On This Day for November 1 - First thermonuclear bomb tested by the United States, Sholem Asch is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, [click here to view](. November 01 [Sholem Asch.] FEATURED BIOGRAPHY 1880 Sholem Asch Born this day in 1880, Polish American writer [Sholem Asch]( whose work entered the literary mainstream through translation, was among the most controversial and most widely known writers in modern [Yiddish literature](. [SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY]( [Thermonuclear bomb, code-named Mike, detonated in the Marshall Islands in November 1952.] FEATURED EVENT 1952 First thermonuclear bomb tested by the United States On this day in 1952 on an atoll of the [Marshall Islands]( [Edward Teller]( and other American scientists tested the first [thermonuclear bomb]( its power resulting from an uncontrolled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. [SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY]( MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 1994: The [National Aeronautics and Space Administration]( (NASA) launched its Wind spacecraft on a mission that would include a “halo orbit” between the [Sun]( and [Earth]( to explore the space environment there. [Antigua and Barbuda] 1981: [Antigua and Barbuda]( achieved independence from the [United Kingdom]( with [Vere Bird]( serving as the first prime minister. [Truman, Harry S.] 1950: Puerto Rican nationalists, members of the [Armed Forces of National Liberation]( (FALN), attempted to assassinate U.S. President [Harry S. Truman](. [Atatürk, Kemal] 1922: The Grand National Assembly, at the behest of [Kemal Atatürk]( voted to abolish the sultanate of [Turkey](. [“An Emblem of the Effects of the STAMP,” a warning against the Stamp Act published in the Pennsylvania Journal, October 1765; in the New York Public Library.] 1765: The [Stamp Act]( went into effect, marking the first British parliamentary attempt to raise revenue through direct taxation of all colonial commercial and legal papers. [A drawing of the Lisbon earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755.] 1755: [Lisbon]( was heavily damaged by an [earthquake]( that demolished more than 9,000 buildings and killed as many as 30,000 people. [SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY]( ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1973 Aishwarya Bachchan Rai Indian actress 1960 Tim Cook American business executive 1972 Toni Collette Australian actress 1880 Alfred Wegener German meteorologist and geophysicist 1935 Edward Said American professor and literary critic 1957 Lyle Lovett American musician [SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY]( FOLLOW: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, [click here](. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2018 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [Privacy Policy]( • [Help](