It was on this date, November 20, 1862, that Finnish philosopher and sociologist Edward (Edvard) Alexander Westermarck was born in Helsinki, the son of a university Latin professor. He learned English to study Darwin and other naturalists, and became a professor himself — at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1907-1931), at the […]

It was on this date, November 20, 1923, that South African novelist and short-story writer Nadine Gordimer was born the daughter of a Jewish-Lithuanian emigrant in Springs, outside of Johannesburg. Gordimer was educated in a convent school and spent a year at university, but took no degree. Her first short story was published when she […]

It was on this date, November 19, 1933, that award winning American broadcaster Larry King, host of TV’s “Larry King Live” interview show, was born Lawrence Harvey Zeigler in Brooklyn, New York, the offspring of Orthodox Jews who had emigrated from Russia. Young Larry was so close to his father, that when he died of […]

It was on this date, November 19, 1936, American television talk-show host Dick Cavett was born in Gibbon, Nebraska. In his early career, Cavett was an actor in army training films, a stand-up comic, and wrote material for talk show hosts — including Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Jerry Lewis, and Johnny Carson — before becoming […]

It was on this date, November 19, 1938, that American media mogul and philanthropist Ted Turner was born Robert Edward Turner III in Cincinnati, Ohio. Turner grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. He started building his media empire at age 24, after his father Ed put a gun to his head and left […]

It was on this date, November 19, 1962, that American film actress and director Jodie Foster was born Alicia Christian Foster in Los Angeles, California. One of the brighter intellectual lights in Hollywood, Foster graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a BA in Literature in 1985. To read more, go to THIS LINK. […]

The Biblical Flood (2347 BCE) It was on this date, November 18, 2347 BCE, that Noah's Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, after 150 consecutive days of rain. We can be sure that this story is true, because the Judeo-Christian Bible tells us so, the Church Fathers say it was so, the […]

It was on this date, November 18, 1978, that over 900 members of the People’s Temple religious cult, along with their leader Jim Jones, committed mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, South America. To read more, go to THIS LINK. Originally published October 2003 by Ronald Bruce Meyer.

It was on this date, November 18, 1647, that French writer and philosopher Pierre Bayle was born in Carla-le-Comte in the foothills of the Pyrenees, the son of a Protestant minister. In his youth he weighed the merits of Catholicism and Protestantism and apparently chose the wrong team. When the king expelled the Huguenots from […]

It was on this date, November 17, 2001, that the directorial debut of film actor Bill Paxton, entitled Frailty, was first viewed at the Deep Ellum Film Festival, Texas. Paxton, who played “Dad,” was born in Texas, as were his co-stars, Matthew McConaughey, playing the character introduced as Fenton Meiks, and Powers Boothe, playing FBI […]