- 526 A possible date for the Antioch earthquake in present-day Syria (then the Byzantine Empire) which killed 200,000 people
- 799 Pope Leo III, aided by Charles the Great, returns to Rome
- 1349 Jews of Augsburg Germany massacred
- 1516 Treaty of Freiburg: French/Swiss "eternal" peace treaty
- 1561 Lofland subjects himself on Sigismund August II of Poland
- 1573 Don Luis de Requesensy Zuniga succeeds duke of Alva as land guardian of Netherlands
- 1581 Doornik (Tournai) surrenders to Duke of Parma
- 1596 King Philip II devalues Spanish currency
Event of Interest
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's army moves into Manchester and occupies Carlisle
Bonnie Prince Charlie
- 1760 French commandant Beletre surrenders Detroit to Maj R Rogers
- 1775 Sir James Jay invents invisible ink
- 1781 Crew of slave ship Zong murder about 142 African slaves by dumping them into the sea, to claim insurance
- 1791 Chatham Islands sighted by HMS Chatham commanded by William Broughton
- 1803 Dessalines & Christophe declare St Domingue (Haiti) independent
Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1813 Elias Canneman (Lib) becomes minister of Finance
- 1825 1st Italian opera in US, "Barber of Seville" premieres (NYC)
- 1830 November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.
- 1845 The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.
- 1847 Indians kill Washington state pioneers Marcus & Narcissa Whitman, and 12 others in Walla Walla Ore
- 1850 The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, signed in Olomouc means diplomatic capitulation of Prussia to Austrian Empire, taking over the leadership of German Confederation
- 1863 Battle of Ft Sanders, TN (Ft Loudon), 8-900 causalities
- 1864 4th & last day of skirmishes at Waynesboro, Georgia
- 1864 Battle of Spring Hill, TN (Thomason's Station)
- 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado militia kills about 150 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians including Cheyenne chief One-Eye
- 1870 Compulsory education proclaimed in England
- 1872 Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
Thomas Edison's Phonograph
1877 US inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time
Learn More
- 1887 US receives rights to Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii
- 1890 1st US Army - US Navy football game, Score: Navy 24, Army 0 at West Point
- 1893 Ziqiang Institute, today known as Wuhan University, is founded by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in late Qing Dynasty of China after his memorial to the throne is approved by the Qing Government.
- 1897 1st motorcycle race (Surrey, England)
Event of Interest
1900 General Horatio Kitchener assumes command of the British forces in South Africa from General Lord Roberts
Horatio Kitchener
- 1901 East 182nd Street in Bronx is paved & opened
Theater Premiere
1902 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Der arme Heinrich" premieres in Vienna
Gerhart Hauptmann
- 1909 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Sydney, Australia: Norman Brookes & Anthony Wilding beat Americans Melville Long & Maurice McLoughlin 12-10, 9-7, 6-3; Australasia unassailable 3-0 lead; win 5-0
- 1910 The first US patent for inventing the traffic lights system is issued to Ernest Sirrine.
- 1913 CFL Grey Cup, AAA Grounds, Hamilton: Hamilton Tigers beat Toronto Parkdale, 44-2; second-largest margin of victory in a Grey Cup final
- 1915 Fire destroys most of the buildings on Santa Catalina Island, California.
- 1916 US declares martial law in Dominican Republic
- 1917 A Supreme Allied War Council meets at Versailles to define war aims
- 1918 Serbia annexes Montenegro
- 1921 Coldest day in November in Netherlands -14.0°C
- 1921 Z Parenteau & Schuyler Green's musical "Kiki" premieres in NYC
- 1923 The Dawes Commission, chaired by the American Banker Charles G. Dawes, is set up to look into the German economic situation and make recommendations that the US can accept
- 1924 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Queen's University wins 3rd straight Championship; defeat Toronto Balmy Beach, 11-3
- 1924 NHL's Montreal Forum opens
Event of Interest
1926 Tris Speaker resigns as Indians manager
Tris Speaker
- 1926 W Somerset Maughams "Constant Wife" premieres in NYC
Event of Interest
1929 Richard E. Byrd sends "My calculations indicate that we have reached vicinity of South Pole" (He was wrong)
Richard E. Byrd
- 1932 France & USSR sign non-aggression pact
Music Premiere
1932 Cole Porter's musical "Gay Divorcee" premieres in NYC
Cole Porter
Event of Interest
1935 Michael Joseph Savage becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand
Michael Joseph Savage
Historic Publication
1935 Physicist Erwin Schrödinger publishes his famous thought experiment "Schrödinger's cat", a paradox that illustrates the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics
Erwin Schrödinger
- 1937 Prince Bernhard injured in auto accident in Netherlands
- 1938 Mayor Oud of Rotterdam forbids soccer match between Neth-Germany
- 1939 Cor Klint swims world record 200 m backstroke (2:38.8)
- 1939 USSR drops diplomatic relations with Finland
- 1941 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeat Ottawa Rough Riders, 18-16 for their 3rd Championship
- 1941 Passenger ship Lurline sends radio signal of sighting Japanese war fleet
- 1942 US Office of Price Administration rations coffee for everyone, 10 pound a year
Josip Broz Tito
- 1943 U-86 sinks in Atlantic Ocean
- 1943 US aircraft carrier Hornet launched
- 1944 Albania liberated from Nazi control (National Day)
- 1944 John Hopkins hospital performs 1st open heart surgery
- 1944 The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
- 1945 Yugoslavian Socialist Republic proclaimed
Film Premier
1945 "The Lost Weekend", based on Charles R. Jackson's novel, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Best Picture 1946)
- 1946 Minister Drees begins emergency rule of old age facilities
- 1947 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts win 3rd straight and 8th title; beat Calgary Stampeders, 10-9
- 1947 UN Gen Assembly partitions Palestine between Arabs & Jews
- 1948 "Kukla, Fran, & Ollie" debuted on NBC
- 1948 1st opera to be televised, "Othello", broadcast from the Met (NYC)
- 1948 KOB TV channel 4 in Albuquerque, NM (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1949 Nationalist regime of China leaves for Taiwan/Formosa
- 1949 Uranium mine explosions in East Germany kills 3,700
- 1950 National Council of Church of Christ in US forms
- 1951 1st underground atomic explosion at Frenchman Flat in Nevada
- 1952 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts prove to be the dominant club in Canada with their record 10th Championship; beat Edmonton Eskimos, 21-11
Event of Interest
1952 US President-elect Eisenhower visits Korea to assess war
Dwight D. Eisenhower
- 1953 American Airlines begins 1st regular commercial NY-LA air service
- 1953 WSIX TV channel 8 in Nashville, TN (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1955 Turkish government of Menderes resigns
- 1956 "Bells Are Ringing" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 925 performances
- 1956 Chris Brasher becomes first Briton to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field since 1936; claims 3,000m steeplechase in 8:41.2 at the Melbourne Games; initially disqualified but reversed on appeal
- 1957 NY Mayor Robert Wagner forms a committee to replace Dodgers & Giants
- 1958 CFL Grey Cup, Empire Stadium, Vancouver: Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 35-28 for a 4th Championship
- 1959 2nd Grammy Awards: Mack The Knife, Bobby Darin wins
- 1960 26th Heisman Trophy Award: Joe Bellino, Navy (HB)
- 1961 Freedom Riders attacked by white mob at bus station in Miss
- 1961 John A McCone replaces Allen W Dulles as 6th director of CIA
- 1961 Mercury-Atlas 5 carries a chimp (Enos) to orbit
- 1961 Following the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion CIA Director Allen Dulles resigns and is replaced by John McCone
- 1962 Major League Baseball decides to revert to 1 All-Star game per year, after 4 seasons in which 2 All-Star games were played
- 1962 Great Britain & France decide to jointly build the Concorde supersonic airliner
- 1963 "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom
Lyndon B. Johnson
John F. Kennedy
- 1963 Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 831: A Douglas DC-8 carrying 118, crashes after taking-off from Dorval Airport near Montreal, Canada
- 1964 Roman Catholic Church in US replaces Latin with English
- 1965 "Anya" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 16 performances
- 1965 Dale Cummings does 14,118 consecutive sit-ups
- 1966 1st NBA game at Oakland Coliseum Arena - Warriors beat Bulls 108-101
- 1966 SS Daniel J Morrell sinks in a storm on Lake Huron, 28 die, 1 survivor.
- 1967 British troops withdraw from Aden and South Yemen
- 1967 Robert McNamara elected president of World bank
Album Release
1968 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release their 1st album "Two Virgins" in UK
Yoko Ono
John Lennon
- 1969 The Beatles' "Come Together/Something" reaches #1
- 1970 Charles Ives' "Yale-Princeton" premieres
- 1970 England cricket batsman Colin Cowdrey reaches 22 on Day 3 of the drawn 1st Test against Australia in Brisbane to become Test Cricket's leading run scorer; passes countryman Wally Hammond's world Test-record aggregate of 7,249 runs
- 1971 1st pro golf championship at Walt Disney World
- 1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Pong
1972 Co-founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell releases Pong, the 1st commercially successful video game, in Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, California
Learn More
Event of Interest
1974 Coco the Clown [Nicolai Poliakoff] special memorial service held at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England
Coco the Clown
- 1975 Kilauea Volcano erupts in Hawaii
Event of Interest
1975 US President Gerald Ford requires states to provide free education for handicapped
Gerald Ford
Election of Interest
1975 New Zealand general election won by the National Party headed by Robert Muldoon
Robert Muldoon
Contract of Interest
1976 NY Yankees sign free agent Reggie Jackson to 5-year contract
Reggie Jackson
- 1978 UN observes "international day of solidarity with Palestinian people," boycotted by US & about 20 other countries
- 1978 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1981 "My Fair Lady" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 119 performances
- 1981 Greg Chappell scores 201 v Pakistan at The Gabba (Brisbane)
- 1981 Major Iranian offensive mounted on central front
- 1982 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1983 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1984 Javed Miandad completes twin Test Cricket tons, v NZ, Hyderabad
- 1987 "Dreamgirls" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 177 performances
- 1987 75th CFL Grey Cup, BC Place, Vancouver: Edmonton Eskimos 10th Championship; defeat Toronto Argonauts, 38-36 on Jerry Kauric's last second field-goal
- 1987 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
NFL Record
1987 Joe Montana of SF 49ers completes NFL record of 22 consecutive passes
Joe Montana
- 1987 New Orleans Saints win, assuring their 1st winning NFL season
- 1987 Ranger's Bob Frosse becomes 2nd goalie to score a goal (vs NY Islanders). It is later ruled that he should not be credited with goal.
- 1987 A Korean Air Boeing 707 explodes over the Thai-Burmese border, killing 115
- 1989 8th Largest wrestling crowd UFW U-Cosmos (60,000-Tokyo Dome)
Election of Interest
1989 Rajiv Gandhi resigns as Prime Minister of India after losing national elections
Rajiv Gandhi
- 1990 "Shogun - The Musical" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 72 performances
- 1990 Expos pres Claude Brochu agrees to buy club from Charles Bronfman
- 1990 UN Security Council approves US-sponsored resolution authorizing the use of force in the Persian Gulf if Iraq does not withdrawal from Kuwait by Jan. 15, 1991
- 1991 TV show "Roc" has a gay wedding episode - Can't Help Loving that Man
- 1991 Test Cricket debut of Javagal Srinath, v Australia at the Gabba
- 1992 "Sea Gull" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 48 performances
- 1992 "Solitary Confinement" closes at Nederlander NYC after 25 performances
- 1992 CFL Grey Cup, SkyDome, Toronto: Calgary Stampeders beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 24-10: MVP QB Doug Flutie, 33 of 49 for 480 yards, 2 TDs
- 1993 "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" opens at Beaumont Theater NYC for 40 performances
- 1994 Seoul, Korea, celebrated the 600th anniversary of its founding
Album Release
1994 "My Life" 2nd studio album by Mary J. Blige is released (Billboard Music Award Top R&B Album 1995)
Mary J. Blige
Puff Daddy
Event of Interest
1995 US President Bill Clinton lifts ban on exports of oil from the Alaskan North Slope; the ban was imposed after the oil embargo by Arab oil producers in 1973
Bill Clinton
- 1997 USAir Arena closes, hosting Wash Wizards
- 1997 OPEC agrees to an increase in its production ceiling. OPEC has raised the ceiling to 27.5 million barrels per day for the first half of 1998
- 1998 In a classic all-Spanish final, Àlex Corretja puts on a stunning comeback to beat Carlos Moyá 3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5 and win his only ATP Tour World Championship tennis title in Hanover, Germany
- 2001 UN Security Council unanimously approves a resolution extending the Oil-for-Food program in Iraq for another six-month period
- 2005 The new Croatian Communist Party (KPH) is founded in Vukovar.
- 2007 The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to The Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny.
- 2007 A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurs off the northern coast of Martinique. This affected the Eastern Caribbean as far north as Puerto Rico and as south as Trinidad.
- 2009 CFL Grey Cup, McMahon Stadium, Calgary: Montreal Alouettes come from behind to beat Saskatchewan Roughriders, 28–27 on a 33-yard Damon Duval field goal as time runs out
- 2009 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia wins his only ATP World Tour Finals tennis title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Argentine star Juan Martín del Potro in the final in London, England
- 2012 30 people are killed and 100 are wounded by bombs in Hillah and Karbala, Iraq
- 2012 The UN votes to approve Palestine’s status change from an observer to an observer state
- 2012 Luiz Felipe Scolari takes over as Brazilian Football coach
- 2015 104th Davis Cup: Great Britain beats Belgium in Ghent 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, 1st win since 1936
Event of Interest
2015 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finishes 2nd in season-ending Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix to win his 3rd overall, and 2nd consecutive World Drivers Championship by 59 points from teammate Nico Rosberg
Lewis Hamilton
- 2015 CFL Grey Cup, Investors Group Field, Winnipeg: Edmonton Eskimos beat Ottawa Redblacks, 26-20 for their 14th Championship
- 2016 Former NFL player Darren Sharper sentenced to 20 years in prison for a series of rapes
- 2017 American TV host Matt Lauer is fired from NBC's "Today" show after an allegation of sexual misconduct
- 2017 Bosnian war criminal Slobodan Praljak commits suicide by poison in court at The Hague after 20 year prison term read out
- 2018 Tens of thousands Indian farmers protest the agrarian crisis at parliament in Delhi
- 2019 Terrorist knife attack at Fishmongers Hall by London Bridge, kills two and injures three, attacker previously imprisoned for 2012 terror offence
- 2019 K-pop stars Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon sentenced to prison for gang-raping unconscious fans and distributing footage of it (Jung)
Event of Interest
2019 Wood fragment believed to be from Jesus' manger returned to Bethlehem after 1400 years by Pope Francis
Pope Francis
Event of Interest
2020 Joe Biden and Kamala Harris announce the first all-female Communications team for the White House
Joe Biden
Kamala Harris
