Today is November 20 2015

National Peanut Butter Fudge Day: More

• Beautiful Day: More
  
• National Absurdity Day: More
• Name Your PC Day: More
• National Farm-City Week: More
  2010 Presidential Proclamation in the week preceding and ending on Thanksgiving day.
• Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day: More
  Since 2011. AKA: G.O.H.A.R.D (Go Hard).

• Other
  • Transgender Day of Remembrance: More
    Since 1999. In the memory of those who have been killed as a result of transphobia and to raise awareness of the continued violence against transgenders. It commemorates the murder of Rita Hester, a transgender African American Woman.
  • Universal Children's Day: More
    Since 1954. A U.N. recognition day. Celebrated on the day of the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
  • Africa Industrialization Day: More
    Since 1989. A U.N. observance day.

• In 1820, An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America.
  From Wikipedia: 'Essex was an American whaler from Nantucket, Massachusetts, launched in 1799. While under the command of Captain George Pollard, Jr., in 1820 a sperm whale attacked and sank her. The sinking stranded the twenty-man crew in the southern Pacific Ocean with little food and water. During the 95 days that the survivors were at sea, they ate the bodies of five crewmen who had died. When that was insufficient, members of the crew drew lots to determine whom they would sacrifice so that the others could live. A total of seven crew members were cannibalized before the eight survivors were rescued. First mate Owen Chase and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson wrote accounts of their ordeal; these accounts inspired Herman Melville to write his famous 1851 novel Moby-Dick'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1866, Pierre Lalemont patents rotary crank bicycle. In this early model, the peddles were attached to the front wheel. Before his invention, people road the 'Dandy Horse', a bicycle that one straddled and pushed with the feet.
  From Wikipedia: 'Pierre Lallement (French: ; October 25, 1843 – August 29, 1891) is considered by some to be the inventor of the pedal bicycle.
  
  Lallement was born on October 25, 1843 in Pont-à-Mousson near Nancy, France.
  
  In 1862 while Lallement was employed building baby carriages in Nancy he saw someone riding a dandy horse, a forerunner of the bicycle that required the rider to propel the vehicle by walking. Lallement modified what he had seen by adding a transmission comprising a rotary crank mechanism and pedals attached to the front-wheel hub, thus creating the first true bicycle.
  
  He moved to Paris in 1863 and apparently interacted with the Olivier brothers who saw commercial potential in his invention. The Oliviers formed a partnership with Pierre Michaux to mass-produce a 2-wheeled velocipede. Whether these bicycles used Lallement's design of 1864 or another by Ernest Michaux is a matter of dispute. Lallement himself may have been an employee of Michaux for a short time'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1888, Willard Bundy patents timecard clock.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Bundy Manufacturing Company was a 19th-century American manufacturer of timekeeping devices that went through a series of mergers, eventually becoming part of International Business Machines then Simplex Time Recorder Company. The company was founded by the Bundy Brothers.
  
  Willard Legrand Bundy was born on 8 December 1845 in Otsego, New York, and died on 19 January 1907. His family later moved to Auburn, New York, where he worked as a jeweler and invented a time clock in 1888. He later obtained patents of many mechanical devices.
  
  Harlow E. Bundy was born in 1856 in Auburn, New York. He was a graduate of Hamilton College. He died in 1916 in Pasadena, California, after retiring from business in 1915.
  
  An early and influential time clock, sometimes described as the first, was invented on November 20, 1888, by Willard Le Grand Bundy, a jeweler in Auburn, New York. His patent of 1890 speaks of mechanical time recorders for workers in terms that suggest that earlier recorders already existed, but Bundy's had various improvements; for example, each worker had his own key. A year later his brother, Harlow Bundy, organized the Bundy Manufacturing Company, and began mass-producing time clocks.
  
  In 1900, the time recording business of Bundy Manufacturing, along with two other time equipment businesses, was consolidated into the International Time Recording Company (ITR).
  
  In 1911, ITR, Bundy Mfg., and three other companies were consolidated, forming Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), which would later change its name to IBM.
  
  The Bundy Clock was used by Birmingham City Transport to ensure that bus drivers did not depart from outlying termini before the due time; now preserved at Walsall Arboretum'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1902, Geo Lefevre and Henri Desgrange create Tour de France bicycle race.
  From Wikipedia: The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite.
  
  'The Tour de France was created in 1903. The roots of the Tour de France trace to the emergence of two rival sports newspapers in the country. On the one hand was Le Vélo, the first and the largest daily sports newspaper in France which sold 80,000 copies a day. On the other was L'Auto, which had been set-up by journalists and business-people including Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, Adolphe Clément and Édouard Michelin in 1899. The rival paper emerged following disagreements over the Dreyfus Affair, a cause célèbre (in which de Dion was implicated) that divided France at the end of the 19th century over the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, a French army officer convicted—though later exonerated—of selling military secrets to the Germans. The new newspaper appointed Henri Desgrange as the editor. He was a prominent cyclist and owner with Victor Goddet of the velodrome at the Parc des Princes. De Dion knew him through his cycling reputation, through the books and cycling articles that he had written, and through press articles he had written for the Clément tyre company.
  
  L'Auto was not the success its backers wanted. Stagnating sales lower than the rival it was intended to surpass led to a crisis meeting on 20 November 1902 on the middle floor of L'Auto's office at 10 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Paris. The last to speak was the most junior there, the chief cycling journalist, a 26-year-old named Géo Lefèvre. Desgrange had poached him from Giffard's paper. Lefèvre suggested a six-day race of the sort popular on the track but all around France. Long-distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers, but nothing of the length that Lefèvre suggested had been attempted. If it succeeded, it would help L'Auto match its rival and perhaps put it out of business. It could, as Desgrange said, "nail Giffard's beak shut." Desgrange and Lefèvre discussed it after lunch. Desgrange was doubtful but the paper's financial director, Victor Goddet, was enthusiastic. He handed Desgrange the keys to the company safe and said: "Take whatever you need." L'Auto announced the race on 19 January 1903.
  
  The first Tour de France was staged in 1903. The plan was a five-stage race from 31 May to 5 July, starting in Paris and stopping in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes before returning to Paris. Toulouse was added later to break the long haul across southern France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Stages would go through the night and finish next afternoon, with rest days before riders set off again. But this proved too daunting and the costs too great for most and only 15 competitors had entered. Desgrange had never been wholly convinced and he came close to dropping the idea. Instead, he cut the length to 19 days, changed the dates to 1 to 19 July, and offered a daily allowance to those who averaged at least 20 km/h on all the stages, equivalent to what a rider would have expected to earn each day had he worked in a factory. He also cut the entry fee from 20 to 10 francs and set the first prize at 12,000 francs and the prize for each day's winner at 3,000 francs. The winner would thereby win six times what most workers earned in a year. That attracted between 60 and 80 entrants – the higher number may have included serious inquiries and some who dropped out – among them not just professionals but amateurs, some unemployed, some simply adventurous.
  
  The first Tour de France started almost outside the Café Reveil-Matin at the junction of the Melun and Corbeil roads in the village of Montgeron. It was waved away by the starter, Georges Abran, at 3:16 p.m. on 1 July 1903. L'Auto hadn't featured the race on its front page that morning.
  
  Among the competitors were the eventual winner, Maurice Garin, his well-built rival Hippolyte Aucouturier, the German favourite Josef Fischer, and a collection of adventurers including one competing as "Samson".
  
  Many riders dropped out of the race after completing the initial stages as the physical effort the tour required was just too much. Only a mere 24 entrants remained at the end of the fourth stage. The race finished on the edge of Paris at Ville d'Avray, outside the Restaurant du Père Auto, before a ceremonial ride into Paris and several laps of the Parc des Princes. Garin dominated the race, winning the first and last two stages, at 25.68 km/h. The last rider, Millocheau, finished 64h 47m 22s behind him.
  
  L'Auto's mission was accomplished as throughout the race circulation of the publication doubled, making the race something much larger than Desgrange had ever hoped for'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1923, Garrett Morgan invents and patentsthe traffic signal. It was a manual lever device with semaphore like stop, go and caution signs.
  From Wikipedia: 'Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. (March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963) was an African- American inventor and community leader. He was the subject of a newspaper feature in Cleveland, Ohio, for a heroic rescue in 1916 of workers trapped within a water intake tunnel, 50 ft (15 m) beneath Lake Erie. He performed his rescue using a hood fashioned to protect his eyes from smoke and featuring a series of air tubes that hung near the ground to draw clean air beneath the rising smoke. This enabled Morgan to lengthen his ability to endure the inhospitable conditions of a smoke-filled room. Morgan is also credited as the first African American in Cleveland to own an automobile, and as the inventor of the electric traffic signal feature red yellow and green indicators. His other inventions include the development of a chemical for hair-straightening.
  
  The first American-made automobiles were introduced to consumers just before the turn of the twentieth century, and pedestrians, bicycles, animal-drawn wagons and motor vehicles all had to share the same roads. To deal with the growing problem of traffic accidents, a number of versions of traffic signaling devices began to be developed, starting around 1913.
  
  Morgan had witnessed a serious accident at an intersection, and he filed a patent for traffic control device in 1922.
  
  In 1923, the US Patent Office granted Patent No. 1,475,024 to Garrett Morgan for his three-position traffic signal. Though Morgan's was not the first traffic signal (that one had been installed in London in 1868), it was an important innovation nonetheless. By having a third position besides just "Stop" and "Go," it regulated crossing vehicles more safely than earlier signals had'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1929, The radio program, The Rise of the Goldbergs, later known as, The Goldbergs, made its debut on the NBC Blue Network.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Goldbergs is a comedy-drama broadcast from 1929 to 1946 on American radio, and from 1949 to 1956 on American television. It was adapted into a 1948 play, Me and Molly; a 1950 film, The Goldbergs; and a 1973 Broadway musical, Molly.
  
  The program was devised by writer-actress Gertrude Berg in 1928 and sold to the NBC radio network the following year. It was a domestic comedy featuring the home life of a Jewish family, supposedly located at 1038 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx. In addition to writing the scripts and directing each episode, Berg starred as bighearted, lovingly meddlesome, and somewhat stereotypical Jewish matriarch Molly Goldberg. The show began as a portrait of Jewish tenement life before later evoking such growing pains as moving into a more suburban setting and struggling with assimilation while sustaining their roots.
  
  The Goldbergs began as a weekly 15-minute program called The Rise of the Goldbergs on November 20, 1929, going daily in 1931. The series moved to CBS in 1936 with the title shortened to The Goldbergs. Like other 15-minute comedies of the day, such as Amos 'n' Andy, Lum and Abner, Easy Aces, Vic and Sade and Myrt and Marge, The Goldbergs was a serial with running storylines. Berg's usual introduction—in character as Molly, hollering, "Yoo-hoo! Is anybody...?"—became a catchphrase. In the 1940s, this was followed by Bud Collyer warbling, "There she is, folks—that's Molly Goldberg, a woman with a place in every heart and a finger in every pie".
  
  When Gertrude Berg missed a couple of weeks due to illness, stations carrying the popular show were flooded with get-well mail. At the height of the show's popularity, Life wrote: "For millions of Americans, listening to The Goldbergs... has been a happy ritual akin to slipping on a pair of comfortable old shoes that never seem to wear out".
  
  Radio historians Frank Buxton and Bill Owen, in The Big Broadcast 1920–1950, noted that The Goldbergs, which they considered a soap opera as much as a comedy, "differed from most of the other 'soaps' in that its leading characters lived through relatively normal situations. Even though it was the story of a poor Jewish family in the Bronx, New York, it had identification for a wide segment of listeners". Of the 15-minute serial comedies, only Amos 'n' Andy enjoyed a longer radio life than The Goldbergs.
  
  The role of husband Jake Goldberg was first played by Himan Brown and later by James R. Waters. When Waters died suddenly in 1945, Berg resisted recasting the role. Instead, she simply had Molly refer to Jake, occasionally setting up dialogue in which his reply was not heard when she spoke to him.
  
  Berg's portrayal of the Jewish mother stereotype emphasized the positive. "This series has done more to set us Jews right with the 'goyim' than all the sermons ever preached by the Rabbis," wrote one Jewish educator'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1943, During World War II:, the Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins. The United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. The battle ended on November 23. The US Marines suffered 1,009 killed, 2,101 wounded. The US Navy suffered 687 killed when the USS Liscome Bay was sunk. The Japanese suffered 4,690 killed, 17 soldiers captured and 129 forced labors (mostly Koreans) captured.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that was fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.
  
  The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings had met little or no initial resistance, but this time the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. had suffered similar casualties in other campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but in this case the losses were incurred within the space of 76 hours.
  
  The Gilbert Islands are part of Micronesia. They became a colony of the British Empire in January 1916. They were invaded and occupied by the Empire of Japan in December 1941. The battle was fought almost two years later. In July 1979 the islands became independent from the United Kingdom and now comprise part of the nation of Kiribati'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1953, Scott Crossfield in a Douglas Skyrocket, is the first to break Mach 2.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (or D-558-II) was a rocket and jet-powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. On 20 November 1953, shortly before the 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 1,290 mph (2076 km/h), the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1954, KTRK TV channel 13 in Houston, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting. KHOU was in March 1953 and KPRC in Jan. 1949.
  From Wikipedia: 'KTRK-TV, virtual channel and VHF digital channel 13, is an ABC owned-and-operated television station located in Houston, Texas, United States. The station is owned by the ABC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (through its Disney-ABC Television Group division). KTRK maintains studio facilities located on Bissonnet Street in Houston's Upper Kirby district, and its transmitter is located in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County (near Missouri City).
  
  The station grew out of the Federal Communications Commission-imposed VHF "freeze", when three entities vying for the channel 13 assignment, including the Houston Chronicle, decided to merge as Houston Consolidated Television. The group also bought the studio facilities of KNUZ-TV (channel 39), a DuMont affiliate which had gone dark. The station first signed on the air on November 20, 1954 as KTRK-TV; as the Chronicle was the largest shareholder in the company, the callsign was derived from the Chronicle's radio station, KTRH. The station has been aligned with ABC since its debut; during the late 1950s, the station also had a brief affiliation with the NTA Film Network. The station's original studio facilities were located at 4513 Cullen Boulevard (at the defunct Texas Television Center district on the University of Houston campus); this studio later housed KHTV (now KIAH, the present channel 39) and PBS member station KUHT (channel 8).
  
  In 1955, the Chronicle bought out its partners. Although this theoretically left the paper free to change its callsign to "KTRH-TV" to match its radio sister, it opted not to. However, for years it called itself "The Houston Chronicle Station." Soon afterward, the station moved to its current Bissonnet Street facility. The studio was the first domed structure in town, predating the better-known Astrodome by ten years. Both projects were built by the same architect, Hermon Lloyd. Like many stations located on "unlucky" channel 13, it used a black cat as its mascot'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1962, Cuban missile crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (Spanish: Crisis de octubre), the Caribbean Crisis, or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. Along with being televised worldwide, it was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war.
  
  In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to agree to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter future harassment of Cuba. An agreement was reached during a secret meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962 and construction of a number of missile launch facilities started later that summer.
  
  The 1962 midterm elections were under way in the United States and the White House had denied charges that it was ignoring dangerous Soviet missiles 90 miles from Florida. These missile preparations were confirmed when an Air Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range (SS-4) and intermediate-range (R-14) ballistic missile facilities. The United States established a military blockade to prevent further missiles from entering Cuba. It announced that they would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba and demanded that the weapons already in Cuba be dismantled and returned to the USSR.
  
  After a long period of tense negotiations, an agreement was reached between President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for a U.S. public declaration and agreement never to invade Cuba again without direct provocation. Secretly, the United States also agreed that it would dismantle all U.S.-built Jupiter MRBMs, which were deployed in Turkey and Italy against the Soviet Union but were not known to the public.
  
  When all offensive missiles and Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers had been withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally ended on November 20, 1962. The negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union pointed out the necessity of a quick, clear, and direct communication line between Washington and Moscow. As a result, the Moscow–Washington hotline was established. A series of agreements sharply reduced U.S.–Soviet tensions during the following years'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1998, The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
  From Wikipedia: 'Zarya (Red Sky Glow, Aurora, Sunrise), also known as the Functional Cargo Block or FGB, was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly. With the launch and assembly in orbit of other modules with more specialized functionality, Zarya is now primarily used for storage, both inside the pressurized section and in the externally mounted fuel tanks. The Zarya is a descendant of the TKS spacecraft designed for the Russian Salyut program. The name Zarya, which means sunrise, was given to the FGB because it signified the dawn of a new era of international cooperation in space. Although it was built by a Russian company, it is owned by the United States'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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Tomorrow's food holiday is 'National Peanut Butter Fudge Day'.
[The Hankster says] A marriage made in culinary heaven.


It's 'Beautiful Day' tomorrow.
[The Hankster says That is, if you choose to make it so.

Let your crazy side out for tomorrow's 'National Absurdity Day'.
[The Hankster says] After all it's going to be a beautiful day.

We had name your car day, a few months ago. Now it is 'Name Your PC Day' tomorrow.
[The Hankster says] What I named the PC is not important. What I call it when it acts up, is. Well, if not more important, at least it is louder.

Tomorrow is 'National Farm-City Week'. 2010 Presidential Proclamation in the week preceding and ending on Thanksgiving day.
[The Hankster says] There should be a state, county or city observance near you.

It will be 'Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day'. Since 2011. AKA: G.O.H.A.R.D (Go Hard).
[The Hankster says] I will only extend my hand for a hardy shake, unless they have already been to the showers. Then a politically correct hug is alright.


Awareness / Observance Days on: November 20
o Other
- 'Transgender Day of Remembrance'. Since 1999. In the memory of those who have been killed as a result of transphobia and to raise awareness of the continued violence against transgenders. It commemorates the murder of Rita Hester, a transgender African American Woman.

'Universal Children's Day'. Since 1954. A U.N. recognition day. Celebrated on the day of the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
'Africa Industrialization Day'. Since 1989. A U.N. observance day.


Historical events in the past on: November 20

In 1820, An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. From Wikipedia: 'The Essex was an American whaleship from Nantucket, Massachusetts. The ship, captained by George Pollard, Jr., was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820. The twenty-man crew spent months at sea, having to resort to cannibalism to survive, before the final eight survivors were rescued. First mate Owen Chase and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson wrote accounts of the ordeal, and the incident inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick'.

In 1866, Pierre Lalemont patents rotary crank bicycle. In this early model, the peddles were attached to the front wheel. Before his invention, people road the 'Dandy Horse', a bicycle that one straddled and pushed with the feet.

In 1888, Willard Bundy patents timecard clock.

In 1902, Geo Lefevre and Henri Desgrange create Tour de France bicycle race.

In 1923, Garrett Morgan invents and patents the traffic signal. From Wikipedia: 'In 1923, the U.S. Patent Office granted Patent No. 1,475,074 to Garrett Morgan for his three-position traffic signal. Though Morgan's was not the first traffic signal (that one had been installed in London in 1868), it was an important innovation nonetheless: By having a third position besides just 'Stop' and 'Go', it regulated crossing vehicles more safely than earlier signals had'.

In 1929, The radio program, The Rise of the Goldbergs, later known as, The Goldbergs, made its debut on the NBC Blue Network. From Wikipedia; 'The Goldbergs is a comedy-drama broadcast from 1929 to 1946 on American radio, and from 1949 to 1956 on American television. It was adapted into a 1948 play, Me and Molly; a 1950 film, The Goldbergs; and a 1973 Broadway musical, Molly'.

In 1943, During World War II:, the Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins. The United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. The battle ended on November 23. The US Marines suffered 1,009 killed, 2,101 wounded. The US Navy suffered 687 killed when the USS Lissome Bay was sunk. The Japanese suffered 4,690 killed, 17 soldiers captured and 129 forced labors (mostly Koreans) captured.

In 1953, Scott Crossfield in a Douglas Skyrocket, is the first to break Mach 2. From Wikipedia: 'The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (or D-558-II) was a rocket and jet-powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. On 20 November 1953, shortly before the 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 1,290 mph (2076 km/h), the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound.'.

In 1954, KTRK TV channel 13 in Houston, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting. KHOU was in March 1953 and KPRC in Jan. 1949

In 1962, Cuban missile crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.

In 1985, Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released, having been announced a few days prior.

In 1998, The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.

No. 1 song

• I Hear a Symphony - The Supremes: More
  'Get Off of My Cloud' has been displaced by 'I Hear a Symphony', which will hold the no. 1 spot until November 27 1965, when '1-2-3 by Len Barry', takes over.

Top movie

• The Cincinnati Kid More
  Having displaced 'King Rat', it will be there until the weekend box office of November 28 1965 when, 'Harum Scarum', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: November 20 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: November 20 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 20th November More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 20th November More
• On-This-day.com history 20th November More
• On-This-day.com music history 20th November More
• Wikipedia.com: History November 20 More

Monthly holiday / awareness days in November

Food
Banana Pudding Lovers Month
National Georgia Pecan Month
National Peanut Butter Lovers Month
National Pomegranate Month
Sweet Potato Awareness Month
Teff and Millet Month
Vegan Month

Animal / Pet
Adopt A Senior Pet Month
Adopt A Turkey Month
Manatee Awareness Month
National Adoption Month
National Pet Cancer Awareness Month
Pet Diabetes Month

Health
American and National Diabetes Month
Diabetic Eye Disease Month
Epilepsy Awareness Month
Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Movember (Mens Health)
National PPSI AIDS Awareness Month
National Alzheimer's Disease Month
National COPD Month
National Diabetes Month
National Family Caregivers Month
National Healthy Skin Month
National Home Care and Hospice Month
National Impotency Month
National Long-term Care Awareness Month
National Marrow Awareness Month
National Medical Science Liaison (MSL) Awareness and Appreciation Month
National PPSI Aids Awareness Month
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Prematurity Awareness Month
PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month
Stomach Cancer Awareness Month

Other
American Indian Heritage Month
Aviation History Month
Family Stories Month
Historic Bridge Awareness Month
MADD's Tie One On For Safety Holiday Campaign (11/16-12/31)
Military Family Appreciation Month
National Entrepreneurship Month
National Inspirational Role Models Month
National Memoir Writing Month
National Native American Heritage Month
National Family Literacy Month
National Novel Writing Month
National Runaway Prevention Month
National Scholarship Month
Picture Book Month
Worldwide Bereaved Siblings Month
World Sponge Month

November is:

November origin (from Wikipedia): 'November is the eleventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with the length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar. November retained its name (from the Latin novem meaning 'nine') when January and February were added to the Roman calendar. '

'November is a month of spring in the Southern Hemisphere and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, November in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of May in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.'

November at Wikipedia: More

If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago, or your 45 RPM record player was broke, you might watch one of these shows on TV.
From this Wikipedia article: More

Best selling books of 1965 More

• Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
• NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
• Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
• NASA TV: (video feed) More
  NASA TV schedule: More
• Public Domain eBook Links

  Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

• Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
  Home page: More
  RSS: More

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.

US Government Holidays

• 2015 Postal Holidays More
• 2015 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

• List of holidays by country More
• Holidays and Observances around the World More