November 23 – Some important events on this day.
800 👉🏼 Charlemagne arrives in Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III.
1248 👉🏼 Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile after the city capitulates
1499 👉🏼 Flemish pretender to the English throne Perkin Warbeck hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from Tower of London. Invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV
1644 👉🏼 “Areopagitica”, a pamphlet by John Milton decrying censorship, is published
1654 👉🏼 French mathematician, scientist, and religious philosopher Blaise Pascal experiences an intense, mystical vision that marks him for life.
1863 👉🏼 Patent granted for a process of making color photographs
1869 👉🏼 The clipper Cutty Sark is launched In Dumbarton, Scotland, one of the last clippers ever built and the only one still surviving
1892 👉🏼 Pierre de Coubertin launches plan for modern Olympic Games at the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques AGM
1904 👉🏼 III Summer (Modern) Olympic Games close in St Louis.
There have been several Summer Olympic Games in the US, the first in St Louis in 1904, the second in Los Angeles in 1932, third in Los Angeles again in 1984 and in Atlanta in 1996. They will be held in Los Angeles a third time in 2028.
But the 1904 Olympics were notable for the strangeness of one of its events, the marathon. It was held on a particularly hot day, and access to water was intentionally restricted by the organizers. The winner of the event, Thomas Hicks, had been given a dose of common rat poison mixed with brandy to stimulate his nervous system, and would probably have died if he hadn’t been immediately treated by doctors.
The games were not particularly ‘global’ given that the Russo-Japanese War prevented many nations from attending, as well as the fact that St. Louis was considered a very difficult destination to reach.
1942 👉🏼 Chinese steward Poon Lim begins 133 days adrift after British ship SS Benlomond torpedoed by german U-boat and he is the sole survivor.
Chinese sailor Poon was working as a steward aboard the British ship the SS Ben Lomond when it was sunk with the loss of all lives except his own. After a few hours in the water he found an 8 foot raft with some food and a flashlight which initially kept him alive.
Although aircraft and ships did spot Poon Lim, he was wasn’t picked up and survived his ordeal was catching fish and even sharks before drifting to the coast of Brazil where he was saved by fishermen.
1979 👉🏼 Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” released, sells 6 million copies in 2 weeks
1992 👉🏼 10,000,000 cellular telephone sold
2018 👉🏼 US Federal Climate report finds climate change will reduce economy by 10% by 2100 with $141 billion cost from heat-related deaths, $118 billion from sea level rise
2019 👉🏼 Sumatran rhino officially declared extinct in Malaysia after last known specimen, 25-year-old Iman, dies of cancer in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo