November 27th: National & International Days, Celebrations and Observances

On November 27, local groups and neighbors will join forces during Giving Tuesday. Across towns and cities, people have already started planning ways to make a difference.

• The year's end finds local charities accepting donations large and small. Word-of-mouth support helps too - a quick post about their work reaches new supporters. Sometimes a ten-minute phone conversation gives a tired caregiver the boost they needed. Last week, several families started collecting comfort items and personal notes for military members serving away from home.
• In kitchens across town, old recipe cards are coming out of drawers. Yesterday, my neighbor's kids learned their great-grandmother's snickerdoodle secret while flour dusted every surface. These moments lead naturally to talks over dinner about what matters in our community. Local musicians have scheduled coffee house shows, while some blocks organize informal porch concerts.
• A quick knock on an elderly neighbor's door might find them needing help with bringing in groceries or changing a light bulb. While browsing holiday gifts, more shoppers now check labels for earth-friendly options. These everyday choices, though small, ripple through our neighborhoods in lasting ways.

On November 27, 1978, an assassin shot Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk inside San Francisco's City Hall. As the city's - and California's - first openly gay elected official, Milk had pushed through key changes to city life. His time in office brought new laws for dog waste cleanup and better public transportation.

November 27 would later mark a space discovery. The Hubble Space Telescope detected sodium in the atmosphere of planet HD 209458b in 2001. At 159 light-years from Earth, this scorching planet showed scientists they could study far-off atmospheres.

Back in 1755, the ground shook in Morocco. An earthquake destroyed ancient walls in Meknes and Fez, leaving thousands dead. Sultan Mohammed III took charge of rebuilding these historic cities, piece by piece.

Anders Celsius directed Uppsala's Astronomical Observatory in the 1700s. His original temperature scale worked backwards - marking boiling at 0° and freezing at 100°. Modern scientists rely on the reversed version for climate research.

Before 1900, scientists couldn't explain how nerves worked. Then Charles Scott Sherrington discovered synapses - connections between nerve cells that make communication possible. His 1906 publication "The Integrative Action of the Nervous System" transformed brain research. The Nobel Committee recognized this groundwork with their 1932 prize.

At Yale, Lars Onsager applied mathematical precision to chemistry's toughest problems. His complex equations made sense of ecosystem processes and climate patterns - methods still essential today. After moving from Norway to America, he earned the 1968 Nobel Prize for advancing thermodynamics.

Leslie Dewan represents a new generation of scientific problem-solvers. Since graduating MIT, she's improved the safety features of molten salt reactors. Her innovative designs earned recognition in Forbes 30 Under 30. Her work shows how nuclear power can become inherently safer.