No not the Charlie Chaplin film. It’s just that the events I’m looking at for the 12th of November seem to be tilted towards modern times, rather than events of Sir Anthony Standen’s era. There isn’t much to link to my books. So what do we have?
1912 – the frozen body of Robert Falcon Scott and his men are found in Antarctica. Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and Antarctic explorer. He led two major expeditions: the Discovery Expedition (1901–1904) and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition (1910–1913). Determined to be the first to reach the South Pole, Scott and his team endured extreme conditions, reaching the Pole in January 1912 only to discover that Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian team had beaten them. Tragically, Scott and his companions perished on the return journey, succumbing to exhaustion, starvation, and cold. His detailed journals documented their journey, cementing his legacy as a symbol of courage, endurance, and the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.
1927 – Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party leaving Joseph Stalin in complete control. Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) was a Marxist revolutionary, theorist, and key figure in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, he became a close ally of Lenin and played a leading role in the Bolshevik seizure of power. As founder and commander of the Red Army, he was instrumental in securing Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War. Trotsky championed the theory of permanent revolution, opposing Stalin’s policy of socialism in one country. After losing the power struggle to Stalin, he was exiled and continued to criticise the Soviet regime. He was assassinated in Mexico City by a Soviet agent.
1942 – The Battle of Guadalcanal, fought from August 1942 to February 1943, was a pivotal campaign in the Pacific during the Second World War. Marking the first major Allied offensive against Japan, it aimed to secure the strategically vital island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. American forces, primarily the U.S. Marines, initially seized the incomplete Japanese airfield, later known as Henderson Field. Intense land, sea, and air battles followed, with heavy losses on both sides. Ultimately, Allied control prevented Japan from threatening supply lines to Australia and shifted the momentum of the Pacific war in favour of the Allies.
1944 – Sinking of the Tirpitz. The German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship to the Bismarck, was sunk near Tromsø, Norway. Serving as a major threat to Allied Arctic convoys, she was often targeted by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. After surviving previous attacks, Tirpitz was finally destroyed during Operation Catechism, when RAF Lancaster bombers carrying 12,000-pound Tallboy bombs struck her. Multiple direct hits caused catastrophic explosions, capsizing the vessel and killing over 900 crew members. Her sinking removed the last major surface threat from the Kriegsmarine, securing safer supply routes to the Soviet Union and marking a strategic turning point in the Arctic campaign.
1969 – The story of the My Lai Massacre breaks. The My Lai Massacre, occurring on the 16th of March, 1968, during the Vietnam War, was a tragic atrocity committed by U.S. Army soldiers in the village of My Lai. Hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, were brutally killed. The soldiers also committed acts of sexual assault and destruction of property. Initially covered up by military officials, the massacre came to light in 1969, sparking worldwide outrage and fuelling anti-war sentiment. Lieutenant William Calley was the only person convicted, receiving a controversial, reduced sentence. The My Lai Massacre remains a stark symbol of wartime brutality and moral failure.
1979 – Iran hostage crisis. The Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 began on the 4th of November when Iranian students seized the United States Embassy in Tehran. On 12th November President Jimmy Carter ordered a halt to all Iranian petroleum imports. The students held 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage, protesting America’s support for the deposed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had been admitted to the US for medical treatment. The crisis became a pivotal moment in US–Iran relations, symbolising the rise of revolutionary anti-American sentiment. Diplomatic efforts and a failed rescue mission deepened tensions. The hostages endured 444 days of captivity before their release on the 20th of January 1981, coinciding with President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, marking a dramatic conclusion to the standoff.
1990 – Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web in 1989 while working at CERN. His pioneering idea combined hypertext with the internet, allowing users to access and share information seamlessly through linked documents. He developed the first web browser and web server, laying the foundation for the online world we know today. The Web revolutionised communication, commerce, education, and entertainment, becoming a central part of modern life. Berners-Lee later founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to oversee web standards, ensuring it remained open and free for everyone, promoting global connectivity and digital collaboration.