1st of November

Today is the 305th day of the year and there are only 60 days remaining.

1512 - The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

1520 - The Strait of Magellan is discovered, the passage immediately south of mainland South America, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during the first global circumnavigation voyage.

1604 - William Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1755 - Lisbon, Portugal is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty and ninety thousand people.

1765 - The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the thirteen colonies, in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.

1800 - John Adams, becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion.

1859 - The current Cape lookout, North Carolina lighthouse, is lit for the first time.  Its first order Fresnel lens cane be seen for about 19 miles in good conditions.

1861 - Abraham Lincoln replaces General Winfield Scott, with George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army.

1870 - The Weather Bureau, later renamed the National Weather Service, makes its first official meteorological forecast.

1897 - The first Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public.

1911 - The first dropping of a bomb from an airplane in combat, during the Italo-Turkish War.

1915 - Parris Island is officially designated a United States Marine Corp Recruit Depot.

1943 - In support of the landings on Bougainville by the 3rd Marine Division, United States carrier forces attack the huge Japanese base on Rabaul.

1951 - Operation Buster-Jangle occurs.  6,500 American soldiers are exposed to "desert rock" atomic explosions for training purposes in Nevada.  Participation is not voluntary.

1952 - The U.S. successfully detonates the first large hydrogen bomb, codenamed Mike in the Eniwetok atoll, located in the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean.  The explosion had a yield of 10 megatons.  It is called Operation Ivy.

1959 - Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jacques Plante, wears a protective mask for the first time in NHL history.

1968 - The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, and originating with the ratings of G, M, R, and X.

1981 - Antigua and Barbuda, gain independence from the United Kingdom.

1982 - Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of their factory in Marysville, Ohio.  The Honda Accord is the first car produced there.

1993 - The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.