1619-René Descartes has a dream that inspires his "Meditations on First Philosophy" 1674-Dutch Republic formally cedes New Netherland to England, who rename it New York 1885-German engineer Gottlieb Daimler unveils his "Reitwagen", the world's first gasoline-powered motorcycle 1917 -Third Battle of Ypres: Canadian troops recapture the high ground in the village of Passchendaele from the Germans in West Flanders, Belgium, during World War I; over 200,000 casualties occur on each side, and 24,000 German prisoners are taken [1] 1918-Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, receives a top-secret coded message from Europe stating that on November 11, 1918, all fighting will cease on land, sea, and in the air 1960-Uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley’s Lover" finally goes on sale in the UK after a jury finds publisher Penguin Books not guilty in an obscenity trial 1989-German crowds begin demolishing the Berlin Wall, quickly followed by officials with bulldozers