November 28 in history: Ernie Davis makes Heisman Trophy history, Native American Heritage Day begins, Grand Ole Opry debuts, more

1814: For the first time worldwide, a newspaper is printed using steam-powered presses, opening the door to efficient mass communication. The Times of London debuted the new technology, invented by German innovators.

1881: The first organizational meeting of what would become the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is held. Originally called the Association of Collegiate Alumnae,  the group started with 17 female college students gathered in Boston, Mass., to advocate for equal higher education opportunities for women. Today, the AAUW has 100,000 members worldwide.

Above: Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, a Native American Heritage Day celebration at the Grand Canyon, Lady Nancy Astor, biological warfare scientist Frank Olson, and the Grand Ole Opry sign.

1893: New Zealand becomes the first country to grant women the right to vote, when more than 90,000 female New Zealanders turn out at the polls. 

1917: The last of 33 “Silent Sentinel” suffragettes — women advocating for the right to vote — are freed from prison, after being arrested over several months for picketing the White House on behalf of women’s rights. Many had been beaten and tortured during their imprisonment. A group of women who’d been force-fed after an attempted hunger strike had been freed the day before.

1919: American-born Lady Nancy Astor  becomes the first-ever female member of the British House of Commons when she wins an election to represent Plymouth-Sutton. Born in Virginia, Astor transplanted to England in 1904 and was known for advocating for welfare reform, women’s rights, and also tee-totalling (alcohol prohibition).

1925: The Grand Ole Opry debuts in Nashville as a radio broadcast. It goes on to become the longest-running weekly radio program in history.

1953: A biological scientist dies a suspicious death that 20 years later is revealed to happen while he was unknowingly under the influence of LSD administered to him by his boss at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Frank Olson, who died falling out of a window was given LSD as part of the CIA’s MKUltra program experimenting with psychological torture and brainwashing.

1961: Ernie Davis becomes the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, while playing halfback at Syracuse University. He is drafted by the Cleveland Browns but is diagnosed with leukemia less than a year later and dies before he can play a professional league game.

2009: President Obama designates the first-ever Native American Heritage Day, set for the Friday after Thanksgiving annually, as a way to honor “our debt to our First Americans.”

2022:  A  “super-cartel” based in Dubai , spanning six continents, and supplying one-third of Europe’s cocaine supply, is broken up through “Operation Desert Light,” a collaboration of seven countries that seized 30 tons of cocaine and led to 49 arrests.

2024: Australia’s new ban on children under age 16 using social media is passed and will take placed this December. Australia is the first country in the world to pass a youth ban on social media, in light of research showing 96 percent of kids use social media, and seven of 10 are exposed to harmful content.