November 15th

On this day – 15^th November 1920 – The first League of Nation General Assembly was held

The League of Nation was founded on January 10^th 1920 and is considered the forerunner of today’s United Nations.  It was established as a part of the Paris Peace conference, which ended the First World War, and it was a part of US President Woodrow Wilson’s 14-point plan. Wilson received the Nobel’s peace prise for his work towards this, but the US never joined the organization. League of Nation was established as an international organisation with the goal of maintaining world peace. The organization has never been considered as too successful, although it did have some impact on international issues in the middle of the 1920s. In 1943 was it agreed among the allied power to create a new, and stronger, organisation to replace the League of Nation and this is how the United Nations was created. The league of Nations held its last meeting on 18^th of April 1946 where it officially ended its existence.  

November 14

On this day – 14^th November 1969 – Apollo 12 was launched

Apollo 12 was the second manned spacecraft to land upon the moon. Its crew consisted of six members and the spacecraft was launched 4 months after the first moon landing. Apollo 12was the first to bring a colour television camera to the moon, but transmission was lost after one of the crew members ruined the camera by pointing it towards the sun. The commanders Conrad’s first words when landing was “Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me”, so that he could win a bet with a reporter. The mission lasted until November 24^th when they successfully returned to earth. 

November 13th (2)

On this day – November 13^th 1974 – The Amityville Horror

Ronald DeFeo jr. killed his parents, his two brothers and his two sisters in the early morning of the 13^th of November. At 6.30pm he entered a bar in Amityville in New York declaring "You got to help me! I Think my mother and father are shot!" His whole family were found murdered in DeFeo's house by the police, and De Feo  himself suggested it was done by a mob hit. He later confessed to the murders, where he had hidden crucial evidence and how had re-dressed and went to work as usual, before going to the bar in the evening.  On December 4, 1975 was Ronald DeFeo jr.  convicted for the murders. He is currently serving 6 times 25 to life sentences.

The murders have contracted some controversies. It has been argued that at least two people had to have conducted the murders due to no sign of struggle from any of the murdered family members. Ronald DeFeo has also given varying accounts of what actually happened. He claimed that his sister killed his father, and his mother the rest of the family. A few books and movies have been created about the incident. Amityville II and the Amityville Horror are probably the best known movies about the murders.

Happy Friday the 13^th! 

November 13th

On this day – November 13^th  1940 – The movie Fantasia was released

The animated movie was produced by Walt Disney. The movie was intended as a elaborate Silly Symphony(a whimsical accompaniments to pieces of music), but as production cost grew higher than what the movie could earn it was turned into a feature film. The movie was also a comeback for Mickey Mouse that had declined in popularity. Fantasia was released in thirteen cities across the United States, but were unable to make a profit since it was not possible to distribute to Europe because of world war II. The movie has since been reissued and when adjusting for inflation it is the 22nd highest grossing US movies of all time. Fantasia has been adapted to other media such as video games, Disneyland attractions, a live concert and a theatrically released sequel.

November 12th

On this day – November 12^th  1970 – A whale was blown up in Oregon

Often referred to as the exploding whale is the incidence where the Oregon Highway Division tried to dispose of a whale corpse by blowing it up. A 7300 kg sperm whale was beached in Florence Oregon on the central Oregon Coast. The idea was that dynamite would disintegrate the whale into tiny pieces, small enough for scavengers to dispose of. The final load was half a ton of dynamite. A military veteran with explosives training advised the team to use less then the 20 cases of dynamite. The final explosion created large pieces that were flung in several direction and caused damages even to cars far away. The scavenger birds did not aid the process as believed, it was believed that they were frightened by the blast. The result can be viewed in the youtube movie below. 

 

View on YouTube