The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
Nov. 18, 1942
“The Skin of Our Teeth,” Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning allegory about the history of humankind, opened on Broadway.
ALSO ON THIS DATE 1883
The United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.
1886 The 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York. 1916
The World War I Battle of the Somme pitting British and French forces against German troops ended inconclusively after 41⁄2 months of bloodshed.
1928
Walt Disney’s first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, “Steamboat Willie” starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.
1936
Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.
1959
“Ben-Hur,” the Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.
1966
U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issued a Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence, which did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent.
1976
Spain’s parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37years of dictatorship.
1978
U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., and four others were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900cult members.