On Nov. 18, 1865, Mark Twain’s first literary success was published in the New York Saturday Press under the title “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.”

In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted Standard Time zones.

In 1959, “Ben-Hur,” the Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.

In 1963, the Bell System introduced the first commercial touch-tone telephone system in Carnegie and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1976, Spain’s parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry.

In 2004, Britain outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales.