What Happened On
Star Trek Interracial Kiss
November 22, 1968
William Shatner's character Captain James T. Kirk kisses Nichelle Nichols' character on the Star Trek episode Plato's Stepchildren. Many claim this as television's first interracial kiss; however, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Nancy Sinatra kissed on her TV special Movin' with Nancy. But, the Davis-Sinatra kiss is considered an "unscripted kiss" whereas the Star Trek kiss was scripted. Also, William Shatner claims they never actually kissed, while Nichols says it was a real kiss. In any case, they turned their heads from the camera and the kiss itself was not actually filmed, but suggested.
Note: While this was one of the first U.S. TV kisses between black and white characters, there were many other kisses between mixed-race couples prior to this, especially between Caucasians and Asians.
Kennedy Assassination
November 22, 1963
U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Texas Governor John Connally, and a bystander were also wounded in the attack.
Ida Rubinstein, by Valentin Serov
Ida Rubinstein, by Valentin Serov
Boléro
November 22, 1928
Maurice Ravel's masterpiece premieres at the Paris Opéra. Composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian actress and dancer Ida Rubinstein, it is Ravel's most famous musical composition.
The 1979 movie 10, starring Bo Derek, featured Boléro and resulted in large sales for the piece. It was still under copyright and generated an estimated $1 million in royalties and briefly made Ravel the best-selling classical composer 40 years after his death.
Blackbeard's head hanging from Maynard's ship
Blackbeard's head hanging from Maynard's ship
Blackbeard the Pirate Killed
November 22, 1718
Blackbeard the Pirate (Edward Teach) is killed in hand-to-hand combat by a crew of sailors led by Lt. Robert Maynard. His severed head was then hung from Maynard's ship. The English pirate had served as a privateer in the War of the Spanish Succession. Afterwards, he turned to a life of crime.
Templars Burned at the Stake
Templars Burned at the Stake
Knights Templar Arrested
November 22, 1307
The arrest of the Knights Templar and the seizure of their properties is ordered by Pope Clement V. The campaign against the Templars was started the previous October on Friday the 13th by King Philip IV of France who owed them large amounts of money and used their persecution to free himself of this debt. The Templars were tortured into confessions and burned at the stake.
When Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay was being burned at the stake in 1314 he announced, "God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death." Pope Clement died a month later and Philip died eight months later in a hunting accident.
Since Philip began the arrest the previous October on Friday the 13, many believe this to be the basis for the belief that Friday the 13th is bad luck.
Mike Tyson
November 22, 1986
The 20-year-old boxer Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champion ever by beating Trevor Berbick.
E. coli magnified 10,000 times
E. coli magnified 10,000 times
First Isolation of a Single Gene
November 22, 1969
The intestinal bacterium E. Coli (Escherichia coli) is announced by Harvard scientists.
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
November 22, 1967
The only time the Lost In Space robot utters the phrase "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!" occurs during today's episode of Deadliest of the Species.
He did say similar phrases such as "Warning! Warning".
First Person to Win the MVP Award for Both Major Baseball Leagues
November 22, 1961
Frank Robinson wins the National League Most Valuable Player award; he went on to win it for the American League in 1966.
Lowest Scoring Game in NBA History
November 22, 1950
The Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Minneapolis Lakers (19-18).
Snowmobile Patented
November 22, 1927
Carl J.E. Eliason of Wisconsin receives the first patent for what is considered the modern personal snowmobile. His snowmobiles had a two-cylinder motorcycle engine on a long sled, were steered with skis under the front, and propelled by a single, endless track.
Others had built various "snow vehicles", but this was this first of what is considered the modern-style "snowmobile".
In 1917, Virgil D. White created a conversion kit that converted a Ford Model T into a "snowmobile". He also copyrighted the term "snowmobile".
Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Quebec invented a new caterpillar track that was more suitable for Canada's wetter snow. His new traction system consisted of a toothed wheel covered in rubber, and a rubber-and-cotton track that wraps around the back wheels. He began making 7-passenger vehicles with this design in 1937.
First U.S. Volcanic Eruption for Which the Exact Date is Known
November 22, 1842
Mt. St. Helens in Washington erupts. Ash from the eruption reached The Dalles, Oregon, 48 miles (80 km) southeast of the volcano.
Mt. St. Helens would famously erupt again in 1980, killing 57 people and triggering a massive collapse of the north face of the mountain, creating the largest-known debris avalanche in recorded history.
Birthdays
First Black American Astronaut
Guion S. Bluford, Jr.
Born November 22, 1942
American astronaut, the first black American astronaut (1982) and the first black American in space (1983, aboard the space shuttle Challenger). Bluford was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame (1997) and into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame (2010).
Rodney Dangerfield (Jacob Cohen)
Born November 22, 1921 d. 2004
American Grammy-winning comedian. On the day of Dangerfield's death, the randomly selected Joke of the Day on his website happened to be "I tell ya I get no respect from anyone. I bought a cemetery plot. The guy said, 'There goes the neighborhood!'" His wife then choose "There goes the neighborhood" as the epitaph on his headstone.
Film: Caddyshack (1980) and Back to School (1986). Comedy Album: No Respect (1980, Grammy) and Rappin' Rodney (1980, Grammy).
Joke: Last week my house was on fire. My wife told the kids, "Be quiet, you'll wake up Daddy."
Joke: I was ugly, very ugly. When I was born, the doctor smacked my mother.
John Nance Garner (John Nance Garner III)
Born November 22, 1868 d. 1967
American politician. 32nd U.S. Vice-President (1933-41), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1931-33), U.S. House of Representatives (1903-33, Texas). Garner favored the prickly pear cactus for Texas' state flower, thus earning him the nickname "Cactus Jack" (The Bluebonnet was ultimately chosen). As the vice president had little power, Garner described the office as "not worth a bucket of warm piss."
Boris Becker
Born November 22, 1967
German tennis player. In 1985, at age 17, he became the youngest player to win the male Wimbledon singles title.
Mariel Hemingway
Born November 22, 1961
American actress, Manhattan (1979), Personal Best (1982), and Star 80 (1983). She is the granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Born November 22, 1958
American actress. Film: Halloween (1978), Trading Places (1983), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and Blue Steel (1990).
Billie Jean King (Billie Jean Moffitt)
Born November 22, 1943
American tennis champion, co-founder of WomenSports Magazine (1974). Elton John wrote Philadelphia Freedom (1975) in honor of her team the Philadelphia Freedoms. She defeated former Wimbledon men's champion Bobby Riggs in the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes."
Robert Vaughn
Born November 22, 1932 d. 2016
American Emmy-winning actor. TV: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Napoleon Solo) and The A-Team (Gen. Stockwell).
Edward J. Daly
Born November 22, 1922 d. 1984
American businessman. President of World Airways. Towards the end of the Vietnam War, he used his own plane and money to rescue 54 orphans out of Vietnam.
Richest Girl in the World
Doris Duke
Born November 22, 1912 d. 1993
American heiress. At 12 years old she and her mother inherited between $60 million and $100 million (equivalent to $837 million to $1.395 billion in 2018) from her father, earning her the nickname "the richest girl in the world." Duke posted a bail of $5,000,000 for her friend, former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos after Marcos was arrested for racketeering.
Roy Crane
Born November 22, 1901 d. 1977
American cartoonist. Creator of Captain Easy (1929) and Buz Sawyer (1943). He pioneered the use of sound effects in comics, such as "bam," "pow," and "wham" and was a pioneer of the adventure comic strip.
Lee Patrick
Born November 22, 1901 d. 1982
American actress. Film: The Maltese Falcon (1941, Sam Spade's secretary).
Walter Berndt
Born November 22, 1899 d. 1979
American cartoonist. Creator of Smitty.
Charles de Gaulle
Born November 22, 1890 d. 1970
French general and statesman. He founded the French Fifth Republic (1958) and served as its first President (1959-69). Quote: "How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?" (1962).
André Gide
Born November 22, 1869 d. 1951
French author, winner of Nobel Prize for literature (1947). The Catholic Church placed his works on the Index of Forbidden Books (1952).
Quote: "The color of truth is gray."
Founder of St. Louis
Pierre Laclède
Born November 22, 1729 d. 1778
French-born American fur trader. Founder of St. Louis (1764).
Robert de La Salle
Born November 22, 1643 d. 1687
French explorer. He explored the Mississippi Basin and claimed the entire Mississippi River basin for France.
Deaths
Charles F. Brannock
Died November 22, 1992 b. 1903
American inventor. He invented the "Brannock Device" (1925), the metal shoe-size measurer used in thousands of shoe stores. Brannock managed the company that manufactured the devices until his death at age 89 in 1992.
Brannock was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1992.
The Mouse That Roared
Leonard Wibberley
Died November 22, 1983 b. 1915
Irish author. Writings: The Mouse That Roared (1955, movie 1959). His novel was about a tiny country that believes the only way to help their economy is to declare war on the U.S. and lose, and then receive financial aid, much like the U.S. did with Germany at the end of WWII. Quote: "There isn't a more profitable undertaking for any country than to declare war on the United States and to be defeated."
Come Up and See Me Sometime
Mae West (Mary Jane West)
Died November 22, 1980 b. 1893
American actress, sex symbol. "Come up and see me sometime." In 1927, her play "Sex," which she wrote, produced, and directed, was raided on morals charges. She ended up spending eight days in jail, which she used as a publicity stunt. Her seduction of Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy on the radio prompted an FCC investigation.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Died November 22, 1963 b. 1917
American politician. 35th U.S. President (1961-63), the youngest person elected president (43 years old). He was assassinated in Dallas.
C. S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis)
Died November 22, 1963 b. 1898
British author, Christian apologist. Books: The Allegory of Love (1936), The Screwtape Letters (1942), Out of the Silent Planet (1938), and The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56).
Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz)
Died November 22, 1955 b. 1895
American comic actor. One of the original 3-Stooges (1923-32, 1946-55). He was the brother of fellow stooges, Moe Howard and Curly Howard.
The term "Fake Shemp" was coined after an uncredited double was used to complete several The Three Stooges shorts after Shemp's death. The films were completed using old footage of Shemp and an actor who was filmed mostly from the back.
Shemp appeared in 77 (four of which were "Fake Shemps") of the 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures that have been regularly airing on television since 1958.
Last Shogun
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Died November 22, 1913 b. 1837
Japanese Shogun. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. After a failed attempt to reform the shogunate, he resigned in 1867 restoring power back to the Emperor.
The original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel
The original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel
George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.
Died November 22, 1896 b. 1859
American engineer. Inventor of the Ferris wheel. It was constructed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. His ride was 250 feet in diameter, took 20 minutes per revolution, and had a capacity of 2,160 people.
Henry Wilson (Jeremiah Jones Colbath)
Died November 22, 1875 b. 1812
American politician. 18th U.S. Vice-President (1873-75, under President Ulysses S. Grant). He was having an affair with the Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow and was accused of leaking to her plans of the Civil War's first major battle, the First Battle of Bull Run (1861). The Union, expecting a quick victory, was routed by Confederate forces.
He died in office making Thomas W. Ferry the acting Vice-President.
Anthony Burgess (John Anthony Burgess Wilson)
Died November 22, 1993 b. 1917
British author. Writings: A Clockwork Orange (1962, 1971 movie).
Sterling Holloway, Jr.
Died November 22, 1992 b. 1905
American actor. Voice of Winnie the Pooh, the snake in Jungle Book, and the Cheshire Cat in Disney's Alice in Wonderland.
Scatman Crothers (Benjamin Sherman Crothers)
Died November 22, 1986 b. 1910
American actor, singer, musician. TV: Chico and the Man (the garbage man). Film: The Shining (1980, Dick Hallorann).
Statue of Morris Frank and Buddy
Photo Credit: Kritzolina
Statue of Morris Frank and BuddyPhoto Credit: Kritzolina
Morris Frank
Died November 22, 1980 b. 1908
American pioneer for the blind. Blind himself, he brought Buddy the first seeing eye dog in the U.S. (1928) over from Switzerland and co-founded The Seeing Eye, the first dog guide school in the U.S.
The Doors of Perception
Aldous Huxley
Died November 22, 1963 b. 1894
British author. Writings: Brave New World (1932) and The Doors of Perception (1954, describing his psychedelic drug experiences and from which the music group The Doors took their name).
Longest Home Run
Roy "Dizzy" Carlyle
Died November 22, 1956 b. 1900
American baseball player. He hit the longest measured home run. In 1929 he hit a 618 foot (188 meter) drive off of Ernie Nevers sending it out of the Oakland Oaks' ballpark, over the clubhouse, over the parking lot, and then over two buildings before it hit the gutter of a house leaving a mark. The impact was witnessed by one of his teammates.
Walt Hoban
Died November 22, 1939 b. 1890
American cartoonist, created Jerry on the Job (1914).
Jack London (John Griffith London)
Died November 22, 1916 b. 1876
American author. Writings: The Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang (1905).
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan
Died November 22, 1900 b. 1842
English composer, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame.
Baron Clive of Plassey (Robert Clive)
Died November 22, 1774 b. 1725
British soldier. Founder of the British Indian empire.
Blackbeard the Pirate (Edward Teach)
Died November 22, 1718 b. circa 1680
English pirate. After serving as a privateer in the War of the Spanish Succession, he turned to a life of crime. He was killed by a crew of sailors led by Lt. Robert Maynard in hand-to-hand combat.