November 25 in History

1792 – Robert B. Thomas first published the Old Farmer’s Almanac. He added “Old” to the title in 1832 because there was so much competition in the Farmer’s Almanac business.

1884 – The patent (#308,422) for the process of evaporated milk was issued to John Meyenberg of St Louis, Missouri.

1920 – The Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade is the oldest in the US, started on this date.

1937 – World’s Fair of Paris (Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne – International Exposition dedicated to Art and Technology in Modern Life) closed with 31.2 million visitors.

1940 – Woody Woodpecker debuted with the release of Walter Lantz’s “Knock Knock.” He was the cartoon’s antagonist to Andy Panda (an already established character).

1947 – The Hollywood Ten consisting of Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo, were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to give testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

1952 – Agatha Christie’s murder-mystery (East End) play The Mousetrap opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, eventually becoming the longest continuously-running play in history.

1959 – Once Upon a Mattress opened at Alvin Theater in New York City. The play was written as an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.

1963 – John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The flags in Arlington National Cemetery are flown at half-staff from a half hour before the first funeral until a half hour after the last funeral each day.

#1 Hit November 25, 1967 – December 1, 1967: Strawberry Alarm Clock – Incense and Peppermints

1973 – Maximum speed limit was cut to 55 MPH as an energy conservation measure in the US.

1975 – The patent (#3,922,552) for a whole-body X-ray scanner was issued to Robert S. Ledley.

1979 – Pat Summerall and John Madden broadcasted an NFL game (Vikings vs Buccaneers) together for the first time.

1984 – Bob Geldof founded Band Aid to help raise money to assist famine-stricken Ethiopia, recorded the single Do They Know It’s Christmas in a London studio. The group included Adam Clayton (U2), Phil Collins (Genesis, solo), Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats), Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet), Chris Cross (Ultravox), John Taylor (Duran Duran), Paul Young, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran), Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats), Marilyn, Keren (Bananarama), Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Jody Watley (Shalamar), Bono (U2), Paul Weller (The Style Council), James Taylor (Kool & The Gang), Peter Blake (credited as ‘sleeve artist’), George Michael (Wham!), Midge Ure (Ultravox), Martin Ware (Heaven 17), John Keeble (Spandau Ballet), Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Roger Taylor (Duran Duran), Sara (Bananarama), Siobhan (Bananarama), Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats), Francis Rossi (Status Quo), Robert ‘Kool’ Bell (Kool & the Gang), Dennis Thomas (Kool & the Gang), Andy Taylor (Duran Duran), Jon Moss (Culture Club), Sting (The Police), Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats), Boy George (Culture Club), Holly (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings) and David Bowie.

#1 Hit November 25, 1989 – December 8, 1989: Milli Vanilli – Blame It on the Rain

#1 Hit November 25, 1995 – December 1, 1995: Whitney Houston – Exhale (Shoop Shoop)

2009 – Wikileaks – Information about 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon were distributed online, with more than 500,000 intercepted pager messages, mainly from US officials, posted by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.