On This Day November 16

1992
New Catechism: The Roman Catholic Church releases the first revision to its catechism in 426 years. It was more tolerant toward gays and maintained the Church's position against birth control and abortion.

1973
Alaska Pipeline: Pres. Nixon signs the act authorizing construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline from the North Slope to Valdez.

1965
First man-made object to strike another planet: Soviet Venera 3 is launched. It landed on Venus in March.

1864
Civil War - March to the Sea: Gen. Sherman (Union) leaves Atlanta with 60,000 troops and heads for the sea in order to cut the Confederacy in two.

1762
First Anatomy Lecture in America: William Shippen, Jr. begins a series of lectures using anatomical drawings and casts made by the famous Dutch painter, Jan Van Rymsdyk

1967
Lisa Bonet, American actress. TV: The Cosby Show (Denise) and A Different World (Denise).

1916 d. 1988
Daws Butler (Charles Dawson Butler), American cartoon voice. TV: voice of Elroy Jetson and Yogi Bear.

1907 d. 1997
Burgess Meredith, American actor. TV: Batman (the Penguin), The Twilight Zone (1959, Time Enough at Last - The book lover who finds himself blissfully alone with his books after a nuclear war). Film: Rocky (1976, Mickey, Rocky's trainer). He was blacklisted from films by Senator Joseph McCarthy hearings in the 1950s.

1894 d. 1930
Mabel Normand, American actress. She tossed the first pie ever thrown in a movie (1913, the silent film A Noise From the Deep).

1873 d. 1958
W.C. Handy (William Christopher Handy), American composer, musician, Father of the Blues. He composed Memphis Blues (1912) which was the first blues song published in the U.S.

42 B.C. d. 37 A.D.
Tiberius, Roman Emperor (14-37 A.D.), known for his vices and cruelty to his enemies.

1965 b. 1885
Harry Blackstone (Harry Bouton), American magician, famous for his Hindu rope trick and woman-in-the-cabinet illusions.

1965 b. 1901
Allen Balcom Du Mont, American inventor. He developed the first commercially practical cathode ray tube, marketed the first home TV receiver (1939), and established the Du Mont TV network (1946).

1960 b. 1901
Clark Gable, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Gone With the Wind (1939, Rhett Butler). Warner Bros. Studios had turned him down, claiming his ears were too big.

1948 b. 1877
Frederick Gardner Cottrell, chemist, invented the electrostatic precipitator, used to remove dust and suspended particles from air.

1934 b. 1852
Alice Liddell, English child for whom Lewis Carroll wrote the Alice in Wonderland stories.

1895 b. 1808
Samuel Francis Smith, American poet, songwriter. Music: My Country, 'Tis of Thee (1832) the U.S. national anthem.

1819 b. 1760
John Greenwood, American dentist. He made George Washington's dentures and also invented the foot-powered drill.

November 16

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