Today in History, 11/1

1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.1520: The Strait of Magellan is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage.1604: William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.
1765: The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the 13 colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.
1790: Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster.1800: US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).
1859: The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse is lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for about 19 miles, in good conditions.1861: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott.1870: In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast.1871: Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage and The Open Boat, is born.
1896: A picture showing the bare breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time. Millions of teenage boys discover an interest in anthropology.
1915: Parris Island is officially designated a Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
1922: The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, abdicates.
1929: Betsy Palmer is born. She is best known to people of my generation as Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason, in the first Friday the 13th movie. Should I spoil the ending? Dare I eat a peach? Ah, the Hell with it - she's the killer! And she's taking revenge on the counselors who let her son drown because they were too busy making out and smoking the marihuana. Actually, she's punishing the counselors who had nothing to do with her son's death, but what do you want - she's a nut. (Clip is NSFM - Not Safe For Mom).

1938: Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing.

1939: The first rabbit born after artificial insemination is exhibited to the world.
1940: Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler is born. He sang the unapologetic patriotic anthem The Ballad of the Green Berets.

1941: Photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.1942: Larry Flynt, pornographer, is born.1942: Marcia Wallace is born. She played the sassy secretary Carol on the old Bob Newhart Show and these days voices the alluring Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons.

1946: Lynne Russell, ex-CNN anchor is born. I knew a guy in college who was obsessed with her - he had hours of her on tape and would watch them constantly. No, it wasn't me, I'm more of a Christiane Amanpour guy.1947: Jim Steinman is born. He writes the operatic rock ballads for Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler and a bunch of other people. Here's Bonnie Tyler doing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" which is archetypal Steinman. What is the deal with the kids from Village of the Damned in this video?

1951: American soldiers are exposed to an atomic explosion for training purposes in Desert Rock, Nevada. Participation was not voluntary.
1952: The US explodes the first hydrogen bomb in a test in the Marshall Islands.
1957: The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.1960: While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.
1963: Dana Plato is born. She played Kimberly Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes before descending to a life of crime.

1968: The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X.
1979: Coco Crisp, center fielder for the Boston Red Sox, is born.1982: Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of their factory in Marysville, Ohio. The Honda Accord is the first car produced there.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.