John Fleming (born 1834)

In 1834, in the year that John Fleming was born, on July 15th, the Spanish Inquisition - which began in the 15th century - was abolished by the royal decree of Isabella II. The last known person to be hung by the Inquisition was Cayetano Ripoll - in 1826 - who was a school teacher. He was accused of teaching "deist principles" - which posits that God does not interfere directly with the world.

In 1863, on October 3rd, during the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln created a national Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving was to be celebrated on the final Thursday of November in 1863. In the U.S., Thanksgiving has been celebrated in November ever since.

In 1972, on November 7th, Richard Nixon won re-election, amidst the dawning knowledge of the Watergate scandal, by 60.7% to anti-war candidate George McGovern's 37.5%.

In 1983, physicist Sally K. Ride, 32, became the first US woman astronaut in space as a crew member aboard space shuttle Challenger on June 18th. She was also the youngest (32) astronaut to go into space. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space in 1963.

In 1991, on November 7th, legendary basketball player Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV. In 1991, the public was confused about the difference between HIV and AIDS (HIV is a virus that can lead to AIDS) and there was little treatment for either. Most thought that Johnson would die within a year or so. Also, the transmission of AIDS wasn't understood so he had to retire from basketball. Magic Johnson is still alive and well.