Once Upon A Time – Nov. 29 – 1877 – US Inventor Thomas Edison Demonstrates His Hand-Cranked Phonograph For First Time

526 A possible date for the Antioch earthquake in present-day Syria (then the Byzantine Empire) which killed 200,000 people.

851 Muslims in Spain release Eulogius, a supporter of a number of recent Christian martyrs, but require sureties that he will remain in Córdoba. Eventually, they will execute him because of his anti-Islamic agitation.

1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army moves into Manchester and occupies Carlisle.

1780 The Congregational Church of Connecticut licenses African-American Lemuel Hayes to preach, making him the first African-American minister certified by a predominantly white denomination. He will later become the first African-American minister to pastor a white church in the United States.

1877 US inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time.

1935 Physicist Erwin Schrödinger publishes his famous thought experiment “Schrödinger’s cat”, a paradox that illustrates the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.

1951 1st underground atomic explosion at Frenchman Flat in Nevada.

1958 Chinese missionary John Ding and his wife Zhu Yiming are captured by Communists in Tibet where they had been evangelizing. They are incarcerated. Zhu will die before her husband and he will not be notified for three years. Then he will be given her clothes and will find the toes of her shoes and the knee area of her dress are worn out from much prayer on her knees. Released after twenty-three years in prison, Ding returned to preaching.

Today’s Historical Events

Today In Film & Tv

1945 “The Lost Weekend”, based on Charles R. Jackson’s novel, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Best Picture 1946).

Today In Music

1994 “My Life” second studio album by Mary J. Blige is released (Billboard Music Award Top R&B Album 1995).

Today In Sport

1987 Joe Montana of SF 49ers completes NFL record of 22 consecutive passes.

Do You Know This Fact About Today? Did You Know?

1972 Co-founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell releases Pong, the 1st commercially successful video game, in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California.

Would You Believe This Fact About Today? Would You Believe?

1781 Crew of slave ship Zong murder about 142 African slaves by dumping them into the sea, to claim insurance.