What happened on this day in history: Czar Nicholas II marries Alexandra Feodorovna, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz is born, and more from November 26th.
1883: Sojourner Truth Dies
Public DomainBorn into slavery in New York around 1797, Sojourner Truth liberated herself in 1826 after her master went back on his promise to free her.
American abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth dies of natural causes at the age of 86 in her Michigan home. Truth was born into slavery in New York circa 1797, but she escaped with her newborn baby when she was in her 20s and would spend the rest of her life fighting for the rights of others. After her death, more than 1,000 people attended her funeral, and Frederick Douglass gave a eulogy for her in Washington, D.C.
1894: Czar Nicholas II Marries Alexandra Feodorovna
Wikimedia CommonsThe engagement photo of Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna.
Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna are married at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. The two had met ten years earlier at the wedding of Alexandra’s sister and Nicholas’ uncle, and Nicholas had decided to propose to her despite his parents’ opposition. Alexandra initially rejected his proposal due to religious differences — she was a Lutheran, he was Russian Orthodox — but her cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II convinced her that the marriage was her duty. The pair remained together until they were killed in 1918 by Bolshevik forces in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.
1922: Charles Schulz Is Born
PicrylA young Charles Schulz with a drawing of Charlie Brown.
Charles Schulz, the creator of the beloved Peanuts comic strip, is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Schulz loved to draw as a child, and after a stint in the U.S. Army during World War II, he began working at a school that provided training courses in cartooning and illustration. In 1950, Schulz officially introduced the world to Charlie Brown and Snoopy when Peanuts first appeared in newsprint.
1942: Casablanca Premieres
Casablanca, the celebrated film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City. The movie won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay and became one of the most iconic films in Hollywood history thanks to now-classic quotes such as “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and “Round up the usual suspects.”
2016: Joel Guy Jr. Murders His Parents
Joel Guy Jr. murders his parents after they decided to cut him off financially. Guy Jr. had spent years in and out of different colleges, all at his parent’s expense. Nearing retirement age, his parents decided that financially supporting him was no longer an option, and so they told him he needed to start making it on his own.
During what was supposed to be the family’s last hurrah, the Guy family hosted a Thanksgiving feast in Tennessee. Guy Jr. used this opportunity to brutally murder his parents in the hopes that he would receive their life insurance policy payouts.
The sloppy nature of the crime scene pointed directly to Joel Guy Jr., and police soon arrested him. He was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal double murder.
