, 1891 d. 1941
Canadian Nobel-winning scientist. He and Charles Best discovered insulin (1921) for which he shared the Nobel Prize with Dr. J.J.R. MacLeod.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Born November 14, 1889 d. 1964
Indian statesman, first prime minister of the Republic of India (1947-64).
Walter Williams
Born November 14, 1842 d. 1959
American soldier. Reputed to be the last surviving Civil War veteran, claiming to have served in the Confederate Army (1864). However, after his death at the claimed age of 117, there was little evidence to support his claims. Records showed that he was probably born in 1854, too late to have served in the war as he claimed.
Robert Fulton
Born November 14, 1765 d. 1815
American inventor, steamboat pioneer.
Deaths
First U.S. General Killed by Enemy Fire During the Vietnam War
Major General Bruno Arthur Hochmuth
Died November 14, 1967 b. 1911
United States Marine Corps major general. He was the first U.S. general killed by enemy fire during the Vietnam War; the helicopter he was riding in was gunned down over Hué, Vietnam. Four other Marines, and a South Vietnamese Army aide were also killed in the incident.
DuMont with the first 21-inch color TV picture tube (1954)
DuMont with the first 21-inch color TV picture tube (1954)
Allen Balcom DuMont
Died November 14, 1965 b. 1901
American inventor. He developed the first commercially practical cathode ray tube (1931), marketed the first home TV receiver (1939), and established the DuMont Television Network (1946), which was the first licensed television network. He founded DuMont Laboratories (1931), which developed the first consumer all-electronic television. They also extended the life of the TV's picture tube from about 24 hours to 1,000 hours making television sets practical.
Booker T. Washington (Booker Taliaferro Washington)
Died November 14, 1915 b. 1856
American educator, presidential advisor. First leader of the Tuskegee Institute (1881) for the training of Negroes. Born into slavery, he was emancipated at the end of the Civil War. He believed the way for blacks to gain equal social rights was to demonstrate "industry, thrift, intelligence, and property." He helped create numerous education opportunities for blacks. He was the first African-American depicted on a U.S. coin.
Eddie Arcaro
Died November 14, 1997 b. 1916
American Hall of Fame jockey. He was the first jockey to win the Triple Crown twice (1941, 1948), and he is a 5-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. He won a record-setting earnings of over $30 million.
Inventor of the Pneumatic Drill
Edward Nash Hurley
Died November 14, 1933 b. 1864
American tool maker, founder of Standard Pneumatic Tool Co. of Chicago (1896). He created the first piston-type pneumatic drill (1896), forerunner to the modern jackhammer.
Charles Carroll
Died November 14, 1832 b. 1737
American Revolutionary leader. He was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the richest U.S. citizen at the time of his death.
Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
Died November 14, 1716 b. 1646
German mathematician for whom the Leibniz series is named. He created the notation "dy/dx", the integral sign "∫", designed a machine that could multiply and divide (1671), introduced binary numbers (1679), and created differential (1684) and integral calculus (1686).
Nell Gwyn
Died November 14, 1687 b. 1650
English actress. She was one of thirteen mistresses of King Charles II, by whom she had two children. She came to epitomize the rags-to-royalty tale.