Moments in Time – November 9, 2022

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• On Nov. 7, 1885, at a remote spot called Craigellachie in the mountains of British Columbia, the last spike is driven into Canada’s first transcontinental railway. Despite the logistical difficulties posed, the almost 3,000-mile-long railway was completed six years ahead of schedule.
• On Nov. 8, 1974, Salt Lake City resident Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes being abducted by serial killer Ted Bundy. When Bundy was finally captured in 1978 in Florida, he confessed to the murders of 28 women, and was executed in 1989.
• On Nov. 9, 1946, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Army Cadets play to a historic 0-0 tie at Yankee Stadium in New York. Notre Dame-Army was college football’s biggest rivalry. Football tickets typically cost $1 to $5, but many fans had paid scalpers as much as $250, equal to $3,200 in today’s dollars.
• On Nov. 10, 1969, “Sesame Street,” a TV show that would teach generations of young children the alphabet and counting, makes its broadcast debut. Over the years, critics have blamed the show and its use of brief segments for shrinking children’s attention spans.
• On Nov. 11, 1973, the Soviet Union announces that, because of its opposition to the overthrow of the government of Chilean President Allende, it would not play a World Cup Soccer match against the Chilean team. It was the first time in the history of World Cup Soccer that a team had boycotted over political issues.
• On Nov. 12, 1799, Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an early American astronomer born in Vermont, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys. Douglass’ journal entry is the first known record of a meteor shower in North America.
• On Nov. 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood is killed in a car accident in Oklahoma on her way to a meet with a reporter. She reportedly carried documents proving that Kerr-McGee Corp. was negligent when it came to worker safety at its plutonium plant. The theory was that someone forced her off the road to prevent the meeting.

© 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.