Colorado history

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

A Denver kid invents the doll that told a generation they could be anything, and the 1946 snow decides it has one more day.

Ruth Handler is born in Denver and eventually invents Barbie

1916 · Denver

Youngest of ten kids of Polish-Jewish immigrants, raised by her sister who ran a drugstore, she leaves for Hollywood, co-founds Mattel, and names a doll after her daughter Barbara.

Ruth Marianna Mosko arrived on November 4, 1916, the baby of a large family. Her mother was ill, so she grew up with her older sister Sarah, who ran a drugstore and soda fountain. Ruth preferred work to dolls. She went to the University of Denver for a bit, married her high-school sweetheart Elliot in Denver in 1938, and the two moved west.

In California they built Mattel. Watching her own daughter play with paper dolls that looked like teenagers, not babies, gave her the idea. Barbie debuted in 1959, named for Barbara. Ken followed, named for their son Kenneth. The doll sold hundreds of thousands in its first year and kept going. Handler later said Barbie meant a woman had choices.

She battled breast cancer, designed the Nearly Me prosthesis, faced an SEC case she settled, and lived until 2002. A billion Barbies later, the Denver birthday is still the origin story.

Sources: Wikipedia: Ruth Handler · Jewish Women's Archive

The 1946 snowstorm is still falling on November 4

1946 · Denver

After 14.3 inches on the 2nd and 8.6 on the 3rd, another 7.5 inches arrive today. Downtown ends with 30.4; Stapleton with 31. Schools closed, streetcars stalled, buildings strained.

The storm that started early on November 2 refused to quit. By the time it finally stopped in the early hours of the 5th, it had been snowing for nearly 71 hours, the second-longest stretch of continuous precipitation on record at the time.

November 4 contributed 7.5 inches of the total. The depth on the ground at the airport reached 28 inches. Cars were abandoned. Secondary roads stayed blocked for weeks. Livestock losses were high on the plains. The precipitation alone beat the previous November monthly record.

It remains one of Denver’s biggest snowstorms and the city’s largest November total. The 1946 snow season was already legendary before it was over.

Sources: NWS Denver/Boulder weather history · Extreme Weather Watch Denver Nov 4

November 4 weather extremes: 77°F or 13°F, take your pick

Denver

Record high 77°F in 2020. Record low 13°F in 1959 and 1933. Most snow on the date is 7.5 inches, from that same 1946 storm.

Denver on November 4 can go either way. The all-time high is 77°F, set in 2020. The all-time low is 13°F, recorded in both 1933 and 1959. The coldest daily high is 29°F from 1967.

Most precipitation on the date is 0.64 inches (1922). Most snow is 7.5 inches (1946). Average high is about 57°F, average low near 30°F. The chance of measurable snow is low but never zero.

If you are checking the forecast today, remember the city has already done both extremes on this date.

Sources: Extreme Weather Watch