Nellie Bly Sets Off: Around the World in Under 80 Days
She packed one bag. That's it — one small grip for a trip around the entire planet. Nellie Bly left New York on November 14th, racing to beat Phileas Fogg's fictional 80-day record from Jules Verne's novel. Real competition emerged fast: rival journalist Elizabeth Bisland ran the opposite direction simultaneously. Bly didn't just win — she finished in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes. Crowds cheered her at every stop. And the woman everyone called "too fragile" for such a journey had just redefined what women could do publicly, professionally, permanently.
November 14, 1889
137 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 14
Alexander the Great accepted the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt in Memphis, ending two centuries of Persian rule. By assuming the title of pharaoh, he se…
Francisco Pizarro and his band of conquistadors marched into the Inca city of Cajamarca, initiating a direct confrontation with Emperor Atahualpa. This encounte…
Gottfried Kirch spots a brilliant new streak in the sky through his telescope, shattering the ancient belief that comets were atmospheric phenomena. This discov…
Scottish explorer James Bruce reached the source of the Blue Nile at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, believing he had solved one of geography's oldest mysteries. His acc…
French Marshals Victor and Oudinot suffer a sharp defeat at the Battle of Smoliani against General Peter Wittgenstein's Russian forces. This loss halts Napoleon…
Herman Melville published Moby-Dick on November 14, 1851, in New York under Harper and Brothers, three weeks after the British edition appeared as The Whale. Th…
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