Today in history

Today is Saturday, November 11, the 315th day of 2017 and the 51st day of autumn.

On this date in the SCV: In 1948, The Signal reported that all indications were that the nose which Mrs. Floralie Jean Griffin lost in an auto accident in Mint Canyon would be restored permanently. The member had been completely severed, and at least an hour intervened before it was recovered and sutured into place at the hospital. The episode was one of the most remarkable ever to take place on a local highway, and had attracted the attention of the metropolitan papers. Mrs. Griffin was the recent bride of Officer Edward D. Griffin of the Los Angeles City Police Department. They were, it was reported, returning from their honeymoon in Las Vegas to their future home in Van Nuys. On the Mint Canyon highway a mile north of the Oaks Garage, the husband started to pass a south bound car ahead of him. The evening sun was directly in his eyes, preventing him from seeing an oncoming car until it was almost upon him. He wrenched the wheel around, jammed on the brakes. The car spun, hit the bank and turned over. Mrs. Griffin’s head, it was believed, went through the windshield. Her nose was sheared off cleanly from a spot between the eyebrows down to the upper lip.

Today’s Highlights in History:

In 1620, religious pilgrims aboard the Mayflower signed the Mayflower Compact. In 1889, Washington was admitted as

the 42nd U.S. state. In 1918, the Allies and Germany signed an armistice that ended the fighting in World War I. In 1992, the Church of England and the Anglican Church voted to allow women to become priests. In 2004, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in Paris.

Today’s fact: The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, dedicated on

this day in 1921, has been guarded 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment since midnight on July 2, 1937.

Today’s sports: In 1981, Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first Major League Baseball player to win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the same year.

Today’s number: 41 – pilgrims who signed the Mayflower Compact.

Today’s moon: Between last quarter moon (Nov. 10) and new moon (Nov. 18).

Birthdays

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), author; George Patton (1885-1945), U.S. general; Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (19222007), author; Jonathan Winters (1925-2013), actor/comedian; Demi Moore (1962- ), actress; Calista

Flockhart (1964- ), actress; Leonardo DiCaprio (1974- ), actor.