NOVEMBER 6 -- 1906 Teddy Roosevelt travels to Panama; 1861 Happy Birthday Canadian-American James Naismith, inventor of Basketball; ELECTION: 1860 Lincoln elected 16th President, 1928 Hoover wins, 1956 Ike re-elected, 1962 Edward Kennedy elected Senator o

NOVEMBER 6 -- 1906 Teddy Roosevelt travels to Panama; 1861 Happy Birthday Canadian-American James Naismith, inventor of Basketball; ELECTION: 1860 Lincoln elected 16th President, 1928 Hoover wins, 1956 Ike re-elected, 1962 Edward Kennedy elected Senator of Mass.

NOVEMBER 6 1906 – Teddy Roosevelt travels to Panama. ...There was a growing need to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific that grew more obvious during the 19th century. In fact, Europeans had been wanting a shortcut since the 16th century. The Panama Canal would be the best choice, seeing as to go around it, one had to travel 13,000 miles in treacherous waters, a journey that could take months.

Attempts by the French to build a canal across in the 1800s were met with pouring rain, snakes, and mosquitos carrying malaria. Explorers were dying by the hundreds. The investors who were funding the French digging had lost hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of workers. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was in charge of the project, was asked if he was a canal digger or a grave digger. Then Teddy got into office and changed all that. One of the first things Teddy Roosevelt wants to do while President is get this project completed. He purchased it form the French in 1901 and went straight to work. Columbia objected briefly but was quickly bribed, and the nation of Panama came into existence November 3 1902. Once Americans took on the cause, the same thing happened, and three out of four Americans who worked died of yellow fever or malaria.

Roosevelt got John Stevens to head the project, who had a novel idea. Instead of going down there to start digging, why not just clean the place first. Sanitation efforts were carried out. Swamps were drained, drainage ditches cleaned, roads were paved and plumbing systems installed. Pesticides blanketed the entire area. Then the fun began. You may have seen a famous picture of Roosevelt holding a large steam shovel. These steam shovels and new railways would move over 100 million tons of rocks and earth to create dams. The project would finally be completed on August 15, 1914.

1861 – Happy birthday Canadian American James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball and wrote the rulebook. 1928 – Colonel Jacob Schick patents the electric razor. Man was he clean shaven. Unfortunately for him he had to move to Canada to avoid charges for tax evasion.

1860 – Abe Lincoln is elected 16th President. America’s first republican president, Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglass. 1861 – Jefferon Davis elected to 6 year term as US Confederate President. 1928 Republican Herbert Hoover beats Alfred E. Smith. 1956 – Incumbent Dwight Eisenhower is reelected, defeating Adlai Stevenson. 1962 – Edward Kennedy is elected Senator of Massachusetts. And now that we’re done with the world series, Going backwards in sports honorary news…

2007 – Greg Maddux, who played for the Cubs and he Braves, wins his 17th Gold Glove. 2002 Barry Zito of Oakland wins his first Cy Young award, 1998 Kerry Wood of Chicago wins NL Rookie of the Year. 1991 Chuck Knoblauch, who played for the Twins, Yankees and Royals, is named AL rookie of the year. 1991 – Greta Waits wins her 9th women’s title at the NYC marathon. 1974 Dodger Mike Marshall becomes first reliever to win the Cy Young. 1970 Jim Perry of Minnesota wins the Cy Young award.