Today's Puzzle
What does even the wisest man often overlook?
What Happened On
Bean, with Conrad reflected in visor
Bean, with Conrad reflected in visor
Third and Fourth Men to Walk on the Moon
November 19, 1969
U.S. astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean become the third and fourth men to walk on the Moon. Upon stepping on the Moon's surface, Conrad commented, "Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me."
Photo Credit: Michael Kistinger
Photo Credit: Michael Kistinger
Edsel Discontinued
November 19, 1959
The Edsel automobile is discontinued by Ford. With fewer than 100,000 sold since its 1957 introduction, it is one of the most famous examples of bureaucratic failures in U.S. industry.
Rocky and His Friends
November 19, 1959
Rocky and His Friends debuts on ABC. Rocket J. "Rocky" Squirrel's "friends" included Boris Badenov, Natasha Fatale, and of course Bullwinkle J. Moose.
It drew a large adult audience, even though it was a cartoon (and a poorly animated one at that - even by the standards of the day).
It was also one of the first cartoons whose animation was outsourced, with its storyboards shipped to a Mexican studio. One of the creators Bill Scott described some of the problems that arose during production of the series: "We found out very quickly that we could not depend on Mexican studios to produce anything of quality. They were turning out the work very quickly and there were all kinds of mistakes and flaws and boo-boos… They would never check… Mustaches popped on and off Boris, Bullwinkle's antlers would change, colors would change, costumes would disappear… By the time we finally saw it, it was on the air."
Both Rocky and Bullwinkle were given the middle initial "J" in reference to creator and producer Jay Ward.
Photo Credit: Michael Kistinger
Photo Credit: Michael Kistinger
Edsel Announced
November 19, 1956
Ford announces the name of its upcoming radical new automobile. The Edsel would come to symbolize failure in popular culture.
Felix and scene from Feline Follies
Felix and scene from Feline Follies
Felix the Cat
November 19, 1919
The first Felix the Cat film, Feline Follies, is released. It featured Felix (then known as "Master Tom"), an anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes and a giant grin. Felix was the first fully realized animal character in the history of American film animation and is one of the most recognized cartoon characters in history.
The very first image shown by a television studio was a toy Felix the Cat mounted to a revolving phonograph turntable used by engineers as a test pattern. This was done in 1928 by NBC studios testing the first RCA television.
Gettysburg Address
November 19, 1863
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers his famous speech. "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
• The speech was given during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery (now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery).
• Although now considered one of American history's greatest speeches, Lincoln's detractors were critical of it, with the Chicago Times deriding it: "The cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances".
Jeans Ad Banned
November 19, 1980
CBS bans a Calvin Klein jeans television ad featuring 15-year-old actress Brooke Shields as "too suggestive." The ad featured Shields saying, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."
First Color Newspaper Supplement
November 19, 1893
The first color newspaper supplement appears in the New York World.
First U.S. Extradition Treaty with a Foreign Country
November 19, 1794
The Jay Treaty is signed with Great Britain. It was proclaimed law in 1796.
Birthdays
James A. Garfield
Born November 19, 1831 d. 1881
American politician. 20th U.S. President (Mar. 4 - Sept. 19, 1881). He was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau, who shot and mortally wounded Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C.
Guiteau believed he deserved an appointed position due to his support of Garfield's presidential campaign, feeling that he was largely responsible for Garfield's victory. Angry that Garfield rejected his requests, and believing that God told him to kill Garfield so that Chester A. Arthur would become president, Guiteau shot Garfield. Garfield eventually died from the wound. Guiteau was apprehended at the shooting and was tried and hanged for his crime.
When Guiteau was purchasing the gun for the assassination he chose one with pearl handles, because he thought it would look better in a museum. Ironically, the gun has since been lost.
Jodie Foster (Alicia Christian Foster)
Born November 19, 1962
American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Taxi Driver (1976), The Little Girl Who Lived
Down the Lane (1977), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Oscar). She made her acting debut at three years old for a Coppertone suntan lotion advertisement.
John Hinckley, Jr. became obsessed with her after watching Taxi Driver. His obsession led to his attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress her.
Quote: "Normal is not something to aspire to, it is something to get away from."
Photo Credit: David Shankbone
Photo Credit: David Shankbone
Calvin Klein (Calvin Richard Klein)
Born November 19, 1942
American fashion designer.
Dan Haggerty
Born November 19, 1941 d. 2016
American actor. TV: The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1974 movie, 1977-78 TV series, title role). He also helped build the bikes in Easy Rider (1969).
Ted Turner (Robert Edward Turner III)
Born November 19, 1938
American media mogul, founder of Turner Broadcasting, Cable News Network (CNN), and owner of the Atlanta Braves and Hawks.
Dick Cavett
Born November 19, 1936
American talk show host.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
Larry King (Lawrence Harvey Zeiger)
Born November 19, 1933 d. 2021
American Emmy-winning talk-show host. TV: Larry King Live (1985-2010, CNN) and Larry King Now (2012-2020). His career started in 1957 while he was working doing janitorial work and miscellaneous tasks for radio station WAHR (now WMBM) in Miami Beach when a radio announcer abruptly quit and King was put on the air to take his place. The general manager had trouble pronouncing his last name Zeiger, so minutes before going on the air he chose the name Larry King.
Roy Campanella
Born November 19, 1921 d. 1993
American baseball Hall of Famer. National League MVP (1951, 1953, and 1955). Campanella played in the first major league baseball game where a team fielded a majority of black players.
Gene Tierney
Born November 19, 1920 d. 1991
American actress. Film: Laura (1944, title role), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), The Razor's Edge (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), and The Left Hand of God (1955).
Indira Nehru Gandhi
Born November 19, 1917 d. 1984
prime minister of India (1966-77, 1980-84). She was killed by two of her own bodyguards. Four months earlier, she had ordered the attack on Golden Temple at Amritsar, the Sikhs' holiest shrine. Hundreds were killed in the attack. The bodyguards who killed her were Sikhs.
Tommy Dorsey
Born November 19, 1905 d. 1956
American bandleader of the Big Band Era, brother of Jimmy.
Trevor Bardette (Terva Gaston Hubbard)
Born November 19, 1902 d. 1977
American actor. TV: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (Old Man Clanton).
Charles I
Born November 19, 1600 d. 1649
King of England (1625-49). He was convicted of treason by Parliament and beheaded.
Deaths
Charles Manson
Died November 19, 2017 b. 1934
American murderer, leader of "The Family." Manson believed in what he called "Helter Skelter," a term he took from the Beatles' song of the same name to describe an impending apocalyptic race war. He was convicted of the murders of Sharon Tate and others in 1969. He hoped the murders would start that war. His crimes were the subject of the book Helter Skelter (1974).
Emma Lazarus
Died November 19, 1887 b. 1849
American poet. She wrote the poem inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. The famous poem contains the famous lines,
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Richard Mentor Johnson
Died November 19, 1850 b. 1780
American politician. 9th U.S. Vice-President (1837-41, under President Martin Van Buren), U.S. House of Representatives (1807-19, 1829-37, Kentucky), U.S. Senator (1819-29, Kentucky). He is the only vice president elected by the U.S. Senate under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment.
Johnson claimed he personally killed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh during the Battle of the Thames.
When Johnson's father died, he inherited a mixed-race slave (1/8 black, 7/8 European) Julia Chinn, whom he later took as his common-law wife, and with whom he had two daughters. They were prohibited by law from marrying because she was a slave. After Chinn died in the 1833 cholera epidemic, Johnson began a relationship with another family slave. When she left him for another man, he had her sold at auction and began an affair with her sister, who was also a slave.
Rosalynn Carter
Died November 19, 2023 b. 1927
American First Lady.
Mel Tillis
Died November 19, 2017 b. 1932
American country songwriter, singer, actor. Wrote: Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town (1969). TV: Hee-Haw.
Della Reese (Delloreese Patricia Early)
Died November 19, 2017 b. 1931
American singer. Music: Don't You Know (1959, #2). TV: Touched by an Angel (1994-2003). Film: Harlem Nights (1989).
Mike Nichols (Michael Igor Peschkowsky)
Died November 19, 2014 b. 1931
German-born American Oscar-Tony-Grammy-Emmy-BAFTA winning director. Stage: Barefoot in the Park (1963, Tony) and The Odd Couple (1965, Tony). Film: The Graduate (1967, Oscar).
Christina Onassis
Died November 19, 1988 b. 1950
Greek shipping executive, daughter of Aristotle Onassis.
Elizabeth Taylor
Died November 19, 1975 b. 1912
British novelist (not the actress). Quote: "People with no vices usually have annoying virtues." Writings: The Devastating Boys.
Photo Credit: Ragesoss
Photo Credit: Ragesoss
Discovered Vitamins
Casimir Funk
Died November 19, 1967 b. 1884
Polish-born American chemist. He discovered vitamins (1912) calling them "vital amines," which later became "vitamins."
After reading that persons who ate brown rice were less vulnerable to beri-beri than those who ate only fully milled rice, Funk isolated the substance responsible, which become known as vitamin B3 (niacin).
Funk believed that more vitamins existed, and proposed the existence of at least four vitamins: one preventing beriberi ("antiberiberi"); one preventing scurvy ("antiscorbutic"); one preventing pellagra ("antipellagric"); and one preventing rickets ("antirachitic").
Franz Peter Schubert
Died November 19, 1828 b. 1797
Austrian composer.
Anastasius II
Died November 19, 498 b. ????
Italian religious leader, 50th Pope (496-498).
Saint Gelasius I
Died November 19, 496 b. ????
African-born religious leader, 49th Pope (492-496).