On This Day:
Sunday November 17, 2013 This is the 321st day of the year, with 44 days remaining in 2013. Fact of the Day: eyeglasses Eyeglasses are lenses set in frames for wearing in front of the eyes to aid vision or correct such defects of vision as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. Although Nero used emerald-colored lenses to view the gladiator games in A.D. 60, it's questionable whether he could actually see better. The first "reading glass" was developed around A.D. 1000 but was more of a magnifying glass than an eyeglass. In Europe, eyeglasses first appeared in Italy during the 13th century, their introduction being attributed to Alessandro di Spina of Florence. The first portrait to show eyeglasses is that of Hugh of Provence by Tommaso da Modena, painted in 1352. In 1784, Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals with lenses for distant and near vision.
Events 1534 - The Act of Supremacy, which declared King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England, was passed by Parliament.
1558 - Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary I at 42, thus beginning the Elizabethan Age.
1800 - The U.S. Congress convened for the first time in Washington, D.C., in the partially completed Capitol building. It was the second session of the Sixth Congress.
1839 - Italy's Giuseppe Verdi debuted his first opera, "Oberto."
1869 - The Suez Canal, which had taken 10 years to build, opened to navigation. It stretched 101 miles across the Isthmus of Suez.
1913 - The first ship sailed through the Panama Canal.
1922 - The last sultan of Turkey was deposed by Kemal Atatürk.
1922 - Siberia voted for union with the USSR.
1931 - Charles Lindbergh inaugurated Pan Am service from Cuba to South America in the Sikorsky flying boat American Clipper.
1962 - Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy.
1969 - US-Soviet talks on strategic arms limitation (SALT) opened in Helsinki.
1970 - The Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the Moon, the Lunokhod I.
1979 - Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and minority hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis.
2001 - The Taliban confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden's military chief Mohammed Atef after an airstrike three days prior.
2003 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.
2004 - In a surprise move, Kmart acquired Sears for $11 billion.
Births 1790 - August Mobius, German astronomer, mathematician, teacher, and author.
1901 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born American director and teacher of method acting at the Actor's Studio.
1925 - Rock Hudson (Roy Scherer Fitzgerald), American actor.
1937 - Peter Cook, English satirist, writer and comedian.
1938 - Gordon Lightfoot, American singer-songwriter.
1942 - Martin Scorsese, American film director.
Deaths 1917 - Auguste Rodin, French sculptor.
2002 - Abba Eban, Israeli statesman and foreign minister of Israel from 1966-1974.
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