12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for November 18, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1626 – St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated in Vatican City.
- 1865 – Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is published, launching his national fame.
- 1883 – U.S. and Canadian railroads adopt Standard Time, creating the four continental time zones.
- 1903 – The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed, granting the U.S. rights to build and control the Panama Canal Zone.
- 1916 – The Battle of the Somme ends after more than four months with over a million casualties.
- 1928 – Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” premieres, marking Mickey Mouse’s official debut.
- 1963 – Bell Telephone introduces touch-tone (push-button) service in Pennsylvania.
- 1966 – Sandy Koufax, at age 30, announces his retirement from Major League Baseball.
- 1978 – Jonestown mass murder–suicide in Guyana claims the lives of over 900 members of the Peoples Temple.
- 1987 – King’s Cross underground station fire in London kills 31 and leads to major safety reforms.
- 1991 – Hostage Terry Waite is released in Lebanon after nearly five years in captivity.
- 2003 – Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court rules in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that same-sex couples have the right to marry.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1956 – Warren Moon, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (69).
- 1962 – Kirk Hammett, Metallica lead guitarist (63).
- 1968 – Owen Wilson, actor/screenwriter (57).
- 1970 – Megyn Kelly, journalist and talk-show host (55).
- 1975 – David Ortiz, Baseball Hall of Famer and three-time World Series champion (50).
- 1974 – Chloë Sevigny, actor/filmmaker (51).
- 1982 – Damon Wayans Jr., actor/comedian (“New Girl,” “Let’s Be Cops”) (43).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1922 – Marcel Proust, French novelist (“In Search of Lost Time”) (51).
- 1962 – Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize–winning physicist (atomic structure; quantum theory) (77).
- 1969 – Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., businessman and U.S. ambassador to the U.K. (81).
- 1976 – Man Ray, artist and photographer (Dada/Surrealism) (86).
- 1994 – Cab Calloway, jazz bandleader and singer (“Minnie the Moocher”) (86).
- 2002 – James Coburn, Academy Award–winning actor (“Affliction”) (74).
- 2017 – Malcolm Young, AC/DC co-founder and rhythm guitarist (64).
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