This Week in History: November 22nd-28th

Welcome to this week’s edition of the staff blog’s ‘This Week in History!’ You will find historical facts, happenings, and associated books; #1 box office movies; and #1 NY Times best sellers from years gone by. This will be a weekly feature, so make sure to check out each week’s posting! NOTE: Click on any of the below book/movie titles to be taken to them in our online Café catalog!
NY Times Fiction Bestsellers
- 1945 (75 years ago): The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain
- 1970 (50 years ago): Love Story by Erich Segal
- 1995 (25 years ago): The Lost World by Michael Crichton
- 2010 (10 years ago): Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- 2015 (5 years ago):The Crossing by Michael Connelly
#1 Box Office Movies
- 1970 (50 years ago): Lovers and Other Strangers
- 1985 (35 years ago): King Solomon’s Mines
- 1995 (25 years ago): Toy Story
- 2000 (20 years ago): How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- 2010 (10 years ago): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1
- 2015 (5 years ago): The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2
This Week in History
- November 22nd
- 1963- President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. (United States)
- 1995- The first feature-length film created entirely with CGI (Toy Story) opens. (United States/World)
- 2005- Angela Merkel becomes the first woman ever to be Chancellor of Germany. (World)
- November 23rd
- 1889- First University of Wisconsin Football game is held. (Wisconsin)
- 1945- Wartime meat and butter rationing ends in the U.S. (United States)
- 1963- The first episode of Doctor Who airs in Great Britain. (World)
- November 24th
- 1824- Frederick Miller, Beer Barron of Miller Brewing fame, is born in Germany. (Wisconsin)
- 1859- Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species. (World)
- 1971- Hijacker and ‘criminal mastermind’ D.B. Cooper parachutes out of a plane over Washington State. (United States)
- November 25th
- 1783- The last British soldiers on American soil leave from New York City after the end of the American Revolution. (United States/World)
- 1986- Iran-Contra connection revealed. (United States)
- 2016- Cuban dictator Fidel Castro dies. (World)
- November 26th
- 1838- The Wisconsin State Legislature assembles in Madison for the first time. (Wisconsin)
- 1922- Archaeologists enter the tomb of King Tut in Egypt.
- 2008- Ten gunmen, believed to be part of a Pakistan-based terrorist organization, launch a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India that ends three days later with at least 174 people dead.
- November 27th
- 1095- Pope Urban II orders the first Crusade. (World)
- 1882- The Ringling Brothers’ first performance is staged in Mazomanie, WI. (Wisconsin/United States)
- 1924- Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held for the first time in New York City. (United States)
- 1978- Harvey Milk is assassinated in San Francisco. (United States)
- November 28th
- 1520- Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean through what would become known as the Straits of Magellan, becoming the first European colonizer/explorer to reach the Pacific from the Atlantic. (World)
- 1925- The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting. (United States)
- 1994- Jeffrey Dahmer is murdered in prison. (United States)
Recommended Reading Related to Movies/Historical Happenings:
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Memoirs and Misinformation by Jim Carrey
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- The Doctors Are In: The Essential and Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who’s Greatest Time Lord by Graeme Burk
- The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
- Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray
- The Iran-Contra Scandal: The Declassified History by Peter Kornbluh and Malcolm Byrne
- The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo by Juan Reinaldo Sanchez
- The Shadow King: The Bizarre Afterlife of King Tut’s Mummy by Jo Marchant
- The Siege: 68 Hours Inside the Taj Hotel by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy
- City on Edge by Stefanie Pintoff (Novel that takes place during the lead-up to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan)
- Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death by Lillian Faderman
- Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates (Novel based on the life of Jeffrey Dahmer)