November 12: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

An LA judge ruled to end Britney Spears’ conservatorship, giving her control of her life after 14 years.

The Disney+ streaming service was launched.

The on-demand streaming video service gives viewers access to a wide range of Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Television, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic shows and movies.

Michelle Obama published her memoir “Becoming.”

An Iran-Iraq earthquake killed 630 people and injured over 8,100.

The 7.3 magnitude shake happened at 21:48 IST and was felt as far away as Israel.

Jackie Chan was awarded an honorary Oscar at the 8th Annual Governors Awards for starring in over 200 movies.

The Rosetta Philae became the first-ever probe to land on a moving comet.

The European Space Agency developed the space probe and landed on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet after traveling for over a decade.

Super Mario Galaxy, Nintendo’s third 3D Mario game, was released for the Nintendo Wii in North America.

Many of the game's design elements were thought of before the Wii was first created. For example, the concept of spherical "platforms" was envisioned for a GameCube game but wasn't possible due to technical limitations.

A world record commercial railway train speed of 311 mph (500 kph) was achieved by Shanghai Transrapid Railway Systems.

American Airlines Flight 587 from New York City to the Dominican Republic crashed during takeoff.

All 260 passengers died, as well as another five more who weren't on the plane.

US/Russian STS 74 Atlantis space shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center.

British comedy TV series “Absolutely Fabulous” aired for the first time.

The show was written by Jennifer Saunders, who also played one of the main characters, Edina Monsoon.

The musical “Grand Hotel” was first performed at the Martin Beck Theater in New York City.

Pudge Heffelfinger played his first paid game, making him the first professional American Football player.

Pudge was paid $500 to play for the Allegheny Athletic Association against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. He was the only player from either team to score any points, winning a 4-0 victory.

Harper and Brothers published Lew Wallace’s novel “Ben-Hur: a Tale of the Christ.”

Wallace's novel is considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century."

Mayor of Paris Jean Sylvain Bailly was guillotined at Champ de Mars during the Reign of terror.

English scientist Robert Hooke was appointed Curator of Experiments at The Royal Society, London, England.