This Day In History

On November 11, 1889, Washington was admitted to the Union. Ever since, it has stood at the forefront of exploration, commerce, and progress in the American West.

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. He would grow up to challenge one of the most powerful institutions in the world—the Roman Catholic Church—and ignite the Protestant Reformation, a movement that forever changed Christianity and European society.

On November 9, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made history when he visited the Panama Canal Zone—becoming the first sitting US president ever to travel outside the country while in office. His trip symbolized not only his hands-on leadership style but also America’s growing role as a global power in the early 20th century.

On November 8, 1900, future novelist Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Decades later, she would capture the world’s imagination with her sweeping Civil War epic Gone With the Wind.

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. He would grow up to challenge one of the most powerful institutions in the world—the Roman Catholic Church—and ignite the Protestant Reformation, a movement that forever changed Christianity and European society.

On November 9, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made history when he visited the Panama Canal Zone—becoming the first sitting US president ever to travel outside the country while in office. His trip symbolized not only his hands-on leadership style but also America’s growing role as a global power in the early 20th century.

After more than two months at sea, Christopher Columbus reached what he believed was the edge of East Asia on October 12, 1492. In reality, he had arrived in the islands of the Caribbean, but at the time he thought he had discovered a new route to the riches of India and China. The voyage marked the beginning of sustained European exploration and colonization in the Americas, changing the course of world history.

On October 7, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union and United Kingdom. Though it didn’t ban nuclear weapons entirely, the treaty forbid testing in the atmosphere, in space, and underwater.

Actress, philanthropist, and Princess, Grace Kelly was born on November 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After a brief, but successful film career, she retired from acting at age 26 to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco.

On November 12, 1980, the Voyager 1 space probe made its closest approach to Saturn. The probe is still traveling today and is estimated to be about 15 billion miles from Earth.

On November 12, 1903, the 2¢ Washington stamp was issued with a new design after the earlier stamp was deemed disappointing.

Suffragist and abolitionist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York.  She was a leader of the women’s rights movement and the driving force behind the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls in 1848.