November 11th: Armistice Day

Today is Armistice Day. In the US, we call it Veterans Day. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11the month, the war was over on the Western Front. That was 1918, 89 years ago.

At two minutes to 11 on that fateful day, the last casualty of the war was killed. Canadian Private George Lawrence Price, a conscript of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, was killed in the French town of Havre by a German sniper. He is buried in a cemetery in Belgium that contains both the first and last casualties of the First World War.

It is somewhat interesting that the last to die for the allies was killed in Havre. You may recognize it better if I called it Le Havre. The landing of D-Day and H-Hour was very near Le Havre some 26 years later during the Second World War.

On this day we honor those who fought to protect that which we hold dear: our home. Its a very exclusive club of men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our land, our liberties and our lives. Sometimes these selfless people were honored and celebrated and sometimes they were not. Regardless of how anyone may feel about a current war or situation... these people still deserve respect. They are doing the job so few of us would. When I say job, I do not refer to those who hold a rifle, stand a post and go on patrol. This means the guy who cooks the chow, swabs the deck and keeps the log. Everyone who puts on a uniform in the service of his or her country, in peace or in war, is a veteren and should be honored. Lets remember everyone.

And now, there are other things that happened today. In 1620, the Mayflower Compact was signed.

In 1778, Seneca Indians kill 40 people in what is called the Cherry Valley Massacre.

In 1831, Nat Turner is hung for starting a slave rebellion, in Jerusalem, Virginia.

In 1864, Genereal William Tecumseh Sherman begins to burn Atlanta during his march to the sea.

In 1889, Washingon became the 49th state.

In 1911, there was a record cold front that broke the records for many midwestern towns. It not only broke the highs and lows for the day but also the temperature difference itself. In Springfield, IL, for example, the high was recorded as 80°F. Two hours later it was 40° less with gusts of 40mph. By midnight the temperature was 13°F. The difference was 67°F. It is known as the Great Blue Norther. There was a similar incident of freakish temperature change in February 1999. Changes like this do happen in November, February and March.

In 1926, Route 66 was established.

Another freak weather incident occurred in 1940, in the midwest. s if the dust bowl of the last decade weren't already enough, a blizzard plowed through that left 144 dead.

In 1992, the Church of England voted to allow women to become priests.

And just three years ago in 2004, Yasser Arafat was confirmed dead.

מזל טוב