Christmas is coming closer! How come it just seems to sneak up on you, so that it goes from being months away to being just under 2 months? Doesn't seem right.
However, today is November 9. It is the 313th day of 2011, and there are 52 days left in the year. On this day:
1796- Captain John Hunter, Governor of New South Wales, ordered houses to be numbered. Sydney had a settlement of nearly 4000 people, and escapees and arson were becoming a problem. If houses were numbered, the militia could search for escapees more easily.
1825-Limelight was found to have a use when Thomas Drummond heated some in front of a reflector. As it could be seen up to 106km away, it was used in lighthouses and theatres.
1888- Tamworth, Australia, became the first town in the Southern Hemisphere to be lit by electricity.
1906- Theodore Roosevelt became the first US President to make an official visit outside the United States when he visited the Panama Canal site.
1989- The Berlin Wall fell after 28 years of splitting Germany in two. Constructed in 1961 by the East German government to keep the East Berliners from escaping to West Berlin, it was originally just made of barbed wire. Later it was replaced by over 160km of concrete, guards, minefields, as well as the original barbed wire. In 1989, after it was mistakenly announced that the travel restrictions were lifted, thousands of East Germans fled to the wall, overwhelming the guards. The began dismantling the Wall and were greeted by West Berliners. In 1990, the two parts of Germany were officially reunited. For 28 years, East Germans had risked their lives to cross the wall, and nearly 200 died while fleeing.
1888-Jack the Ripper kills Mary Jane Kelly, his last known victim.
Today is World Freedom Day.
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