November 5th: National & International Days, Celebrations and Observances

Looking ahead to November 5th? Here's what's happening locally.

• Most residents don't know their tsunami escape paths - check yours at the city website. Tip off your neighbors too.
• The Pacific Coast Conservation Group needs extra hands this month, or even small donations help.
• Drop a quick tsunami safety reminder on social media.

That genetics research about redheads? Pretty mind-bending stuff about DNA patterns across populations.

• Grab a trash bag next time you walk by Miller Beach or the river inlet. Even five minutes makes the shoreline better.
• And speaking of changes - double-check what your bank does with your money. Some still fund major polluters.

The old Downtown Donut Shop needs morning customers. Been there since '85, still using the original recipes.

Message for UK folks: Local bonfire events are back. They're cleaner this year - no treated wood or plastics allowed. Just traditional community fun.

November 5th marks two moments of progress. In 1872, Susan B. Anthony violated state law at a polling station in Rochester, New York. She voted. Local officials demanded a $100 fine. She refused to pay a single cent.

• People noticed. Questions about women's voting rights spread through American towns and cities. The old rules started to crack.
• Across decades and continents, another November 5th achievement emerged. In 2013, a rocket lifted off from Sriharikota. India's Mars Orbiter Mission cost just $73.5 million - far less than standard space ventures.
• The spacecraft carried research tools to examine Mars. No other Asian nation had done this before. India's team succeeded on their first try.
• Their equipment lasted far beyond plans. Rather than six months, the orbiter kept working for nearly nine years. Through September 2022, it sent back surface images and atmospheric data from the Red Planet.
• The Anthony case went to trial in 1873. Judge Ward Hunt ignored standard procedure. He simply ordered the jury: find her guilty. No discussion allowed.
• Anthony stood up. She spoke about the rights of citizens - all citizens. Her speech spread across America as newspapers shared her words from coast to coast.

Several remarkable scientists share November 5th as their day.

• During the 1990s, Vandana Shiva pushed back against big agriculture. Her organization Navdanya helps local farmers keep their traditional methods and protect diverse seed stocks. Her work earned two major honors - the Right Livelihood Award and Sydney Peace Prize.
• British-Indian scientist J.B.S. Haldane tested diving limits on himself, risking his own life for research. From 1892 to 1964, he wrote hundreds of papers that built the field of population genetics. His ideas about the "primordial soup" remain relevant to scientists studying how life began.
• In 1902, French scientist Léon Teisserenc de Bort sent instruments up in balloons and found something unexpected. His readings showed a new layer of atmosphere - the stratosphere. His work completely changed how we understand the air above us.
• At London's Natural History Museum, Ethelwynn Trewavas spent years studying fish species. By the time she finished in 1993, she knew more about cichlids than anyone else in the world. Multiple fish species now honor her name.
• Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya did what runners thought impossible in 2019. He ran a marathon in under two hours. Beyond his Olympic medals, he spends time protecting his country's forests and bringing environmental messages to sports.