November 14th


1889: Pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly begins a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the trip in seventy-two days... which is roughly the time it takes to currently get out of the baggage claim at La Guardia.


1969: NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon. The main goal is to find the pair of gloves Neil Armstrong left behind during Apollo 11.


1995: A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans forces the government to close most offices or supply them with skeleton staffs. Nobody in America is actually able to tell the difference.


2002: Argentina defaults on an $805 million World Bank payment. As a result, everyone in Argentina starts getting a series of annoying recorded phone calls from collection agencies.