This Day In History – November 16th

 

 

 

 

 
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was first synthesized on November 16, 1938 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland as part of a large research program searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives. LSD’s psychedelic properties were discovered 5 years later when Hofmann himself accidentally ingested an unknown quantity of the chemical.

The first intentional ingestion of LSD occurred on April 19, 1943, when Hofmann ingested 250 µg of LSD. Hofmann found the effects to be much stronger than he anticipated. Sandoz Laboratories introduced LSD as a psychiatric drug in 1947. [Source]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2). From there, about 254,000 Ghetto residents were sent to Treblinka extermination camp during the two months of summer 1942. With the inclusion of the Ghetto falling at least 300,000 Polish Jews lost their lives there.

The Warsaw Ghetto was established by the German Governor-General Hans Frank on October 16, 1940. Frank ordered Jews in Warsaw and its suburbs rounded up and herded into the Ghetto. At this time, the population in the Ghetto was estimated to be 400,000 people, about 30% of the population of Warsaw; however, the size of the Ghetto was about 2.4% of the size of Warsaw. The ghetto was split into two areas, the “small ghetto”, generally inhabited by richer Jews and the “large ghetto”, where conditions were more difficult; the two ghettos were linked by a single footbridge. The Nazis then closed the Warsaw Ghetto to the outside world on November 16, 1940 by building a wall topped with barbed wire, and deploying armed guards. [Source]

 

 

 

 

 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter. It is the heir of the League of Nations’ International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation.

UNESCO has 195 Member States and eight Associate Members. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes; international science programmes; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; regional and cultural history projects; the promotion of cultural diversity; international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites) and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide. [Source]

 

 

 

 

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act is a United States federal law signed by Richard Nixon on November 16, 1973 that authorized the building of an oil pipeline connecting the North Slope of Alaska to Port Valdez. Specifically, it halted all legal challenges – filed primarily by environmental activists – against the construction of the pipeline.

The Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), includes the Trans Alaska Pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world’s largest pipeline systems. It is commonly called the Alaska Pipeline, Trans Alaska Pipeline, or Alyeska Pipeline, (or the Pipeline as referred to in Alaska), but those terms technically apply only to the 800 miles (1,287 km) of the pipeline with the diameter of 48 inches (122 cm) that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay, to Valdez, Alaska.

The first barrel of oil traveled through the pipeline in 1977, and full-scale production began by the end of the year. Several notable incidents of oil leakage have occurred since, including those caused by sabotage, maintenance failures, and gunshot holes. The most significant oil spill associated with the pipeline was caused by the Exxon Valdez, and did not directly involve the pipeline. As of 2010, the pipeline has shipped almost 16 billion barrels of oil. [Source]

 

 

 

 

 

Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani woman socialist-democratic politician who was the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan, and also the 3rd chairwoman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)—a democratic socialist, centre-left, and the largest political party in Pakistan.

Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state, having twice been Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms (1988–1990; 1993–1996). She was Pakistan’s first and to date only female prime minister and was the eldest child of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and former First Lady of Pakistan Nusrat Bhutto, and was the wife of current President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.

On 27 December 2007, Bhutto was killed while leaving a campaign rally for the PPP at Liaquat National Bagh, where she had given a spirited address to party supporters in the run-up to the January 2008 parliamentary elections. After entering her bulletproof vehicle, Bhutto stood up through its sunroof to wave to the crowds. At this point, a gunman fired shots at her and subsequently explosives were detonated near the vehicle killing approximately 20 people. Bhutto was critically wounded and was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital. She was taken into surgery at 17:35 local time, and pronounced dead at 18:16.

Bhutto’s body was flown to her hometown of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana District, Sindh, and was buried next to her father in the family mausoleum at a ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners. [Source]

 

 

 

 

 

The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine Middleton in 2001, when both were studying at the University of St Andrews.

Their engagement on 20 October 2010 was announced on 16 November 2010. The build-up to the wedding and the occasion itself attracted much media attention, with the service being broadcast live around the world, and being compared and contrasted in many ways with the 1981 marriage of William’s parents, Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. Much of the attention focused on Kate Middleton’s status as a commoner (i.e. not a part of the aristocracy) marrying into royalty.

Over 5000 street parties were held to mark the Royal wedding throughout the United Kingdom and one million people lined the route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. In the United Kingdom TV audiences peaked at 26.3 million viewers with a total of 36.7 million watching part of the coverage. The ceremony was viewed live by tens of millions more around the world including 72 million on the YouTube Royal Channel. [Source]