Category Archives: Vocabulary

Today in History (November 29th): 1803: Birthdays: Austrian physicist Christian Doppler. 1832: Birthdays: Author Louisa May Alcott. 1835: Birthdays: Chinese Empress Dowager Tz’u Hsi. 1849: Birthdays: English electrical engineer John Fleming, who devised the radio tube-diode. 1877: Thomas Edison demonstrated … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 28th): 1520: Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east. 1628: Birthdays: English writer John Bunyan. 1757: Birthdays: English poet … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 27th): First Night of Hanukkah 1701: Birthdays: Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and inventor of the centigrade thermometer. 1759: Town officials in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, evicted the Rev. Francis Gastrell from William Shakespeare’s home after he cut down … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 26th): 1604: Birthdays: German composer Johannes Bach. 1607: Birthdays: English clergyman and college benefactor John Harvard. 1731: Birthdays: English poet William Cowper. 1778: Captain James Cook became the first European to visit Maui. 1789: U.S. President … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 25th): 1783: More than 6,000 British troops evacuated New York City after signing the peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War. 1835: Birthdays: Industrialist Andrew Carnegie. 1844: Birthdays: Pioneer German automobile designer Karl Benz. 1846: Birthdays: Social … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 24th): 1632: Birthdays: Dutch philosopher Baruch Benedict de Spinoza. 1713: Birthdays: British novelist and clergyman Laurence Sterne; Spanish missionary Junipero Serra. 1784: Birthdays: Zachary Taylor, 12th president of the United States. 1859: Charles Darwin’s On the … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 23rd): Black Friday (Day After Thanksgiving) 1644: John Milton’s treatise Areopagitica was published. 1749: Birthdays: Edward Rutledge, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. 1804: Birthdays: Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States. 1859: Birthdays: … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 22nd): Thanksgiving (Fourth Thursday in November) 1718: Edward Teach, also known as the pirate Blackbeard, was killed off North Carolina’s Outer Banks during a battle with a British navy force. 1744: Birthdays: Abigail Adams, wife of … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 21st): 1643: Birthdays: French explorer of North America Rene Robert de La Salle. 1694: Birthdays: French author Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire. 1729: Birthdays: Josiah Bartlett, signer of the Declaration of Independence. 1783: In Paris, Jean … Continue reading →