more events on November 18
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2003
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules the state’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional; the legislature fails to act within the mandated 180 days, and on May 17, 2004, Massachusetts becomes the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage.
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2002
UN weapons inspectors under Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
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1993
Twenty-one political parties approve a new constitution for South Africa that expands voter rights and ends the rule of the country’s white minority.
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1991
The Croatian city of Vukovar surrenders to Yugoslav People’s Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces after an 87-day siege.
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1984
The Soviet Union helps deliver American wheat during the Ethiopian famine.
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1983
Argentina announces its ability to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
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1978
Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones leads his followers to a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after cult member killed Congressman Leo J. Ryan of California.
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1974
Chloe Sevigny, American actress, model and fashion designer noted for her eclectic fashion sense.
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1968
Soviets recover the Zond 6 spacecraft after a flight around the moon.
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1956
Warren Moon, quarterback in Canadian and US pro football teams; his numerous passing records include most passing yardage in pro football (surpassed by Damon Allen, Sept. 4, 2006).
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1950
Alan Moore, writer best known for his ground-breaking work in comic books / graphic novels (Watchmen, V for Vendetta).
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Graham Parker, lead singer of the British rock band Graham Parker and the Rumour.
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The Bureau of Mines discloses its first production of oil from coal in practical amounts.
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1949
The U.S. Air Force grounds B-29s after two crashes and 23 deaths in three days.
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1943
RAF bombs Berlin, using 440 aircraft and losing nine of those and 53 air crew members; damage to the German capital is light, with 131 dead.
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1939
Margaret Atwood, Canadian writer (The Edible Woman, The Handmaid’s Tale).
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The Irish Republican Army explodes three bombs in Piccadilly Circus.
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1936
The main span of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is joined.
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1928
Mickey mouse makes his film debut in Steamboat Willie, the first animated talking picture.
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1923
Alan Shepard, first American astronaut in space.
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1921
New York City considers varying work hours to avoid long traffic jams.
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1912
Cholera breaks out in Constantinople, in the Ottoman Empire.
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1909
Johnny Mercer, songwriter.
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1906
Anarchists bomb St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
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1905
The Norwegian Parliament elects Prince Charles of Denmark to be the next King of Norway. Prince Charles takes the name Haakon VII.
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1901
George Horatio Gallup, American journalist and statistician.
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The second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty is signed. The United States is given extensive rights by Britain for building and operating a canal through Central America.
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1900
Dr. Howard Thurman, theologian and first African American to hold a full-time position at Boston University.
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1899
Eugene Ormandy, orchestra conductor.
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1874
Clarence Day, American writer (Life with Father).
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1870
Dorthea Dix, pseudonym for Elizabeth Gilman, who wrote syndicated advice.
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1865
Mark Twain’s first story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is published in the New York Saturday Press.
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1861
The first provisional meeting of the Confederate Congress is held in Richmond, Virginia.
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1836
William S. Gilbert, English playwright and humorist, one half of Gilbert & Sullivan.
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1810
Asa Gray, botanist (Gray’s Manual).
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1789
Louis Jacques Daguerre, French painter, physicist and photography pioneer.
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1626
St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome is officially dedicated.
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1477
William Claxton publishes the first dated book printed in England. It is a translation from the French of The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosopers by Earl Rivers.