Today in history, Nov 16th!

Some of the great historical events that happened today in history, on November 16th!

1798	British seamen board the U.S. frigate Baltimore and impress a number of crewmen as alleged deserters, a practice that contributed to the War of 1812.
1813	The British announce a blockade of Long Island Sound, leaving only the New England coast open to shipping.
1821	Trader William Becknell reaches Santa Fe, N.M., on the route that will become known as the Santa Fe Trail.
1902	A cartoon appears in the Washington Star, prompting the Teddy Bear Craze, after President Teddy Roosevelt refused to kill a captive bear tied up for him to shoot during a hunting trip to Mississippi.
1907	Oklahoma became the 46th state.
1913	Swann’s Way, the first volume of Marcel Proust’s 7-part novel Remembrance of Things Past, is published.
1920	Metered mail is born in Stamford, Connecticut with the first Pitney Bowes postage meter.
1933	The United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations.
1945	Eighty-eight German scientists, holding Nazi secrets, arrive in the United States.
1948	President Harry S Truman rejects four-power talks on Berlin until the blockade is removed.
1953	The United States joins in the condemnation of Israel for its raid on Jordan.
1955	The Big Four talks, taking place in Geneva on German reunification, end in failure.
1959	The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music” opened on Broadway.
1960	After the integration of two all-white schools, 2,000 whites riot in the streets of New Orleans.
1965	In the last day of the fighting at Landing Zone X-Ray, regiments of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division repulse NVA forces in the Ia Drang Valley.
1966	Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.
1967	U.S. planes hit Haiphong shipyard in North Vietnam for the first time.
1973	Skylab 4, with three astronauts on board, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission.
1973	President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.
1982	The space shuttle Columbia completes its first operational flight.
1982	An agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.
1988	Estonia’s parliament declared the Baltic republic sovereign.
1995	Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed that she had Parkinson’s disease.
2001	Congress passed a law mandating that airport screeners be federal employees.
2004	President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell.
2010	U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel was convicted on 11 of 13 charges related to financial misconduct, prompting fellow lawmakers to censure the 80-year-old New York Democrat.
2010	The engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton was announced in London.
2010	President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the first living service member from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to receive the nation’s top military award.

Today’s historical facts are from various sites including, but not limited too: the History Channel, The New York Times, WHG Historynet.com, HistoryOrb.com, and On This Day blogs from my blogroll.

http://hankeringforhistory.com/2012/11/16/today-in-history-nov-16th/