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Today (October 27)
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October 27  Poster featuring Hadji Ali Hadji Ali (c. 1888–1892 – 1937) was a vaudeville performance artist famous for acts of controlled regurgitation. Thought to be of Egyptian extraction, his feats included water spouting, smoke swallowing and nut and handkerchief swallowing followed by disgorgement in an order chosen by the audience. The mainstay of Ali's act was water spouting (poster pictured). After swallowing 60 to 100 glasses of water at a time, he spouted it in a continuous stream sometimes for up to one minute. Ali's most famous stunt, and the highlight of his act, was drinking water followed by kerosene, and then acting by turns as a human flamethrower and fire extinguisher as he expelled the two liquids onto a theatrical prop. Ali had a dedicated following on the vaudeville circuit in the United States and performed for heads of state, including Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. After he died in England, his body was offered to Johns Hopkins University for study, though the offer was declined. (Full article...)
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 City Hall station in the 1900s
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October 27
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Tomorrow (October 28)
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October 28  Cucurbita (Latin for gourd) is a genus of vines in the gourd family, native to the Andes and Mesoamerica. Five species are grown worldwide, variously known as squash, pumpkin, or gourd depending on species, variety, and local parlance. The fruits have played a role in human culture for at least 2,000 years. First cultivated in the Americas before being brought to Europe by returning explorers, the plants remain an important food source. Most Cucurbita species are herbaceous vines that grow several meters in length and have tendrils, but bush cultivars of C. pepo and C. maxima have also been developed. Many North and Central American species are visited by honey bees, as well as specialist bees that pollinate only a single species. Most of the domesticated species can be considered winter squash, since the full-grown fruits can be stored for months. Their extracts have many uses, including in cosmetics. The fruits are also good sources of vitamins and minerals. (Full article...)
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 Flight spare of Prospero
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October 28  Members of the 1876 Hartford Dark Blues The Hartford Dark Blues all-time roster is comprised of players who competed for the Hartford Dark Blues, a Major League Baseball club in the 1870s. The team's owner, Morgan Bulkeley, established the franchise in 1874; he gave the on-field captain duties to Lip Pike, who was also the starting center fielder. Among the other players signed by Hartford were pitcher Cherokee Fisher, who had led the National Association in earned run average the two previous seasons, second baseman Bob Addy, and Scott Hastings. After placing seventh among the league's eight teams, the team's roster was purged and captain duties were handed over to third baseman Bob Ferguson, who stayed in the role for the remaining three seasons of the franchise's existence. The change in personnel, which included the pitching additions of future Hall of Famer Candy Cummings and Tommy Bond, improved the team's results. (Full list...) | |||
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October 28
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In two days (October 29)
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October 29  Centre players on their sideline during the game The 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game was a regular-season collegiate American football game played on October 29, 1921, at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts. The contest featured the undefeated Centre Praying Colonels, representing Centre College, and the undefeated Harvard Crimson, representing Harvard University. Centre entered the game as heavy underdogs, as Harvard had received 3-to-1 odds to win prior to kickoff. The only score of the game came less than two minutes into the third quarter when Centre quarterback Bo McMillin rushed for a touchdown. The conversion failed but the Colonels' defense held for the remainder of the game, and Centre won the game 6–0. The game is widely viewed as one of the largest upsets in college football history. It is often referred to by the shorthand "C6H0"; this originated shortly after the game when a Centre professor remarked that Harvard had been poisoned by this "impossible" chemical formula. (Full article...)
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October 29: Republic Day in Turkey (1923)  Marmaray train
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October 29
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In three days (October 30)
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October 30  The tomb of Philippe Pot is a life-sized funerary monument commissioned by the military leader and diplomat Philippe Pot. Pot was a godson of Philip the Good and became a knight of the Golden Fleece; he later served the French king, Louis XI, who appointed him grand seneschal of Burgundy, and Louis's son Charles VIII. His effigy shows him recumbent on a slab, his hands raised in prayer, wearing armour and a heraldic tunic. Pot commissioned the tomb when he was around 52 years old, some 13 years before his death in 1493. The inscriptions written on the sides of the slab emphasise his achievements and social standing. The tomb is made of limestone, paint, gold and lead. Although its sculptor is unrecorded, art historians generally cite Antoine Le Moiturier as the most likely designer. The monument was stolen during the French Revolution; since 1899 it has been in the Louvre, where it is on permanent display. The tomb underwent a major restoration between 2016 and 2018. (Full article...)
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 Monument to the Gozo luzzu disaster
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October 30
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In four days (October 31)
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October 31  Édouard Manet's 1875 illustration for "The Raven" "The Raven" is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. Noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere, it tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing his slow descent into madness. The lover is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. The raven, sitting on a bust of Pallas, seems to further instigate his distress with its repeated word "Nevermore". Throughout, Poe alludes to folklore and classical works. Poe explained in a follow-up essay, "The Philosophy of Composition", that his intention was to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes. The poem was inspired in part by a talking raven in Charles Dickens's 1841 novel Barnaby Rudge. The publication of "The Raven" made Poe widely popular in his day. The poem was soon heavily reprinted, parodied, and illustrated. Though some critics disagree about the value of the poem, it remains well known and popular. (Full article...)
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 Metrojet Flight 9268
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October 31
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In five days (November 1)
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November 1  The de Ros coat of arms William de Ros, 6th Baron Ros (c. 1370 – 1 November 1414) was an English nobleman, politician and soldier. He inherited his father's barony and extensive estates centred on Lincolnshire in 1394. Shortly afterwards he married Margaret, daughter of Baron Fitzalan, whose family, like that of de Ros, was well-connected and implacably opposed to King Richard II. In 1399 Richard confiscated the estates of his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, and exiled him. When Henry invaded England several months later, de Ros took his side almost immediately. After Henry declared himself King Henry IV, de Ros voted in the House of Lords for the former king's imprisonment. He became an important aide and counsellor to King Henry, and regularly spoke for him in parliament. He also supported Henry in his military campaigns, participating in the invasion of Scotland in 1400 and assisting in the suppression of Richard le Scrope's rebellion five years later. (Full article...)
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November 1: Samhain and Beltane in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively; Rajyotsava (Formation Day) in Karnataka, India (1956)  Ansel Adams
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November 1  Seventy-one Japanese books are designated as National Treasures of Japan. The term "National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897, although the definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. Writing was introduced from Korea to Japan around 400 AD (in the form of Chinese books), with work done in Chinese by immigrant scribes from the mainland. The earliest extant large-scale works compiled in Japan are the historical chronicles Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720). Other early Japanese works from the Nara period include biographies of Prince Shōtoku, cultural and geographical records (fudoki) and the Man'yōshū, the first anthology of Japanese poetry. More than half of the 71 designated treasures are works of poetry and prose. Another large segment consists of historical works such as manuscripts of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. (Full list...) | |||
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November 1
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In six days (November 2)
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November 2  Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman. In 1775, Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, despite resistance from Native Americans; by the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone. He was adopted into the Shawnee tribe in 1778 but resigned after his son was killed by members. In April 1781 Boone was elected to the Virginia General Assembly. An account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After the Revolutionary War, he worked as a surveyor and merchant but went into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. He resettled in Missouri in 1799, where he spent most of his remaining life. After his death, he was the subject of works of fiction; his adventures helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. (Full article...)
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 An emu killed by Australian soldiers
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November 2
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In seven days (November 3)
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November 3  Sample ballot from Lake County Illinois chose all 177 members of its House of Representatives on November 3, 1964, in a single at-large election. The government was required to draw new electoral districts before the election, each of which would choose three representatives, but both the legislative process and a special commission failed to produce a district map. As a result, the state's constitution mandated that all 177 representatives were to be elected from a statewide at-large district. The Republican and Democratic parties each nominated 118 candidates to appear on the ballot; voters were allowed to choose up to 177. All 118 Democratic candidates were elected, flipping the chamber from its previous narrow Republican control, alongside the concurrent presidential election won by Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson in a landslide. This election is the only time in American history that a state legislative chamber has been elected at-large. (Full article...)
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November 3: Culture Day in Japan  Truman showing the "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline
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November 3
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