This Week in History:
On November 8, 1602, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, founded by Thomas Bodley, formally opened.
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November 8,1967: Silver hit a record $1.95 per Troy ounce in London. By then, nearly all of the 90% silver coins had been pulled out of circulation by the citizenry in the United States, but some 40% silver half dollars were still being minted and in circulation. But circulating alongside silver-flashed copper tokens, most of those 40% silver coins were snapped up, on sight, and tucked away at home.
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November 9, 1799: Napoleon Bonaparte pulled off a coup to become the dictator of France under the title of First Consul.
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November 10, 1908: The first Gideon Bible was placed in a hotel room.
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And on November 11, 1918, the World War I Armistice was signed by the Allies and Germany and came into effect, with hostilities ending at 11 a.m., “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”
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[1]A Reminder: A revised hardback edition of my first novel, Patriots — with a spiffy new cover and a Foreword written by Michael Z. Williamson — should be available from Ulysses Press on December 8, 2026. But please wait until that day to place your order. (Mark your calendar.) – JWR