November 22, 1963 - The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

The 35th president of the United States

John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960 which was one of the biggest presidential elections because it was the first time presidential debates were televised. Kennedy and Nixon argued with each other very strongly and vigorously. Nixon kept saying that Kennedy was too young and inexperienced to handle all the responsibilities that he would be faced with as president. Kennedy remained poised and many people think the deciding factor in the debates was his charm [1]. JFK became the youngest man to win a presidential election.

Even though JFK was in office just a little past his 1,000 day mark he still managed to achieve great success for the time allotted. JFK's inaugural speech will always be remembered with the phrase "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." [2] JFK was trying to get America back on its feet and moving again. JFK's economic programs, one in which he proposed a cut in the corporate tax from 52% to 47%, helped the country sustain its largest expansion since WWII. Not only did he get economics back on track but he also called for new civil rights legislation because he believed in equal rights and new how important it was for our country.

This day in history will always be remembered . Today is not just a day of weeping but also a day to take a stand on presidential assassinations and to prevent this from ever happening again. Fifty years ago today, President Kennedy was assassinated on a campaign trip in Dallas, Texas. As his motorcade passed by the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza, gunshots were fired [3]. Although they were not far from the nearest hospital, nothing could be done to save the President. At 1:00 pm on November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. The whole nation was shocked and will forever be changed from this event. We have not had a presidential assassination since Kennedys and the Secret Service take all the right precautions to keep the President and officials out of harms way. It's sad that it took an assassination like this one to make us realize that but at least we did something about it.

- Hunter O. and Zach P.





[1] "John F. Kennedy" Presidential Library and Museum

http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/November-22-1963-Death-of-the-President.aspx

[2] "John F. Kennedy Elected President" The History Channel Website

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-f-kennedy-elected-president

[3] "John F. Kennedy" The White House Website

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy

November 19, 1919 - Congress Rejects the Treaty of Versailles

On November 19, 1919 a peace treaty was rejected for the first time. The Treaty of Versailles was a formal peace treaty between Germany and the allied forces and also included the creation of the League of Nations. Representatives from each country signed the treaty but for the U.S to accept the conditions it had to be ratified by Congress. Henry Cabot Lodge was the majority leader in the Senate and he opposed the treaty (1).

Lodge specifically opposed the section about the League of Nations because he thought the U.S would be giving up too much power. Lodge made Fourteen Reservations to go along with Wilsons Fourteen Points which reduced the control that the League of Nations would have over the U.S. William Borah, another leader of the Senate, also opposed the treaty (2).

Once again there was more conflict on the Treaty of Versailles. The Senate considered the treaty and voted on a version that included the Fourteen Reservations. Wilson did not want this so he ordered all his supporters to vote against that version. Borah and “the Irreconcilables”, which he was the leader of, didn’t support the treaty either way so they also voted against it. This treaty fell short of what it needed by a 55-39 vote. Another version without the reservations also fell short with a 53-38 vote (3).

The Treaty of Versailles never passed. In place of the treaty, Congress passed the Knox-Porter Resolution in 1921 (4). This was a resolution of Congress signed by Warren Harding officially ending U.S involvement in World War I. The Knox-Porter Resolution did not form a League of Nations like the Treaty of Versailles did.

- Alex S.




(1) "On This Day: Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles," FindingDulcinea, 19 Nov. 2011, http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/November/Senate-Rejects-Treaty-of-Versailles.html
(2) FindingDulcinea, "On This Day: Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles,"
(3) FindingDulcinea, "On This Day: Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles,"
(4) FindingDulcinea, "On This Day: Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles,"

November 17, 1979 - Thirteen U.S. Hostages Released from Iran

The U.S. hostages were blindfolded and paraded in front
of the Iranian public.

Imagine going to the U.S. Embassy in another country for safety, to quickly find that people from that country have taken charge and are holding U.S. citizens hostage. On November 4, 1979 attack of the United States Embassy in Iran was led by a group of angry students, who quickly captured the building, due to government leader Ruhollah Khomeini . Ruhollah Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician and eventually became the supreme leader of Iran after the Iranian revolution which forced the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Khomeini was anti-American and wanted to protest against the United States. The protest against the United States arose, when Carter allowed the former ruler Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment. (1) Iran demanded the U.S. government send the Shah back to stand trial. (2) In November 1979, Iranian militants, protesting against the U.S.’s refusal to send the Shah back to Iran, captured the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took more than fifty Americans hostage.

During the crisis many hostages were treated poorly. Most hostages were blind-folded and paraded in front of the Iranian public. The parade was not only seen by the Iranian public, but it was also broadcasted for Americans to see. The hostages went for months without being able to contact their families in America to tell them they were okay. On November 17, 1979 Khomeini orders the release of thirteen female and African-American hostages from the embassy. Thirteen hostages were released to alleviate the crisis, because the Shah was on his way to the Panama. After the release of the thirteen hostages in November, only one more hostage was released in July 1980, due to illness.

Many attempts to rescue the American hostages are made by the CIA, but they are not successful. The first mission set out to rescue the hostages by Carter was a complete failure. (5) Three helicopters were sent over to Iran, but neither of the three made it successfully. Upon take off, all the helicopters now functioned and crashed killing their passengers. Finally, on the day of Ronald Regan’s inauguration, all the hostages were freed and safety back in America, to be welcomed home.

The return of the hostages safely back to the U.S, January 1981.

Upon the release of all the hostages, Carter had to unfreeze all the assets of Iran.

The significance of this event is that it ruined Carter’s presidency and caused more problems between the United States and Iran. This event made Carter look like an inefficient leader of our country. (6) Due to the hostage crisis many other problems also began to occur between the two countries. For example, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated further.


- Amanda D and Brandon C


[1] “THE 1979 IRANIAN US EMBASSY SIEGE AND HOSTAGE CRISIS. WAS IT A COVERT CIA OPERATION?” Global Research, accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-1979-iranian-us-embassy-siege-and-hostage-crisis-was-it-a-covert-cia-operation
[2] “Iran-U.S. Hostage Crisis” History Guy, accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.historyguy.com/iran-us_hostage_crisis.html#.UoFtQOKRJag
[3] “Iran Hostage Crisis” Sheppard Software accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Middleeastweb/factfile/Unique-facts-MiddleEast9.htm
[4] “Iran Hostage Crisis” EVResourcesSite accessed 11 November, 2013,
http://evresourcesite.wikispaces.com/Iran+Hostage+Crisis

November 12, 1942 - The Start of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The Guadalcanal Campaign began on August 7, 1942, when Americans landed on the Guadalcanal

Above is the Guadalcanal Island layout. As you can
see, Iron Bottom Sound is to the right of
Henderson Field.

with the objective of denying the Japanese use of the island for their bases to threaten supple routes between the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand (1). Four months later the first Battle of Guadalcanal started on November 12th. During that day the Japanese had came to realize that: “one, that the Americans had far more troops on Guadalcanal than earlier estimates had indicated, and two, Henderson Field had to be neutralized in order for the Japanese to control the seas around the island” (2). Henderson Field is an air landing strip that the Japanese built in order to demolish the Marine’s radio station, food stock and construction equipment. The night of November 12, fights broke out

Above is Kinugawa, a Japanese cargo ship,
beached and sunk on the shores of Guadalcanal.
The Japanese were unable to receive supplies.

between the Japanese and Americans, sinking six Japanese ships and ten American ships (3). At about 1:00 AM on the 13th, a bombardment force entered Iron Bottom Sound, the body of water located at the Southern end of the slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island (4). Waiting for them was an American force of cruisers and destroyers (5). The two main Japanese ships, Hiei and Kirishima, whose job was to bombard Henderson Field into impotence, were sunk (6).

Guadalcanal’s importance meant that fighting continued because, “neither side was willing to give up the struggle to maintain control over the Sound, and thereby denying supply to the other side's land forces” (7). The stage was set, yet again, for another brutal battle two nights later, which began the second naval battle of Guadalcanal. Americans lost three destroyers and a battle ship that evening. The Japanese had lost one additional destroyer that played an important part in taking over Henderson Field. Because of this they have finally given up the war effect to take over Henderson Field. The Campaign of Guadalcanal finally ended on February 9, 1943; the Japanese had lost 31,400 troops, whereas the U.S. had only lost 2,000 soldiers when about 60,000 were deployed (8), both sides lost a lot of ships. But by far the most significant loss for the Japanese was the decimation of their elite group of naval aviators (9). Japan, after Guadalcanal, no longer had a realistic hope of beating the all-powerful United States (10).

-Jenna S. & Jack R.



(1) "Guadalcanal Campaign," Princeton University, Accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Guadalcanal_Campaign.htm.
(2) Nihon Kaigun, "Guadalcanal Campaign - Nihon Kaigun," Accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.combinedfleet.com/battles/Guadalcanal_Campaign#First_Guadalcanal.
(3) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(4) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(5) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(6) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(7) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(8) "Battle of Guadalcanal,” — History.com, Accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-guadalcanal.
(9) “Battle of Guadalcanal”
(10) “Battle of Guadalcanal”
(11) Naval History and Heritage Command, "Guadalcanal Campaign,” Accessed November 7, 2013. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/guadlcnl/guadlcnl.htm.

November 11, 1918 - Armistice Day

November 11, 1918 will forever be remembered as the date the First World War reached a ceasefire on the Western Front, eventually leading to the conclusion of the Great War. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, an official order was passed through the ranks declaring all nations on the western front to cease firing. While June 28, 1919 is the certified date the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, President Woodrow Wilson made an effort for the date of armistice of World War I to be recognized and celebrated.

An Armistice Day celebration in Raleigh, N.C. in 1920

November 11 of that year included many parades and celebrations, including a “brief suspension of business activities.”[1] A congressional act passed in 1938 officially made November 11th a national holiday.[2] The Great War caused horrendous injuries and deaths to all those involved. Speaking on the Allied Powers specifically, they mobilized an estimated 42,000,000 soldiers, and of those, an estimated 22,000,000 were wounded or killed in action. [3]

America was involved in WWII on a far larger scale than in the First World War. During World War I, the U.S. mobilized a little under 4,400,000 troops. While involved in World War II, the U.S. set over 12,000,000 to battle. [4] By 1954, due to the massive number of new veterans and pressure from major veteran’s support groups, President Dwight Eisenhower moved to change the name of Armistice Day to Veterans’ Day.[5] In 1971, Congress decided to alter Veterans’ day even more by shifting it to always fall on the fourth Monday of October.[6] However, not every state decided to follow suit with the federal government. With confusion setting in due to Veterans’ Day being celebrated on the fourth Monday in October in Alabama, and on November 11 in, initially only Mississippi and South Dakota, changing the date of Veterans’ Day yet again was imminent. Slowly from 1971-1975, as many as half

Veterans' Day celebrated in Columbus, OH in 2012

of the states in the union switched Veterans’ Day back to the original date of World War I’s armistice, November 11th. In 1975, President Gerald Ford finally caved to popular support and passed legislation to shift Veterans’ Day to the date we observe today, however, the process to become official still took another three years until 1978. [7]

- Zach P. and Hunter O.

[1] “History of Veterans’ Day,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed November 3, 2013, http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

[2] “History of Veterans’ Day,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed November 3, 2013, http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

[3] “WWI Casualties and Death Tables” PBS website, accessed November 5, 2013, http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html

[4]”By the Numbers: U.S. Military” The National WWII Museum website, accessed November 5, 2013, http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/ww2-by-the-numbers/us-military.html

[5] “The History of Veterans’ Day,” The U.S. Army Center of Military History, accessed November 3, 2013, http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/holidays/vetsday/vetshist.html

[6] “Veterans’ Day” The History Channel Website, accessed November 3, 2013, http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-veterans-day

[7] “Veterans’ Day November 11,” America’s Library, and the Library of Congress, accessed November 3, 2013, http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_veteran_3.html

November 10, 1865 - Confederate Prison Camp Leader is Executed

A crowd gathered around the platform where Wirz was executed.

On November 10, 1865, Union soldiers surrounded an execution platform, all chanting, “Wirz, remember, Andersonville.” The executioner, Major Russell, said, “I deplore this duty,” to which Henry Wirz said, “I know what orders are, Major, and I am being hanged for obeying them.” Major Russell triggered the trapdoor; Wirz fell, but the fall didn’t snap his neck. It took a full two minutes for him to die, while all around him soldiers continued chanting. [1]

Andersonville, officially known as Camp Sumter, became the worst of the camps on either side. No barracks were ever built, forcing the prisoners to live in “shebangs” constructed of scrap wood. There was a stream, but it quickly became polluted and turned the land of the camp into a swamp.[2] The prisioners lacked fresh drinking water and disease quickly spread. The Confederacy built the camp to hold 10,000 soldiers, but that number quickly soared to somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000, with some estimates stretching as high as 45,000. Some 13,000 deaths are attributed to the camp.

Wirz was one of the few political executions of the American Civil War. After a year in Europe operating on behalf of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Wirz returned was given of the Andersonville POW camp, where he gained a reputation for being a “weak administrator …[with] a bad temper.” [3]

Historians debate about how at fault Wirz actually was. He had very little in terms of resources, and in 1864 the Union had stopped prisoner exchanges. When word got out about the atrocities of Andersonville, through photographs and witnesses, someone had to be held accountable. Wirz’s trial took 2 months, and throughout it all he refused to plead guilty to charges of “wanton cruelty.”

- Valarie S. and David P.





[1] John, Simkin. "Spartacus Educational." Accessed November 6, 2013. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWwirz.htm.
[2] "History.com." Accessed November 6, 2013. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-wirz-hanged.
[3] Henry Wirz," The Biography Channel website,http://www.biography.com/people/henry-wirz-560234 (accessed Nov 06, 2013).

November 9, 1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt travels to Panama

 On this day in history, 107 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt took a trip to Panama that would essentially revolutionize America’s trading system in the years to follow.

Shortly after assuming the presidency in 1901, Roosevelt began working to negotiate a treaty with Columbia to construct a canal in Panama, which was, at that time, Columbian territory. When Columbia began to waver in their decision to sign over these rights, however, Roosevelt instigated a revolution between Columbia and their Panamanian subjects. Although the battle lasted less than a day, with it a new nation, Panama, was generated. Through the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, America was able to acquire all rights necessary to construct the passage that would eventually connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, for just $10 million. [1]

Several years after the initial construction began, Roosevelt traveled to the canal site to observe what progress had been made, becoming the first president of the United States to leave the country during his tenure. Roosevelt’s visit proved successful in boosting morale and interest in the Panama Canal project. Upon arrival, the president was shocked by the chaos that erupted from the project’s overall disorganization; workers suffered poor working conditions, life threatening illnesses, and an overall lack of proper nutrition. He rallied to provide a better environment for those employed at the canal, including improved medical attention and healthcare. [2]

Approximately 30,000 workers labored in ten-hour shifts in order to complete the $400 million project by 1914. The Panama Canal stretches nearly fifty miles across the diameter of the Isthmus of Panama and shortens the route from New York to San Francisco by nearly 8,000 miles. [3]

Ultimately, the construction of the canal was a massive undertaking, with massive rewards; bringing forth tremendous economic advantages to the United States. 1974 marked the canal’s first toll increase, raising prices from 90 cents to $1.08 per cargo ton; America’s ownership of the canal allowing the nation to reap all such profits. The record toll amount was set the following year by a passenger ship that was charged $42,077.88 for passage [4].

Because the route through Panama was so significantly shorter than the alternative route, America, as well as other countries involved in trade, were also able to enjoy larger profits from transported goods. Despite the economic advantages that America incurred, however, Panama received hardly any benefit at all. Panamanians were prohibited from marketing goods or services of any kind within the Canal Zone and were often refused employment on the Canal. It was not until 1977, during Jimmy Carter’s administration, that the Panama Canal Treaty was signed, promising to repeal the United States’ power over the canal by the year 2000, at which time Panama would be responsible for the defense and operation of the canal. [5]

Now, nearly 100 years after construction reached completion, the Panama Canal is still being used; allowing shipments of commercial goods to be transported more quickly and efficiently than ever before. Approximately 14,000 ships pass through the Panama Canal each day, traffic ranging from automobile shipments to military vessels [6].

It is thanks to Theodore Roosevelt’s great vision and perseverance that we are now able to enjoy the benefits of the Panama Canal, or as he called it, “This Great Enterprise.” In the words of Roosevelt himself, “The canal was by far the most important action I took in foreign affairs during the time I was president. When nobody could or would exercise efficient authority, I exercised it.” [7]

- Brittany W.




[1,3] “American President: A Reference Resource,” Miller Center University of Virginia, accessed November 1, 2013, http://millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/essays/biography/5

2 “Teddy Roosevelt travels to Panama,” On this Day in History, accessed November 1, 2013, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/teddy-roosevelt-travels-to-panama

4 “Timeline: Creating the Canal,” American Experience, accessed November 8, 2013, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/panama/2/

5 “Panama Treaty of 1977,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed November 1, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/panama/panama-canal-treaty-1977/p12637

6 “What is the purpose of the Panama Canal?,” USA Today, accessed November 1, 2013, http://traveltips.usatoday.com/purpose-panama-canal-63793.html

7 “Teddy Roosevelt travels to Panama on Nov. 9, 1906,” Politico, accessed November 1, 2013, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6790.html