This Day…

1863 – Abraham Lincoln begins first draft of his Gettysburg Address

1935 – “A Night at the Opera”, comedy film directed by Sam Wood, starring the Marx Brothers, is released

1902 – “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad is first published in one volume (previously serialized) by William Blackwood in Edinburgh

1918 – WWI Armistice signed by the Allies and Germany comes into effect and World War I hostilities end at 11am, “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”

1880 – French actress Sarah Bernhardt makes her US debut at NY’s Booth Theater

1860 – Republican Abraham Lincoln of Illinois elected the 16th President of the United States of America

1841 – First wagon train arrives in California after a five and a half month and 1,730 mile journey over the Sierra Nevada from Missouri

1962 – The horror film “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” is released, directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, based on the novel by Henry Farrell

1866 – Jesse James‘ gang robs bank in Lexington, Missouri ($2000)

1846 – Pioneers suffer blizzard in Sierra Nevada; 42 die