Today In History - November 8th

Something happened today in History and you need to know...

November 8, 1519 - Cortes conquered Mexico. After landing on the Yucatan Peninsula in April, Cortes and his troops had marched into the interior of Mexico to the Aztec capital and captured Aztec Emperor Montezuma.

November 8, 1895 - X-rays (electromagnetic rays) were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany.

November 8, 1923 - Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch took place in the Buergerbraukeller in Munich. Hitler, Goering and armed Nazis attempted, but ultimately failed, to forcibly seize power and overthrow democracy in Germany.

November 8, 1939 - An assassination attempt on Hitler failed at the Buergerbraukeller in Munich. A bomb exploded soon after Hitler had exited following a speech commemorating the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. Seven others were killed.

November 8, 1942 - Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa, began as 400,000 soldiers under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower landed at Morocco and Algeria.

Birthday - Astronomer and mathematician Edmund Halley (1656-1742) was born in London. He sighted the Great Comet of 1682 (now named Halley's Comet) and foretold its reappearance in 1758. Halley's Comet appears once each generation with the average time between appearances being 76 years. It is expected to be visible again in 2061.

Birthday - Dracula author Bram Stoker (1847-1912) was born in Dublin, Ireland.

Birthday - Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her romantic novel about the American Civil War sold over 10 million copies, was translated into 30 languages, and was made into one of the most popular movies of all time. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for the novel, her only book. She died after being struck by an automobile in Atlanta. Birthday - Pioneering heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001) was born in Beaufort West, Cape of Good Hope Province, South Africa. He headed the surgical team that achieved the first-ever human heart transplant in 1967.

culled -historyplace.com.