November 19 in History

November 19, 1863: President Lincoln Delivers The Gettysburg Address
The Union had won The Battle of Gettysburg, and the town was planning on dedicating a national cemetery to the fallen soldiers. President Lincoln was invited to make an address for the opening ceremonies. It would not be a joyous occasion but a sad one as the president made this speech. It is good to remember that Lincoln was beginning to get ill on the day he made this speech; he would later come down with smallpox. But despite his illness, this speech would ring down throughout the history of The United States of America.

The speech is only two minutes in length. It is important to note that no exact copy of the speech was given. There are forty different versions of the speech, but all carry the truth of the words.

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

We are now engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives so that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Have A Bad Day Day is celebrated each year on November 19, one day of the year when you can embrace the fact that you are having a bad day and perhaps do something that will make it turn around! 

While the origins of Have A Bad Day Day are unknown, it is thought that the holiday was initially created by individuals in the customer service field who grew tired of telling everyone to “Have A Good Day” and for the customers who are tired of hearing the phrase! 

While we certainly don’t recommend running around and telling everyone to “Have A Bad Day”, today is a day to acknowledge that this kind of day does occur. It is a day to keep in mind that things will get better, and it’s okay to admit that for just one day, things may not be going exactly your way. 

1620 – The Mayflower reached Cape Cod & explored the coast

1805 – Lewis & Clark reached the Pacific Ocean; they were the first European Americans to cross the American continent.

1850 – A patent (#7,784) for magic lantern slides made of glass plate was issued to Frederick Langenheim of Philadelphia, PA as an “improvement in photographic pictures on glass.”

1863 – US President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address beginning “Four score & seven years ago…”

1881 – President Garfield’s (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) cause of death wasn’t so much the bullet wound from his assassination attempt as much as it was the treatment he received afterward. His doctors’ clumsy, unsanitary attempts to heal him resulted in a severe, painful infection that killed him three months later.

1911 – NY received the first Marconi wireless transmission from Italy.

1916 – Samuel Goldfish and Edgar Selwyn established Goldwyn Pictures.

1953 – US Supreme Court ruled (7-2) baseball was a sport, not a business

1954 – The first automatic toll collection machine was used at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway. It only accepted quarters (one was needed).

1955 – National Review published its first issue

1959 – Rocky & Friends premiered on NBC (moved to ABC and changed to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show in 1964).

1966 – #1 Hit November 19, 1966 – December 2, 1966: The Supremes – You Keep Me Hangin’ On

1978 – The Miracle at the Meadowlands – Philadelphia Eagles’ Herman Edwards returned a fumble for a touchdown with 31 seconds left to give Philadelphia a 19-17 victory over the New York Giants.

1980 – CBS banned a Calvin Klein jean ad featuring Brooke Shields.

1988 – #1 Hit November 19, 1988 – December 2, 1988: Bon Jovi – Bad Medicine

1998 – The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.

2006 – Nintendo released the Wii in the US.