Sunday, November 14, 2010

TODAY IN HISTORY

NOVEMBER 14
1940:The German Luftwaffe decimates the English industrial city of Coventry, killing at least 568 people and destroying over 60,000 buildings, including Coventry Cathedral. The infamous bombing gives rise to a new German verb, koventrieren, meaning "to annihilate or reduce to rubble."

1851:
Nearly a month after it debuts in England under the title The Whale, Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick is published by Harper & Brothers in New York City. The novel introducing readers to Captain Ahab's quest to hunt the great white whale will be a financial disappointment, however, and will not gain its iconic status as a literary classic until decades after Melville's death in 1891.

1889:
Groundbreaking New York World journalist Elizabeth Cochrane, better known under her pen name as Nellie Bly, begins her attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. On Jan. 25, 1890, Bly will complete her global journey, 72 days after setting out from Hoboken, N.J.

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