This Day In History

On November 5, 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) was founded in New York City. It became the first national engineering society in the United States and remains one of the world’s most respected professional engineering organizations today.

On November 4, 1924, Wyoming once again lived up to its nickname, “The Equality State,” when voters elected Nellie Tayloe Ross as the first female governor in American history. Her election was another milestone in Wyoming’s long record of advancing women’s rights and political equality.

On November 3, 1879, Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson was born in Manitoba, Canada. Over the course of his life, he became one of the most influential and controversial figures in Arctic exploration—celebrated for his discoveries and criticized for the tragic misfortunes that accompanied some of his expeditions.

On November 2, 1889, South Dakota became the 40th state in the Union. Its admission marked the culmination of decades of westward expansion, frontier settlement, and shifting territorial boundaries that shaped the northern Great Plains into a permanent part of the United States.

On October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali faced off against heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman in one of the most famous matches in sports history — the “Rumble in the Jungle.”

On September 30, 1972, Roberto Clemente scored his 3,000th hit on the very last regular season at-bat of his career. He became just the 11th person at the time to reach this milestone. To date, more than 30 players have over 3,000 hits.

Baseball legend Theodore Samuel Williams was born on August 30, 1918, in San Diego, California. One of the game’s all-time great hitters, he holds the record for career on-base percentage.

On August 27, 1959, the third Pan-American Games officially opened in Chicago, Illinois. These were the first Pan-Am Games held in the United States.

American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa was born on November 6, 1854, in Washington, DC. As the composer of several notable marches, including the “Stars and Stripes Forever” and official Marines march, he’s been called “The March King.”

On November 6, 1869, Rutgers College and the College of New Jersey (later named Princeton) played the first game of intercollegiate football in America.

Basketball inventor James Naismith was born on November 6, 1861, in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. He developed the game in 1891 as a safe sport for children to play indoors.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski was born on November 6, 1860, in Kuryłówka, Podolia (in present-day Ukraine).  He was an accomplished pianist and composer as well as the first Prime Minister of independent Poland.