The Dow Jones fell by a record 777.68 points in 2008. The Hindenburg Line was broken during World War I. The Mayak Nuclear Power Plant accident exposed 500,000 people to radiation. The London Metropolitan Police was founded in 1829. Italy and the US signed an armistice agreement in 1943. The Space Shuttle Discovery launched in 1988. Stacy Allison became the first American woman to summit Everest in the same year. John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first billionaire in 1916. The world’s first nuclear power plant was intentionally demolished in 2007. The Washington National Cathedral’s cornerstone was laid in 1907.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its largest one-day decline in history. (2008) In the wake of the bankruptcies of Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers and the US House of Representatives voting against a US$700 billion bailout, the Dow fell 777.68 points.
Allied forces broke through the German Hindenburg Line. (1918) At a defining moment in World War I, the German defense line was broken during part of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. The war ended shortly after November 11th.
An accident resulted in the release of radioactive material at the Mayak Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union. (1957) The Soviet government kept the contamination secret for 30 years. The accident exposed about 500,000 people to levels of radiation twenty times higher than the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
The London Metropolitan Police is founded. (1829) Also called ‘Scotland Yard’ and ‘The Met’, the police force protects the royal family and works in counter-terrorism as well as policing London.
Italy and the United States sign an armistice agreement during World War II. (1943) Italy had previously been an ally of the Axis powers under dictator Benito Mussolini. When Mussolini was removed from power in July, Pietro Badoglio became Prime Minister of Italy. He signed an armistice with US President Dwight D. Eisenhower – joining Allied forces – while he was aboard the battleship HMS Nelson off the coast of Malta.
NASA has launched the Space Shuttle Discovery, the first manned flight since the Challenger disaster. (1988) This flight of Discovery was also the first mission since Apollo 11 to be staffed exclusively by veteran astronauts. The Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the seven-member crew died when the Shuttle broke up 73 seconds after launch.
The first American woman to reach the summit of Everest. (1988) Oregon resident Stacy Allison summited the highest point on Earth: 29,035 feet (about 8,850 meters). The first person ever to summit Mount Everest was New Zealander Edmund Hillary, who summited the mountain in 1953.
John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first billionaire. (1916) Rockefeller was a New York City oil tycoon and generous philanthropist – he gave much of his wealth to charity. He also started his own charitable foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, in 1913.
The world’s first nuclear power plant was intentionally detonated in a controlled demolition. (2007) Queen Elizabeth II opened the station in 1956. It supplied commercial electricity for 47 years before being closed in 2003 and later demolished on this day.
The cornerstone of the Washington National Cathedral was laid. (1907) Construction ceremoniously began before a crowd of over 20,000, including US President Theodore Roosevelt. The construction of the cathedral, which is the sixth largest in the world, took 6 years.
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