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On Nov. 20, 1820, the American whaler Essex is attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. Herman Melville's classic novel "Moby-Dick" (1851) was inspired in part by the story of the Essex.

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On Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery in Pennsylvania during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in American history, the 272-word Gettysburg Address.

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On Nov. 23, 1936, the first issue of the pictorial magazine Life is published. Publisher Henry Luce meant for the magazine to provide a way for the American people "to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events."

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On Nov. 25, 1947, film industry executives announce that 10 directors, producers and actors who have refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and name others who allegedly belonged to the Communist Party, will be fired or suspended. The "Hollywood Ten" were also jailed and fined for contempt of Congress.

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On Nov. 22, 1955, record company RCA announces that it has purchased the recording contract for Elvis Presley from Sun Records for $35,000 -- a record sum at the time. Presley received a $5,000 advance, which he used to buy a pink Cadillac for his mother.

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On Nov. 24, 1971, hijacker D.B. Cooper parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 with $200,000 in ransom money in his possession. In 1980, an 8-year-old boy found nearly $5,880 of the money along the Columbia River, 5 miles from Vancouver, Washington. Cooper's fate remains a mystery.