November 18th, 2008

Today in History

2002:
Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

1999:
In Jasper, Texas, 24-year old Shawn Allen Berry is sentenced to life in prison, becoming the third person convicted in the racially-motivated dragging death of James Byrd, Jr..

1883:
American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.

1865:
Mark Twain's story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press.

1686:
Charles Francois Felix operates on King of France Louis XIV's anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.