Events in History
Event of Interest
1492 Christopher Columbus notes 1st recorded reference to tobacco
Christopher Columbus
Event of Interest
1533 Francisco Pizarro arrives at Cuzco
Francisco Pizarro
Event of Interest
1577 Sir Francis Drake aboard Pelican travels from Chile to Washington
Francis Drake
- 1583 Gelders Earl Willem of the Bergh flees
Event of Interest
1620 Myles Standish leads 16 men in a foot exploration of the northern portion of Cape Cod
Myles Standish
Pirate Attack
1720 Pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and John Rackham are captured by Capt. Jonathan Barnet and brought to Spanish Town, Jamaica, for trial
Articles of Confederation
1777 Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, is approved by the Continental Congress
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- 1791 1st Catholic college in US, Georgetown, opens
- 1806 1st US college magazine, Yale Literary Government, publishes 1st issue
- 1806 Explorer Zebulon Pike sights Pikes Peak in Colorado
- 1813 Allied troops occupies Groningen
- 1813 Tax revolt in Amsterdam
- 1824 Series of fires kills 10 in Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1826 Dutch Business Me gets monopoly on opium trade in Java/Madura
- 1827 Creek-indians lose all their property in US
Event of Interest
1835 Charles Darwin reaches Tahiti on board HMS Beagle, the location where he would formulate his ideas later written in The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs
Charles Darwin
Pitman Shorthand: An Invention of Note
1837 Isaac Pitman introduces his shorthand system of writing
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Event of Interest
1864 Union Major General Sherman leaves Atlanta on his "March to the Sea"
William Tecumseh Sherman
- 1869 Free postal delivery formally inaugurated
- 1870 Bathe becomes member of Noordduitse Union
- 1881 American Federation of Labor (AFL) founded (Pittsburgh)
- 1882 British HMS Flirt destroys village of Asaba, Niger
- 1884 European Colonization and trade in Africa is officially regulated at the international Berlin Conference, formalizing European powers "Scramble for Africa"
- 1887 British SS Wah Yeung catches fire on Canton River off Hong Kong
- 1889 Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, deposed; republic proclaimed
Event of Interest
1898 David Beatty is promoted to commander
David Beatty
Event of Interest
1899 Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill captured by Boers in Natal
Winston Churchill
- 1902 Leopold II, King of Belgium almost assassinated by Italian anarchist
Historic Invention
1904 King C. Gillette patents the Gillette razor blade
King C. Gillette
Event of Interest
1916 Canadian pilot William George Barker flying over Ancre River, spots concentration of German troops massing for counter-attack on Beaumont Hamel, sends emergency Zone Call to break up German infantry apart. Barker later receives Military Cross
William George Barker
- 1919 US Senate 1st invokes the Cloture Rule to end a filibuster, passes Versailles Treaty [1]
- 1920 Ernst Toller's "Massen und Menschen" premieres in Nuremberg
- 1920 Free City of Danzig forms under League of Nations protection
- 1920 League of Nations holds first meeting in Geneva
- 1921 KYW-AM in Philadelphia PA begins radio transmissions
- 1924 Dutch Christian Radio Society (NCRV) forms
- 1926 AT&T sells WEAF radio to RCA (NYC)
- 1934 Nobel for chemistry awarded to Harold C Urey (deuterium)
- 1935 Commonwealth of Philippines inaugurated
- 1936 Nazi-Germany & Japan sign Anti-Komintern pact
- 1937 First US congressional session in air-conditioned chambers
- 1938 First telecast of an unscheduled event (fire), W2XBT, NY
- 1938 Farewell Parade of International Brigades in Barcelona
- 1939 Anti-German demonstrations in Czechoslovakia
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 1939 Nazis begin mass murder of Warsaw Jews
- 1939 The first unemployment compensation law, under the Social Security Act, that of the District of Columbia, was approved for grants by the Social Security Board
- 1940 1st 75,000 men called to armed forces duty during peacetime
- 1940 NY Midtown tunnel linking Manhattan and Queens opens to traffic
- 1941 Cow Palace opens in San Francisco
- 1941 Yugoslav government in exile names Draza Mihailovic premier
- 1942 World War II: First flight of the Heinkel He 219.
- 1944 Surprise attack on office of Nethche Bank
- 1945 The rules are revised for election of modern players to the Hall of Fame
- 1946 House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) interrogates astronomer Harlow Shapley
Event of Interest
1948 Mackenzie King retires after 22 years as Prime Minister of Canada
Mackenzie King
Event of Interest
1948 Louis St. Laurent is sworn in as the 12th Prime Minister of Canada
Louis St. Laurent
- 1950 Arthur Dorrington, 1st black man in organized hockey is signed, by Atlantic City Seagulls of Eastern Amateur Hockey League
- 1954 1st regularly scheduled commercial flights over North Pole begins
- 1955 Poland & Yugoslavia sign trade agreement
- 1957 US sentences Soviet spy Rudolf Ivanovich Abel to 30 years & $3,000
Murder of Interest
1959 Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith murder four members of the Clutter Family at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas (subject of Truman Capote book In Cold Blood)
Truman Capote
- 1960 USS G Washington, 1st sub with nuclear ballistic missiles, launched
- 1961 Comet C/1961 T1 (Seki) approaches within 0.1019 AUs of Earth
- 1961 UN bans nuclear arms
- 1964 Sudan Premier Ibrahim Abbud resigns
- 1965 Craig Breedlove sets land speed record (600.601 mph-966.57 kph)
- 1966 Gemini XII (Lovell & Aldrin) returns to Earth
- 1967 The only fatality of the X-15 program occurs during the 191st flight when Air Force test pilot Michael J. Adams loses control of his aircraft descending from 81km, causing its mid air destruction over the Mojave Desert
- 1969 1st Jackson Five record to enter top 100 (I Want You Back)
Vietnam War Moratorium Demonstration
1969 An estimated 2 million people take part in the Vietnam War Moratorium demonstration across the United States
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- 1969 Wendy's Hamburgers, American fast food restaurant chains founded by Dave Thomas opens in Columbus, Ohio
Andrew Grove
Event of Interest
1974 Ringo Starr releases "Goodnight Vienna" & "Only You" in UK
Ringo Starr
Event of Interest
1977 US President Jimmy Carter welcomes Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Jimmy Carter
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Birthdays in History
- 1316 Jean I, King of France and Navarre, (Nov 15-19, 1316), born in Paris (he lived only 5 days)
- 1397 Nicholas V [Tommaso Parentucelli], Italian Pope (1447-55), born in Sarzana, Republic of Genoa (d. 1455)
- 1498 Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France, born in Leuven, Belgium (d. 1558)
- 1556 Jacques Davy Duperron, French Roman Catholic cardinal, born in Saint-Lô, Normandy, France (d. 1618)
- 1559 Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and cardinal-archbishop of Toledo, born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria (d. 1621)
- 1607 Madeleine de Scudéry, French novelist (Artamène ou le grand Cyrus), born in Le Havre, Normandy, France (d. 1701)
- 1619 Philips Koninck, Dutch landscape painter, born in Amsterdam (d. 1688)
- 1660 Hermann von der Hardt, German historian, born in Melle, Westphalia (d. 1746)
- 1661 Christoph von Graffenried, British peer from Switzerland who founded New Bern, Carolina, born in Worb Castle, Bern, Switzerland (d. 1743)
- 1688 Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician, born in Montpellier, France (d. 1757)
- 1692 Eusebius Amort, German Roman Catholic theologian, born in Bibermuehle, Bavaria (d. 1775)
William Pitt the Elder
1708 William Pitt the Elder, British Prime Minister (Whig, 1756-61, 66-68) known as the `Great Commoner', born in London, England (d. 1778)
William Pitt the Elder
William Herschel
1738 William Herschel, German-British astronomer (discovered Uranus), born in Hanover, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1822)
William Herschel
- 1741 Johann Kaspar Lavater, Swiss writer, philosopher and founder of physiognomics, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1801)
- 1755 Jan Blanken, Dutch hydraulic engineer, born in Bergambacht, Netherlands (d. 1838)
- 1757 Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher, Danish surgeon, botanist and professor of anatomy (research work in malacology), born in Glückstadt, Holstein, Germany (d. 1830)
- 1784 Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia (1807-13), born in Ajaccio, Corsica (d. 1860)
- 1793 Michel Chasles, French mathematician (geometry), born in Épernon, France (d. 1880)
- 1814 Pleasant Adam Hackleman, American lawyer, politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Franklin County, Indiana (d. 1862)
- 1815 John Banvard, American artist who painted worlds largest painting (3 mile canvas), born in NYC, New York (d. 1892)
- 1816 Joseph Bennett Plummer, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Barre, Massachusetts (d. 1862)
- 1829 Petrus Abraham Samuel van Limburg Brouwer, Dutch politician and critic (Akbar), born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1873)
- 1836 Pierce M. B. Young, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Spartanburg, South Carolina (d. 1896)
- 1840 Aleksey Apukhtin, Russian poet and friend of Tsjaikovski, born in Bolkhov, Russian Empire (d. 1893) [NS=11/27]
- 1859 Christopher Hornsrud, Prime Minister of Norway (3 weeks), born in Skotselv, Øvre Eiker, Norway (d. 1960)
- 1862 Adolf Bartels, German journalist and poet, born in Wesselburen, Holstein, Germany (d. 1945)
Gerhart Hauptmann
1862 Gerhart Hauptmann, German author (Before Dawn - Nobel 1912), born in Obersalzbrunn, Silesia, Prussia (d. 1946)
Gerhart Hauptmann
August Krogh
1874 August Krogh [Schack], Danish zoophysiologist (arterioles and capillaries, Nobel 1920), born in Grenaa, Jutland, Denmark (d. 1949)
August Krogh
- 1875 Birsa Munda, Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader and folk hero of the Munda tribe who led an uprising in Bengal against the British Raj, born in Ulihatu, Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 1900)
- 1881 Franklin P Adams, columnist (Information Please), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1882 Felix Frankfurter, 80th Supreme Court Justice (1939-62), born in Vienna, Austria
- 1886 René Guénon, French-Egyptian author (d. 1951)
Georgia O’Keeffe
1887 Georgia O'Keeffe, American sculptor/painter (Cow's Skull), born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin (d. 1986)
Georgia O’Keeffe
Erwin Rommel
1891 Erwin Rommel, German Field Marshal (WWII - African campaign), born in Heidenheim, Württemberg, Germany (d. 1944)
Erwin Rommel
- 1891 W Averell Harriman, American (Gov-D-NY)/ambassador to USSR (1943-46)
- 1895 Olga Nikolaevna, eldest daughter of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, born in Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1918)
- 1895 Antoni Słonimski, Polish writer (d. 1976)
- 1897 Sacheverell Sitwell, English author (People's Palace), born in Scarborough, England (d. 1988)
- 1897 Aneurin Bevan, British politician (d. 1960)
- 1898 Willy Alfredo [Willem Jue], Dutch entertainer/poet (Fish-Trap)
- 1899 Avdy Andresson, Estonian statesman (d. 1990)
- 1899 Iskander Mirza, first President of Pakistan (d. 1969)
- 1906 Curtis E Le May, air force general/VP candidate
- 1907 Count Claus Schenck von Stauffenberg, German anti fascist colonel
- 1909 Don Large, Canadian choral director (Wayne King)
- 1913 Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist (d. 2005)
- 1916 Dame Ruth Nita Barrow, 1st female Governor-General of Barbados (1990-95)
- 1917 Gerardus H de Bold, bishop of Breda (1962-67)
- 1919 Joseph Wapner, American judge (People's Court), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2017)
- 1920 Wayne Thiebaud, American painter
- 1922 Francesco Rosi, director (Lucky Luciano), born in Naples, Italy
- 1922 Giorgio Manganelli, writer
- 1925 Howard Baker, (Sen-R-Tenn), presidential chief of staff
- 1925 Yuli Daniel, Russian writer (d. 1988)
- 1927 Gregor Mackenzie, British politician (d. 1992)
- 1928 William Heirens, serial killer (Lipstick Killer), born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 2012)
- 1930 J[ames] G[raham] Ballard, China, sci-fi author (Drowned World)
- 1930 Olene Walker, politician (R), 1st female Governor of Utah (2003-2005), born in Ogden, Utah (d. 2015)
- 1931 Jan Terlouw, Dutch politician (D-66) and author (Winters in Wartime)
- 1931 Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan politician, President of Kenya (2002-13), born in Gatuyaini, Kenya
- 1931 Pascal Lissouba, Congo politician
- 1934 Joanna Barnes, actress (Parent Trap, Spartacus, Goodbye Charlie), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1935 Jerry Douglas, American director and writer (Grabby Awards Hall of Fame), born in Des Moines, Iowa
- 1935 Ariston Muguranayanga Chambati, politician/businessman
- 1940 Roberto Cavalli, Italian luxury fashion designer and inventor, born in Florence, Italy
- 1941 Daniel Manus Pinkwater, American sci-fi author (Magic Moscow)
- 1943 Roger Donaldson, director (Cocktail, Cadillac Man, White Sands)
- 1947 William B Richardson, (Rep-D-New Mexico, 1983- )
- 1948 Roy P Dyson, (Rep-D-MD, 1981- )
- 1953 Yuri Viktorovich Prikhodko, Russian cosmonaut
- 1954 Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Białogard Poland, politician and President of Poland (1995-2005)
- 1955 Henry Corra, American documentarian
- 1956 Brian Douglas Wells, American criminal (d. 2003)
- 1961 Ian Reid, Australian educator
- 1968 James Brady, columnist (NY Post), born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1969 Shane Mack, American politician
- 1975 Scott Henshall, British fashion designer
- 1977 Peter Mark Andrew Phillips, British son of Princess Anne, then 9th in succession to British throne
- 1982 D. J. Fitzpatrick, National Football League kicker
- 1982 Lofa Tatupu, National Football League
- 1983 DJ Skee, American DJ/Personality
- 1985 Jeffree Star [Jeffrey Steininger Jr.], American Internet personality (Jeffree Star Cosmetics), born in Orange County, California
- 1987 Ian Hecox, Member of Smosh
- 1996 Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate activist, born in Uganda
Weddings in History
- 2005 Emperor Akihito's only daughter Princess Sayako (36) gives up her imperial title to wed Yoshiki Kuroda (40) at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan
Deaths in History
Justinian I
565 Justinian I (The Great), Byzantinian Emperor (527-565), dies at 82. Corpus Juris Civilis, civil law code, written during reign.
Justinian I
- 655 Penda, King of Mercia, Anglo Saxon King
- 1028 Constantine VIII Byzantine Emperor (b. 960)
- 1136 Margrave Leopold III of Austria (b. 1073)
- 1194 Margaretha van Elzas, wife of count Boudouin V of Henegouwen, dies
- 1280 Albertus Magnus the Great, German leader/bishop Regensburg, dies at 87
- 1463 Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini, Prince of Taranto and Constable of Naples
- 1527 Princess Catherine of York, 9th child and sixth daughter of King Edward IV by his wife Elizabeth Woodville, dies at 48
- 1544 King Jungjong of Joseon (b. 1506)
- 1579 Ferenc Dávid, Hungarian religious reformer (b. 1510)
- 1628 Roque Gonzales, Paraguayan missionary (b. 1576)
- 1629 Bethlen Gabor, King of Hungary (1620-29), dies at 49
Johannes Kepler
1630 Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (discovered laws of planetary motion), dies at 58
Johannes Kepler
- 1634 Johann Staden, German composer, dies at 53
- 1658 Jacobus Revius [Reefsen], theologist/writer/poet, dies at about 72
- 1670 John Amos Comenius, Czech-speaking Moravian teacher, educator and writer, dies at 78
- 1691 Albert Cuyp, landscape painter, buried at 71
- 1706 Tsangyang Gyatso, 6th Dalai Lama (1697-1706), dies at 23
- 1712 Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, English politician (b. 1675)
- 1712 James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nationalist (b. 1658)
John Witherspoon
1794 John Witherspoon, president of the College of New Jersey, dies at 71
John Witherspoon
- 1795 Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (b. 1719)
- 1812 Eagle Fokke Simonsz, writer (Year 3000), dies at about 57
- 1819 Daniel Rutherford, Scottish chemist and physician (isolation of nitrogen in 1772), dies at 70
- 1832 Jean Baptiste Say, French economist, dies at 63
- 1848 P Rossi, Italian, murdered
- 1853 Queen Maria II of Portugal, Daughter of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, dies at 34
- 1863 Frederik VII, 1st constitutional king of Denmark (1848-63), dies at 55
- 1889 Ambrose Dudley Mann, American diplomat, dies at 88
- 1892 Thomas Neill Cream, Scottish-Canadian serial killer (Lambeth poisoner), is executed at 42
- 1897 John Mercer Langston, 1st African-American to hold US political office, dies at 67
- 1908 Empress Dowager Cixi [the old Buddha], empress-widow of China, dies at 72
- 1910 Wilhelm Raabe [Jakob Corvinus], German author (Der Hungerpastor), dies at 79
- 1916 Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author (Quo Vadis, Nobel 1905), dies at 70
- 1916 Luis Muñoz Rivera, Puerto Rican journalist (founded Federalist Party), dies at 57
- 1917 Oswald Chambers, Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement minister and writer (My Utmost for His Highest), dies at 43
- 1919 Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist (Nobel 1913), dies at 52
- 1919 Mohammad Farid, an influential Egyptian political figure.
- 1928 Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, American Geologist and educator, dies at 85
- 1931 C. A. J. van Dishoeck, Dutch publisher, dies at 68
- 1934 Anton Dreesmann, German-Dutch manufacturer (Vroom & Dreesman), dies at 80
- 1944 Maarten Reuchlin, resistance fighter, executed
- 1955 Lloyd Bacon, director (Fuller Brush Girl, 42nd Street), dies at 65
- 1965 John Geoghegan, U.S. Army infantry lieutenant and Silver Star recipient, killed during the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam War at 24
- 1967 Michael J. Adams, USAF pilot (X-15), dies in X-15 crash at 37
- 1969 Ignacio Aldecoa, Spanish writer (Gran Sol, Caballo the Pica), dies at 44
- 1971 Rudolf Abel, Soviet spy (b. 1903)
- 1975 Willem Scheps, Dutch journalist, dies at 77
Margaret Mead
1978 Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (Coming of Age in Samoa, Thoughts & Female), dies of pancreatic cancer at 76
Margaret Mead
- 1984 Baby Fae, who received a baboon's heart, dies at 3 weeks
- 1985 Spencer W. Kimball, American 12th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1973-1985), dies at 90
- 1993 Luciano Liggio, Italian mafia leader/painter, dies
- 1993 Mouin Shabaita, Palestinian al-Fatah commandant, murdered
- 1993 Theo Huizenaar, Dutch boxing trainer (Bep van Klaveren), dies at 93
- 1994 James W. Watts, American neurosurgeon, developer of the Frontal Lobotomy, dies at 90
- 1994 Janet Ahlberg, illustrator, dies at 50
- 1994 Volodymyr Ivashko, President of Ukraine (1990-91), dies
- 1994 Elizabeth George Speare, American author (The Witch of Blackbird Pond), dies at 85
- 1995 Eve Perrick, journalist, dies at 78
- 1995 Billy Hughes, British educationist and Labour Party politician, dies at 81
- 1996 Alger Hiss, former alleged spy/lawyer, dies at 92
- 1998 Stokely Carmichael, American civil rights activist (b. 1941)
- 2002 Myra Hindley, English murderess (murdered 5 small children with Ian Brady), dies at 60
- 2003 Laurence Tisch, American businessman (b. 1923)
- 2004 Elmer L. Andersen, 30th Governor of Minnesota (1961-63), dies at 95
- 2004 Ben Cami, Flemish writer and poet (Rose from Mud), dies at 84
- 2005 Dr. Adrian Rogers, American Southern Baptist Minister and leader (b. 1931)
- 2005 Arto Salminen, Finnish writer (b. 1959)
- 2006 David K. Wyatt, American historian (b. 1937)
- 2009 Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (b. 1914)
- 2011 Oba Chandler, American convicted murderer, dies at 65
- 2015 Cynthia Payne, English brothel madam, dies at 82
- 2016 Sixto Durán Ballén, Ecuadorian politician, President of Ecuador (1992-96), dies at 95