(...some have named you...see 1507 below) Today is Friday, November 3, 2017 - the 307th day of the year, with 58 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 7:38am
- Sunset: 6:09pm
...giving us 10 hours and 31 minutes of daylight. 97% of the waxing moon will be visible, rising at 6:20pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 11:20am
- Low: 4:53am/5:28pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Arbor Day - Samoa
- Bunka no Hi / Culture Day - Japan
- Festivity of San Martin de Porres - Peru
- Independence Day & Discovery Day - Dominica
- Independence Day (from Colombia) - Panama
- Independence of Cuenca Day - Ecuador
- National Day - Moldova
- Sandwich Day - USA
- Victory Day - Maldives
It’s also…
- St. Hubert's Day, patron of hunters
- St. Pirmin, patron of against snakebites and poisoning.St. Martin de Porres, patron of innkeepers, barbers, and against rats
- Cliché Day
- Fountain Pen Day
- Love Your Lawyer Day
- National Jersey Friday
- National Medical Science Liaison Awareness & Appreciation Day
On this day in…
1507 - Leonardo daVinci was commissioned by the husband of Lisa Gherardini to paint her. The work is known as the Mona Lisa.
1631 - The Reverend John Eliot arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the first Protestant minister to dedicate himself to the conversion of Native Americans to Christianity.
1793 - Stephen F. Austin was born. He was the principal founder ofTexas.
1796 -John Adams was elected the 2nd U.S. President.
1839 - The first Opium War between China and Britain erupted.
1892 - The first automatic telephone went into service at LaPorte,IN. The device was invented by Almon Strowger.
1900 - The first automobile show in theUnited States opened at New York's Madison Square Garden.
1903 - Panama proclaimed its independence from Colombia.
1911 - Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant.
1934 - The first race track inCalifornia opened under a new pari-mutuel betting law.
1941 - U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Grew warned that the Japanese may be planning a sudden attack on theU.S.
1952 - Frozen bread was offered for sale for the first time in a supermarket in Chester,NY.
1953 - The Rules Committee of organized baseball restored the sacrifice fly. The rule had not been used since 1939.
1957 - Sputnik II was launched by the Soviet Union. It was the second manmade satellite to be put into orbit and was the first to put an animal into space, a dog named Laika.
1973 - TheU.S. launched the Mariner 10 spacecraft. On March 29, 1974 it became the first spacecraft to reach the planet Mercury.
1975 - "Good Morning America" premiered on ABC-TV.
1979 - Five members of the Communist Workers' Party are shot to death in broad daylight at an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally in Greensboro,NC. Eight others were wounded.
1986 - The Ash-Shiraa, pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first broke the story ofU.S. arms sales to Iran to secure the release of seven American hostages. The story turned into the Iran-Contra affair.
1987 - China told theU.S. that it would halt the sale of arms to Iran.
1991 - Israeli and Palestinian representatives held their first-ever face-to-face talks in Madrid, Spain.
1992 - Carol Moseley-Braun became the first African-American womanU.S. senator.
1994 - Susan Smith of Union,SC, was arrested for drowning her two sons. Nine days earlier Smith had claimed that the children had been abducted by a black carjacker.
1995 -U.S. President Clinton dedicated a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to the 270 victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
1998 - Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, died at the age of 83.
1998 - A state-run newspaper in Iraq urged the country to prepare for to battle "theU.S. monster."
1998 -Minnesota elected Jesse "The Body" Ventura, a former pro wrestler, as its governor.
2002 - At Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, 777 people assembled a 58,435 square foot jigsaw puzzle with 21,600 pieces.
2003 - In Kabul, Afghanistan, a post-Taliban draft constitution was unveiled.
2005 - Walt Disney Pictures released "Chicken Little." It was the first Disney film completely created with computer animation.
2014 - In New York City, One World Trade Center opened for business.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- John Montague 1718
- William Cullen Bryant 1794
- James Reston 1909
- Charles Bronson 1921
- Michael Dukakis 1933 - Politician
- John Barry 1933 - Composer
- Roy Emerson 1936 - Tennis player
- Brian Poole 1941 - Musician (Tremeloes)
- Shadoe Stevens (Terry Ingstad) 1947 - Radio host, voiceover actor, television personality
- Lulu (Marie Lawrie) 1948 - Singer, actress ("To Sir, With Love")
- Mike Evans 1949 - Actor ("All in the Family," "The Jeffersons")
- Larry Holmes 1949 - Boxer
- Roseanne Barr 1952 - Actress, comedian ("Roseanne")
- Kate Capshaw 1953 - Actress
- Dennis Miller 1953 - Radio talk show host, actor,Comedian ("Saturday Night Live")
- Adam Ant 1954 - Musician (Adam & the Ants)
- Dolph Lundgren 1957 - Actor
