A MACEDONIAN PHARAOH, A PIONEERING JOURNALIST AND 'VERY VERY BRAVE GIRLS.'

There are quite a few events which took place on November 14^th. In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great was crowned Pharaoh of Egypt. 2,183 years later, in 1851, Moby-Dick was published. I guess other things happened in the intervening period.

In 1889 American journalist Nellie Bly became the first person to emulate Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 days.

She had previously undertaken an undercover assignment where she feigned insanity and was committed to the Woman’s Lunatic Asylum in New York to investigate allegations of neglect and brutality. Her report and later book led to the asylum implementing changes. And as for emulating Jules Verne’s novel, she beat his hero Phileas Fogg by circumnavigating the world in 72 days. She also met Monsieur Verne during the journey.

In 1922 the BBC began radio broadcasting in the UK, in 1940 Coventry was badly bombed and its Cathedral virtually demolished, in 1957 a Mafia meeting was raided and many bosses arrested.

And in 1960, Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, Gail Etienne and Ruby Bridges took up new legal rights and attended racially segregated schools in New Orleans. They were escorted by US Marshals through angry and abusive parents. Many white parents withdrew their children in protest and for over a year they were taught on their own. United States Deputy Marshal Charles Burks later said about Ruby, ‘She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn't whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier, and we're all very very proud of her.’

And as for 2024, who knows what the history books will consider noteworthy.