Hiram Edward Jones (born 1855)

In 1855, in the year that Hiram Edward Jones was born, on November 17th, David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer, became the first known European to see Victoria Falls. He named the falls in honor of Queen Victoria but locally it was - and is - Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "The Smoke That Thunders".

In 1869, on February 5th, prospectors in Victoria, Australia, discovered the biggest loose gold nugget ever found. Known as the "Welcome Stranger", it was discovered only 1.2 inches below ground and weighed a whopping 214.1 lbs. It would be worth over $4 million today.

In 1894, large reserves of oil were discovered on the Osage Indian reservation in Oklahoma. Previously thought to be "useless" land - not even good for farming - the tribe had bought the land themselves. The discovery of oil made the Osage the "richest group of people in the world" at the time.

In 1902, about 150 thousand United Mine Workers went on strike in eastern Pennsylvania for a wage increase and more suitable hours. They eventually got a 10% raise and their workday was reduced from 10 hours to 9. Because winter was coming and most people at the time heated their homes with coal, President Teddy Roosevelt arbitrated between the owners and the workers - the first time that the Federal government arbitrated in a strike.

In 1944, on November 7th, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reelected to a fourth term as President of the United States. Running against Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York, Roosevelt won 53.4 of the popular vote, Dewey got 45.9%.