November 18th

Two days before turning 92, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., became the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, at 56 years, 320 days.

Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes were married in Italy. (The couple divorced in 2012.).

The UN Security Council held a two-day session in Nairobi. This was the first time it had convened outside of New York headquarters.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry.

U.N. arms inspectors returned to Iraq after a four-year hiatus, calling on Saddam Hussein's government to cooperate with their search for weapons of mass destruction.

Black & white leaders in South Africa approve new democratic constitution.

President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.

The congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore 'ultimate responsibility' for wrongdoing by his aides.

Jim Jones, a U.S. pastor, led 914 of his followers to their deaths at Jonestown, Guyana, by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit drink. Cult members who refused to swallow the drink were shot.

Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

Financier and diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy died in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 81.

U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays.

Push button phones are used for the first time. Bell systems started replacing rotary dial phones by push button phone in the United States. Push button phones use keys or buttons to dial a number.

Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon, Walt Disney's 'Steamboat Willie' starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was born in East Derry, N.H.

General Douglas Haig finally calls off 1st Battle of the Somme (WWI) - over 1 million killed or wounded.

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty signed between Panama and the US. The treaty created the Panama Canal Zone and set up the terms for the construction of the Panama Canal. Until 1979, the Panama Canal Zone was a territory of the United States. The French began construction on the Panama Canal in 1881 but had to stop due to engineering problems. The US took over the construction in 1904 and finished building the canal in 1914.

Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States (1881–1885), died in New York at 56.

The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones.

Captain Nathaniel Palmer discovered Antarctica.

St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated, replacing earlier basilica, world's largest Christian basilica.

First English dated printed book "Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers" by William Caxton.