November 19
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address on this day in 1863. The speech was considered so insignificant at the time that coverage was limited to the inside pages of the newspapers (page one coverage went to a speech by Edward Everett).
1895 - Frederick E. Blaisdell of Philadelphia, PA patented what he called the paper pencil -- a paper-wrapped pencil with a string for revealing more lead, like those china markers you buy these days.
1928 - After five years of publication, TIME magazine presented a cover portrait for the first time. Japanese Emperor Hirohito was the magazine’s first cover subject.
1932 - Halfback Joe Kershallo scored 71 points to lead West Liberty State College of West Virginia to a staggering 127-0 win over Cedarville College, Ohio. Heck, Kershallo was in the highlight film; he should have won an Academy Award!
1943 - Stan Kenton and his orchestra recorded Artistry in Rhythm, the song that later become the Kenton theme. It was Capitol record number 159. The other side of the disk was titled, Eager Beaver.
1954 - Sammy Davis, Jr. was involved in a serious auto accident in San Bernardino, CA. Three days later, Davis lost the sight in his left eye. He later referred to the accident as the turning point of his career.
1954 - Two automatic toll collectors were placed in service on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. The nation’s first automatic toll collector accepted only correct change. One needed a quarter to activate the green light.
1959 - The last Edsel rolled off the assembly line. Ford Motor Company stopped production of the big flop after two years and a total of 110,847 cars.
1961 - A year after Chubby Checker reached the #1 spot with The Twist, the singer appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show to sing the song again. The Twist became the first record to reach #1 a second time around -- on January 13, 1962.
1962 - For the first time, a jazz concert was presented at the White House. Jazz had previously been served as background music only.
1966 - Six weeks before his 31st birthday, LA Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, plagued by arthritis, announced his retirement from baseball. Koufax compiled a 12-season record of 165 wins, 87 losses and 2,396 strikeouts.
1984 - 20-year-old Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets became the youngest major-league pitcher to be named Rookie of the Year in the National League. The Mets pitcher led the majors with 276 strikeouts.
1986 - Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt became only the third player in National League history to win the Most Valuable Player award three times. Roy Campanella of the Dodgers and Stan Musial of the Cardinals also won three National League MVP honors.
1994 - Nirvana’s album, MTV Unplugged in New York, was number one in the U.S. for the week. The album featured these tracks: About a Girl, Come as You Are, Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam, The Man Who Sold the World, Pennyroyal Tea, Dumb, Polly, On a Plain, Something in the Way, Plateau, Oh, Me, Lake of Fire, All Apologies and Where Did You Sleep Last Night.
1997 - The world’s first surviving septuplets were born by Cesarean section to Bobbi McCaughey of Carlisle, Iowa. She claimed her place in the record books by giving birth to septuplets: four boys (Kenneth, Brandon, Nathan and Joel) and three girls (Alexis, Natalie and Kelsey). The seven newcomers joined a family that already included one daughter, Mikayla. The infants ranged in weight from 2 pounds, 5 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces and were born over a period of six minutes. The father was Kenny McCaughey, a billing clerk at a car dealership.
1999 - The films were new to U.S. theatres this day: Liberty Heights (“You’re only young once, but you remember forever.”), starring Adrien Brody, Bebe Neuwirth and Joe Mantegna; Sleepy Hollow (“Close Your Eyes. Say Your Prayers. Sleep If You Can.”), with Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Miranda Richardson; and The World is Not Enough (“Bond is Back”), starring Pierce Brosnan as 007, Robert Carlyle, Sophie Marceau, Denise Richards, Robbie Coltrane, Dame Judi Dench as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, John Cleese as R and Samantha Bond as Moneypenny.
