Important Events From This day in History November 4

 

1970 U.S.A. - - Feral Child Genie

1970 : Genie a feral child is taken to Children's Hospital Los Angeles after her mother enters a welfare office in Temple City, California, to seek benefits for the blind. Genie had spent nearly all of the first thirteen years of her life locked in her bedroom. During the day, she was tied to a child's potty chair in diapers and at night, she was bound in a sleeping bag and placed in an enclosed crib with a cover made of metal screening. She was never allowed to talk as her father beat her every time she made any sounds. At 13 years of age her vocabulary consisted of about 20 words. The movie Mockingbird Don't Sing was based on this tragic true story .

1956 Hungary - - Soviet Tanks

Soviet tanks and troops crush protests against Soviet rule with thousands killed and wounded, and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fled the country..

1920

U.S.A. - - New Air Mail Service

Air mail service has opened between U.S. and Canada. The first route had been planned from Seattle, Washington to Victoria, B.C. The pilot of this plane was scheduled to meet all boats arriving and departing from the British Columbia capital area.

1922 Egypt - - King Tutankhamen

1922: British archaeologist Howard Carter and his workmen discover a step leading to the tomb of King Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt..

1931 China - - Manchuria

According to the press, it was announced that the possible inference of Soviets in Manchuria was a "made up" story. The Japanese had allegedly made up this story to cover up an alternative advancement northward.

1944 U.S.A. - - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Governor Thomas E. Dewey criticized President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the reason why the Second World War was prolonged. Dewey stated that the war had continued on as a result of Roosevelt's "confused incompetence".

1953 South Korea - - Anti Communist Protest

A group of UN members along with neutral observers led an angry anti-communist protest. This particular incident took place while a Communist drilling of Chinese prisoners was going on.

1956 Hungary - - Hungarian Uprising

After the Hungarian Uprising last week led by Prime Minister Imre Nagy the soviet air force has been bombing the capital of Hungary Budapest and have now amassed 1,000 Soviet tanks on the outskirts of Budapest to crush the uprising once and for all. In the next month the Soviet Union took back full control of the country deploying tens of thousands of troops and tanks and replaced the head of government with Janos Kadar. During the following months more than 50,000 were killed and 200,000 Hungarians sought political asylum in the West during the Soviet crackdown.

1958 Vatican - - Pope John XXIII

1958: Pope John XXIII the son of a poor Italian farmer was crowned 262nd pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on the balcony of St Peters Basilica with 200,000 spectators watching from St Peters Square in a 4 hour ceremony .

1963 Germany - - Russians

The Russians had stopped another U.S. convoy while it was traveling on the autobahn between West Berlin and West Germany. This halted convoy had just been used in a training exercise in West Germany.

1966 Italy - - Florence Flooding

1966 : The Arno River floods causing the flooding of nearly 2/3rd's of the city of Florence with some areas of the city in as much as 8 feet of water. The floods knocked out all power to the city including hospital emergency generators and caused the death of more than 100 lost their lives. Florence has always been famous for it's historic books/manuscripts and fine art and estimates put the number damaged between 3 and 4 million with 10's of thousands damaged beyond repair and restoration.

1973 Egypt - - Peace Talks

President Sadat of Egypt was scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger. Egypt was skeptical of the intentions of the United States. The purpose of this meeting was to initiate Middle East peace talks.

1973 Holland - - Car Free Sunday

Following on from the experience of "Car Free Sundays" in The Netherlands during the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Netherlands organises the first Car Free Sunday during the 1973 oil crisis with Highways deserted which are solely used by cyclists and roller skaters.

1973 U.S.A. - - Shortage of Electricity

A magazine article was published regarding the possible shortage of electricity in some areas of the United States. Americans were urged to conserve energy in case the Arab boycott would continue for an extended period of time. A gasoline shortage was also expected, and as a result a motion was made to lower speed limits. Measures were taken to help reduce the possibility of brownouts or blackouts in the U.S.

1974 Iran - - US Hostages Taken

1979: Militant student followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran taking 90 hostages. The students were enraged that the deposed Shah had been allowed to enter the United States for medical treatment and they threatened to murder hostages if any rescue was attempted. No diplomatic solution could be found and President Carter ordered a rescue mission in which eight U.S. military personnel were killed and no hostages rescued. The hostages were held in captivity for 14 months and were eventually released when the US Government released $3 billion in frozen Iranian assets and promised $5 billion more in financial aid.

1980 U.S.A. - - Ronald Reagan

1980 : Former Hollywood actor and Republican Ronald Reagan wins the US presidential elections beating Democrat Jimmy Carter with a huge majority.

1983 Israel - - Middle East War

This was another busy bombing day for the Israelis and Palestinians. First, an Israeli bombing post in Tyre was struck by a suicide bomber. Israel then fought back using air fighters. They struck Palestinian bases located in the central mountains.

1985 Italy - - Yasser Arafat

It was revealed on this day that Italian prosecutors made plans to interrogate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He was believed to be a reliable witness to the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro.

1988 U.S.A. - - Computer Virus

A computer virus has infected many thousands of computers connected to the Internet. The Internet ( ARPANET ) currently connects 50,000 computers from Government agencies and Universities. The virus closed down a number of the computers as operations slowed down and the computers were forced to reboot. The virus was targeted to any computer running the operating system Berkeley UNIX Version 4.3. The virus was traced back to a Computer student at Cornell University.

2006 Germany - - The Master Race

A group of children that had been selected by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime to help create an Aryan master race has met for the first time as adults. Children from the Nazis' 'Lebensborn' or 'Font of Life' project have gathered in the German town of Wernigerode to discuss the trauma over their origins.

2007 Middle East - - US Secretary of State states that a two state solution is necessary between Israel and Palestine

The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians is needed. Ms Rice urges Arab states to accept a peaceful and permanent home for Israel, and Israel says there will be no deal for a Palestinian state unless its own security is guaranteed. Rice has gone to the region to prepare for the peace conference that will be taking place in the US that month, but she says that she was not yet ready to set a date for the conference.

2008 United States - - Barack Obama Wins Presidential Election

The United States Presidential election. The Democratic Party did well on the national level, with increased majorities in both houses of Congress and won the Presidency. Barack Obama was the Democratic nominee. The incumbent Vice President, Dick Cheney, did not run for the office. This year's presidential election is the first since 1928 in which neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president was a candidate. Obama will be inaugurated on 20th January , 2009.

2008 United States - - California Proposition 8

Californian voters have approved Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriages. With more than 95% of the vote counted, the measure has 52.1% to 47.9%. The measure to ban gay marriage in California will throw doubt onto the 'unions' of the approximately 18,000 Same Sex couples that have 'wed' during the last 4 1/2 months.

2009 Italy - - Italian leaders and the Vatican are dismayed at the banning of crucifixes in the classroom

Italian political leaders are uniting to condemn the European court ruling that crucifixes can't be displayed in schools, and are a breach of human rights. The Italian government, the Vatican and Catholic right wing parties are dismissive of the European Court of Human Rights ruling, which started from the case that was brought about by an Italian mother having opposed to the hanging of crucifixes on classroom walls.

2011 China - - Many Miners Trapped in Coal Mine

Over fifty coal miners were trapped in a Chinese mine after a rock burst occurred after an earthquake. Eight miners died as a result of the accident while some others were able to escape, and those who were trapped were able to be rescued the day after the incident.

2013 Egypt - - Morsi Returns for Trial

Egypt's former president, Mohammed Morsi, who was kicked out of office in July of 2013 by the Egyptian military after people began protesting his rule. Morsi, along with several other Muslim Brotherhood associates, are charged with killing protesters. Security was tightened with the arrival of the former president as there were calls for protest and people gathered outside where he was being kept.