November 1 ...

In 1512 Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public. In 1604 William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London. In 1765 the Stamp Act went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists. In 1861 Gen. George B. McClellan was made General-in-Chief of the Union armies. In 1870 the US Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations. In 1938 Seabiscuit upset War Admiral during a match race considered by many to be horseracing's "match of the century." In 1944 Harvey, a comedy by Mary Chase about a man and his friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit, opened on Broadway. In 1950 two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Truman. The attempt failed, and one of the pair was killed. In 1952 the US exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. In 1954 Algerian nationalists began their successful eight-year rebellion against French rule. In 1973 following the "Saturday Night Massacre," Acting Attorney General Robert H. Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor, succeeding Archibald Cox. In 1995 Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, OH, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia present.