Born November 30, 1835 Samuel Clemens didn’t begin using the pen name Mark Twain until he was almost 30. He’s shown here as a printer’s apprentice at age 15 spelling his name in metal type on a composing stick. Image via Wikimedia Commons, copyright expired, public domain in the US.

The Battle of Franklin of the American Civil War occurred on November 30, 1864 in Franklin, Tennessee. Called the “Pickett’s Charge of The West,” the one-day battle resulted in heavy Confederate (more than 6,000) casualties. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

52nd Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, Oliver Fisher Winchester, was born on November 30, 1810 in Boston, Massachusetts. It’s believed that his daughter-in-law Sarah Winchester authorized the unending construction of the mysterious Winchester mansion in San Jose, California in order to evade the ghosts of Winchester rifle victims. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On November 30, 1907 Santa rolled into Seattle’s Pioneer Square, driving a team of reindeer. The spectacle was courtesy of Garvey-Buchanan department store. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.

Following service in the Army during WW2 Richard Crenna, born November 30, 1926, won a role in the early days of television on Our Miss Brooks, followed by six years on The Real McCoys. He’s shown with costar Kathleen Nolan. Although he continued acting on television and in films Crenna was also a director. Image via Wikimedia Commons, no known copyright, public domain in the US.

USS Midway in the Pacific Ocean November 30, 1974 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Over two years after he received a U.S. patent in 1908 for a very different innovation, Thomas Edison told a newspaper reporter on November 30, 1910 that he invented a flying machine. The aircraft was more like a helicopter than an airplane. During the interview Edison also told the reporter that he had too many things going on than to be concerned with air travel. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Richard Wagstaff Clark was born on November 30, 1929 in Bronxville, New York. He made the decision to pursue a career in radio when he was only 10 years old. Image of Dick Clark in 1947 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

“…whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.” – Winston Churchill in 1940 Winston Churchill, the first honorary American Citizen, was born on November 30, 1874 in Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England. His mother was from Brooklyn, New York. Image: Churchill during WWII by the British Government, public domain via Wikimedia Commons