November 20th Major News Events

1953 Poland - - Calls For Support

The country of Poland called upon neighboring countries for support. Part of this support would be granted by Germany. There was concern that this new army would be German-dominated and cause a new world war. Communications were requested of countries such as France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands regarding the gathering of troops. The country of Poland also joined Russia in the demand for a "Big Five" conference, concerning the future of Germany.

1959 U.S.A. - - Ford Anglia 105E

The first British Ford to be marketed to Americans was the Ford Anglia 105E with a new overhead valve engine and a four-speed gearbox, it was like nothing else on the road with it distinctive rear-sloping back window, frog-like headlights, and stylish colors.

1960 Peru - - Tidal Waves

1960 : Violent tidal waves had swept through Peru. Two people were killed and nine people were listed as missing.

1962 U.S.A. - - U.S. Blockade Cuba Ends

President Kennedy, calls off the U.S. blockade of Cuba in return for promised removal of Soviet bombers from the island.

1962 U.S.A. - - Discrimination in Housing

President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order 11063, which should bring an end to discrimination in housing. The order was never enforced as each individual housing and funding agency were left to police themselves,

1968 U.S.A. - - Mine Explosion

1968: Methane gas explosions in a West Virginia coal mine kills 78 men .

1973 Libya - - Khadafy

1973: Col. Moammar Khadafy, the young leader of Libya, criticized the six-point Middle East peace plan initiated by the United States. Khadafy was pro-war, and thought the only other possible solution to the problems Middle East was to let Palestinians return to their homes. He also proposed that Jews entering Israel after 1948 return to their other countries of which they were a citizen. He thought this was the only solution for peace.

1974 U.S.A. - - AT&T

The Justice Department files an anti-trust suit against the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. AT&T in an attempt to break up the corporation.

1975 Spain - - Francisco Franco

Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Western Europe's last surviving dictator, dies after a month-long battle for life.

1978 UK - - Jeremy Thorpe

1978 : The former leader of the Liberal party Jeremy Thorpe is charged with David Holmes, George Deakin and John le Mesurier of conspiracy to murder Jeremy Thorpe's former homosexual lover Norman Scott to protect his political career.

1979 Saudi Arabia - - Muslims Seize Grand Mosque

400 Armed Sunni Islamic Muslims, fundamentalist dissidents of the Al-Masjid, Seize the Grand Mosque taking pilgrims present for the annual hajj ( pilgrimage to Mecca )hostage. The attack came on the final day of the hajj, and due to the large number ( fifty thousand worshippers ) most are released but the insurgents kept over 6,000 hostages. Saudi authorities evacuate the city of Mecca and over the next two weeks a number of attacks were mounted on the Grand Mosque resulting in the death of many insurgents, National Guard members and hostages. In early December after more than 2 weeks of shootings the remaining members of the group finally surrender after more than 250 are killed.

1985 Switzerland - - US Soviet Meeting

1985: Soviet Leader Gorbachev and U.S. President Reagan just concluded their talks, some of which were semi-private and others which were public. Staff members worked until all hours of the night deciding what to make of these discussions. On the same day, U.S. and Soviet First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev buried a message in a Red Cross Building cornerstone. This action was done to symbolize the promotion of peace and harmony. Soviet-U.S. Peace Talks Concluded, Outcome being Analyzed

1985 U.S.A. - - Windows 1.01

Microsoft's launches it's first version of a multi tasking graphical user interface GUI for the PC ( this allowed the user to run multiple windows with multiple programmes switching between one and another. Windows 1.01 was the very first version of Windows launched. Windows 1.01 and all older versions of Windows prior to Windows 95 required MSDOS installed on the computer and the user would install Windows from floppy discs.

1989 Czechoslovakia - - Velvet Revolution

Following the suppression by riot police of a peaceful student demonstration consisting of 15,000 peacefully marchers on the 17th November in Prague, from November 20th the number of demonstrators grew as more ordinary Czechs joined and a planned national strike for the 27th gained more support, by the 20th over 100,000 had taken to the streets in peaceful demonstration in what was a non-violent revolution against Communist rule. On November 28th the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced it would relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state, and free elections would be held. There is a great piece on Wikipedia giving a well documented timeline for the Czechoslovakia Velvet Revolution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_Revolution.

1994 Bosnia - - Serbs and Muslims

Government soldiers were attacked by Serbs and Muslims in northwest Bosnia. They were trying to recover lost territory before the UN could intervene. However, U.S. plans to bomb Croatia at the airfield was called off because of bad weather.

2001 U.S.A. - - Contraceptive Patch

2001 : The worlds first transdermal patch ( Ortho-Evra ) that gradually releases synthetic estrogen and progestin hormones to prevent ovulation and possible pregnancy is approved for sale by US Federal health officials. The patch is a weekly patch application applied each week for 3 weeks and on the forth week no patch is applied.

2002 Russia - - Saddam Hussein

2002: President George Bush and other leaders of the world involved in NATO decided to join in the confrontation against Saddam Hussein. They banned together in order to take a stand against terrorist attacks outside of European borders. President Bush wanted to see lasting changes that will bring true peace. He spoke of war being a temporary solution.

2003 U.S.A. - - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is booked on suspicion of multiple counts of child molestation and is freed on $3 million bond. ( he was later acquitted on all charges )

2003 Turkey - - Istanbul Bomb Attacks

2003: A series of suicide bomb attacks on British interests in the Turkish city of Istanbul has left over 27 dead and 400 injured. The bomb attacks on the British consulate building and the London-based bank, HSBC. The bombings are under investigation but it is thought the bombers were members of al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

2007 World - - Dollar Loses Ground

The dollar falls to an all-time low against the Euro, and continues to be knocked by fears over the state of the US economy. There are more reports of losses in the US banking sector, and the dollar touches $1.4822 against the Euro at the close of trade in the US.

2008 United States - - Chinese cyber-spying

2008: A Congressional panel has warned that China has developed a sophisticated cyber warfare program, and stepped up its capacity to penetrate US computer networks. The report explains that the aim is to extract sensitive information from a number of sources, both governmental and business-oriented. The report goes on to explain that this sort of manipulation is being seen as advantageous in many forms of conflict.

2009 United States - - The Liberty City defendants are convicted

The five defendants in the "Liberty City Six" criminal case were sentenced by Judge Joan Lenard to federal prison terms between six and thirteen and one-half years following an investigation by the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Miami. At the conclusion of a three-day sentencing, US District Court Judge Joan Lenard sentenced Narseal Batiste, 35, Patrick Abraham, 30, Stanley Grant Phanor, 34, Burson Augustin, 24, and Rothschild Augustine, 26, on terror-related charges.

The Liberty City defendants were originally seven members of a small Miami, Florida-based religious group / domestic terrorist cell who were caught on a sting by the FBI ( In 2006 ) pretending to be representatives of al-Qaeda, the group stated they planned to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago, the FBI field office in Miami, television and movie studios in Hollywood, the Empire State Building, and other targets.

2011 United States - - Pepper-Spraying Campus Police Officers Get Suspension

2011 : Two campus police officers who pepper-sprayed peaceful student protesters at a close range at the University of California, Davis were suspended. The incident was videotaped and had become viral on the internet, causing outrage among students and supporters of the protesters.

2012 UK - - Church of England Votes Against Women Bishops

The Church of England voted against allowing women to be appointed as bishops in the church.

2013 Iraq - - Bomb Attacks in Baghdad

About thirty people were killed in a series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq. The attacks were targeted at Shia areas of the city and dozens others were injured.