- 164 BC During the Maccabean Revolt Judas Maccabeus recaptures Jerusalem and rededicates the Second Temple, commemorated since as Jewish festival Hanukkah
- 235 St Anterus begins his reign as Catholic Pope, will only rule for 40 days
- 533 The Institutes published - an official textbook of Roman law, part of Roman Emperor Justinian's program of legal reforms
- 695 Pope Sergius names Willibrord as Archbishop Clemens of Friezen
- 1272 Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.
- 1317 Frederik of Sierck/Zyrick becomes bishop of Utrecht
- 1654 Richard Johnson, a free black, granted 550 acres in Virginia
- 1696 J Vanbrughe's "Relapse or Virtue in Danger" premieres in London
- 1729 Netherlands signs Treaty of Seville
- 1759 Battle at Maxen: Prussian army surrenders to Austrians
- 1783 Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes make 1st manned free balloon flight in a Montgolfier balloon
Andrew Jackson
1787 Future US president Andrew Jackson admitted to the bar aged 20
Alexander I
1818 Russia's Tsar Alexander I petitions for a Jewish state in Palestine
- 1824 First Jewish Reform congregation forms, Charleston, South Carolina
- 1831 Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "Robert le diable" (Robert the Devil) premieres at the Paris Opéra
- 1834 HMS Beagle anchors at Bay of San Carlos, Chile
- 1837 Thomas Morris of Australia skips rope 22,806 times
- 1847 Steamer "Phoenix" is lost on Lake Michigan, kills 200
- 1848 Alfred de Musset's "Andre del Sarto" premieres in Paris
- 1848 Cincinnati Turngemeinde founded
- 1849 Friedrich Hebbel's play "Der Rubin" premieres in Vienna
- 1852 Duke University founded in 1838 as Union Institute, chartered as Normal College
- 1864 -22] Battle at Griswoldville, Georgia
- 1865 Shaw University forms in Raleigh NC
- 1871 Moses F Gale patents a cigar lighter (NYC)
- 1876 Skirmish between HM Stanley's expedition & natives
Stanley Meets Brazza
1880 Competing explorers Henry Morton Stanley, in the service of Belgian King Leopold II and Italian-French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, working for France, meet in the lower Congo
First Surviving Motion Picture
1890 Edison lab records the 1st surviving motion picture, "Monkeyshines No. 1", shot by William am Kennedy Dickson and William Heise [date disputed between June 1889 and November 21–27, 1890]
Feuersnot
1901 Richard Strauss' opera "Feuersnot" premieres in Dresden
- 1902 1st night football game, Philadelphia Athletics beats Kanaweola AC, 39-0
- 1902 Baseball's Philadelphia Athletics & Phillies form pro football teams, joining Pitts Stars in 1st attempt at a National Football League
- 1902 The Canadian government appoints a commission to consider revising, classifying, and consolidating the many public statutes passed over the years
- 1905 1st match ever played in the Australian National Tennis Championships
- 1906 China prohibits the opium trade
- 1914 Billy Mallett of Hamilton Tigers kicks 9 singles in a game
- 1914 British army conquers Bazra
- 1916 HMHS Britannic sinks in the Aegean Sea after a mine explodes, killing 30 people
Gorky Insults Lenin
1917 Maxim Gorky calls Vladimir Lenin a blind fanatic and unthinking adventurer
- 1918 2 German ammunition trains explode in Hamont Belgium, 1,750 die
- 1918 Polish soldiers organize a pogrom against Jews of Galicia, Poland
- 1918 The German High Seas Fleet of 5 battlecruisers, 9 battleships, 7 cruisers and 49 destroyers surrendered to the British Grand Fleet and were shepherded into the Firth of Forth
- 1920 Karel Čapek's "Vec Makropulos" premieres in Prague
The Last of the Mohicans
1920 Silent film "The Last of the Mohicans" released, adapted from James Fenimore Cooper's novel, starring Wallace Beery, Barbara Bedford
Baldwin Cancels USSR Contract
1924 British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin cancels Labour contract with USSR
Red Grange Signs
1925 Red Grange plays final Univ of Illinois game, signs with Chicago Bears
Frankenstein
1931 Horror film "Frankenstein" is released, starring Boris Karloff as the monster, directed by James Whale and based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus"
Joe DeMaggio
1934 NY Yankees buy Joe DiMaggio from SF Seals (Pacific Coast League)
- 1935 Jean Giraudoux' "La Guerre de Troie n'Aura" premieres in Paris
Shostakovich's 5th Symphony
1937 Dmitri Shostakovich's 5th Symphony premieres in Lenningrad, with the ovation lasting over an hour
Hitler Appoints Manstein
1942 Adolf Hitler names field marshal Erich von Manstein commander of the newly-created Army Group Don (Heeresgruppe Don)
Britten's String Quartet No. 2
1945 Benjamin Britten's String Quartet No. 2 premieres at the Wigmore Hall, London, played by the Zorian Quartet
- 1945 General Motors workers go on strike
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946 "The Best Years of Our Lives", film directed by William Wyler, based on MacKinlay Kantor's novella Glory for Me, starring Myrna Loy and Fredric March, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1947)
- 1946 Georgi Dimitrov elected premier of Bulgaria
- 1946 Harry Truman becomes 1st US President to travel in a submerged sub
Veeck Sells Cleveland Indians
1949 Bill Veeck sells MLB Cleveland Indians for $22 million, to fund his divorce settlement
- 1952 1st US postage stamp in 2 colors (rotary process) introduced
- 1952 Dodgers pitcher Joe Black wins NL Rookie of Year
Bare Bones of the Great Ape-Man Hoax
1953 Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce the "Piltdown Man" skull, one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, is a hoax
- 1953 WKJG TV channel 33 in Ft Wayne, IN (NBC) begins broadcasting
Peron Return Request
1955 Argentina asks Panama for return of ex-president Juan Peron
- 1955 KTVO TV channel 3 in Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1956 Don Newcombe wins NL MVP & 1st-ever Cy Young Award
Benny and Nixon Duet
1959 Entertainer Jack Benny (violin) and US Vice-President Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet
Scheffing Signs to Tigers
1960 Bob Scheffing signs to manage Tigers after Casey Stengel turns it down
- 1962 The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.
J.F.K. Flies To Texas
1963 US President John F. Kennedy flies to Texas (assassinated the next day)
- 1964 Verrazano-Narrows suspension bridge opens in New York City, then the world's longest
- 1965 1st freighter arrives in Ashdod Port, Israel
- 1965 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk, USSR
- 1966 Dutch government of Zijlstra forms
- 1967 Phillip & Jay Kunz fly a kite a record 28,000 feet
I am Absolutely Certain..
1967 Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."
- 1968 Cin trades shortstop Leo Cardenas to Twins for pitcher Jim Merritt
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
1968 The Supremes & The Temptations release "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
- 1969 KXIX (now KVCT) TV channel 19 in Victoria, TX (ABC) 1st broadcast
- 1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Syrian Coup
1970 General Hafez al-Assad becomes Prime Minister of Syria following a military coup
- 1970 NY Knicks 1st game against Cleveland Cavaliers, Knicks win 102-94 at Madison Square Garden
- 1971 Battle of Garibpur: Indian troops aided by the Mukti Bahini, Bengali guerrillas, defeat the army of Pakistan
- 1971 NY Rangers scores a NHL record 8 goals in 1 period
- 1971 Richard Baker becomes teacher of San Francisco Zen Center
- 1972 Red Sox Carlton Fisk wins AL Rookie of Year, Mets Jon Matlack wins NL
- 1973 US President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, reveals presence of 18½ minute gap in a White House tape recording related to Watergate
Event of Interest
1974 Amendments to the Freedom of Information Act broadening public access to US government actions passed by Congress over President Gerald Ford's veto [1]
- 1974 Birmingham pub bombings: 21 civilians killed when bombs explode at two pubs in Birmingham, England (deadliest attack in England during "the Troubles")
Linda McCartney
1975 Linda McCartney drug charges in US are dropped
Rocky
1976 "Rocky" directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Sylvester Stallone premieres in New York (Best Picture 1977)
- 1977 "All 'N All" 8th studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1978)
Murray AL Rookie
1977 Baltimore Orioles 1st baseman Eddie Murray wins AL Rookie of Year
- 1978 Bob Horner of Braves wins NL Rookie of Year Award
- 1979 Crowd at Islamabad, Pakistan attack US embassy, 1 dies
- 1980 "Hi Infidelity" 9th studio album by REO Speedwagon is released
- 1980 Fire at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas kills 84
- 1980 Gene Michael named 25th New York Yankees manager, replacing Dick Howser, who resigns
Lennon and Ono Pose
1980 John Lennon and Yoko Ono pose nude for photographer Allan Tannenbaum
- 1980 TV show "Dallas" episode "Who Done It" reveals 'Who Shot J.R.?', gets a then record 53.3 rating (over 83 million viewers, 76% of television watchers) in the US
- 1981 400,000 demonstrate in Amsterdam against cruise missiles
Physical
1981 Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" single goes #1 & stays for 10 weeks
- 1986 Central African Republic adopts constitution
- 1986 Suriname army leader Desi Bouterse massacres Moiwana village
Smoking Banned
1989 Law banning smoking on most domestic flights signed by US President George H. W. Bush
- 1989 TV cameras permitted in British House of Commons
France Backs Use of Force
1990 French President François Mitterrand voices support for a proposed UN resolution that would authorize the use of force in the Persian Gulf
- 1990 Michael Milken is sentenced to 10 years for security law violations
- 1991 Poetess Maria Elene Cruz Varela arrested in Cuba
- 1992 Jan Karlsson swims world record 50m butterfly (23.80 sec)
- 1992 Jani Sievinen swims world record 100m medley (53.78 sec)
- 1992 Louise Karlsson swims world record 50m freestyle (31.19 sec)
Bob Packwood
1992 Oregon Senator Bob Packwood issues apology for unwelcome sexual advances
Stich Wins ATP
1993 German tennis star Michael Stich scores a 7–6, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2 win over American Pete Sampras to win his first and only ATP Tour World Championship title in Frankfurt, Germany
- 1993 Neo-fascist MSI wins 36% of municipal elections in Rome
Graf Defeats Vicario
1993 Top seeded German tennis player Steffi Graf wins WTA Tour Championship; beats Arantxa Sánchez Vicario of Spain 6–1, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1 at Madison Square Garden, NYC
The Ghost of Tom Joad
1995 Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen's 11th studio album "The Ghost of Tom Joad"; wins Grammy Award for best Contemporary Folk Album
- 1995 Dow Jones closes above 5,000 for 1st time
- 1995 Israel grants jailed US spy Jonathan Pollard citizenship
- 1996 "Rehearsal" opens at Criterion Theater NYC
- 1996 A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33.
- 1996 Canadian Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples says relationship between indigenous people and non-indigenous people should be completely re-structured [1]
- 1999 Elian Gonzalez, Cuban boy at the center of a heated 2000 controversy involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, departs from Cuba with his mother
Davenport Wins WTA
1999 Repeat of previous year's final, but different result; American tennis star Lindsay Davenport beats Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-2 for the WTA Tour Championship at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- 2002 NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
- 2004 Island of Dominica hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. Damage concentrated in the north and the town of Portsmouth. Also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed.
Federer's Back-To-Back
2004 Roger Federer of Switzerland wins back-to-back season-ending Tennis Masters Cup titles with a 6–3, 6–2 victory over Australian Leyton Hewitt in the final in Houston, Texas
- 2004 The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.
- 2004 The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, unleashing massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.
- 2006 Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.
- 2006 Daughtry release their debut album “Daughtry” (2007 Billboard Album of the Year, American Music Awards Favorite Pop-Rock Album 2007)
- 2012 An Israel and Hamas ceasefire is negotiated
- 2012 Chelsea Manager Roberto Di Matteo is sacked and replaced by Rafael Benítez
Happy
2013 "Happy" single is released by Pharrell Williams (Billboard Song of the Year 2014, Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance 2015)
- 2013 31 people are killed by a truck bomb in northeaster Iraq
- 2013 54 people are killed after the roof of a supermarket collapses in Riga, Latvia
- 2013 The Alabama parole board grants posthumous pardons to three members of the Scottsboro boys
- 2016 Adam Ondra completes the second free ascent of The Dawn Wall at El Capitan, leading every pitch in 8 days
- 2016 India celebrates 50th anniversary of IR8, rice variety specially bred that saved much of Asia from famine
- 2017 CBS TV host Charlie Rose is fired after allegations of sexual harassment by eight women
- 2017 Mt Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali begins erupting
- 2017 Pixar animation head John Lasseter takes 6 month leave of absence amid sexual misconduct claims
Mugabe's Resignation
2017 Robert Mugabe's resignation after 37 years in power is read out in Zimbabwe's parliaments during impeachment proceedings
- 2018 Former Guatemalan soldier Santos López Alonzo sentenced to 5,160 years for killing 171 people in Dos Erres during the civil war
- 2018 RIBA’s best building in the world biennial international prize awarded to Canuanã school in Brazil
- 2019 22 killed in displacement camp in attack by Syrian government in Idlib province, Syria
- 2019 44% of Americans work in low-wage jobs with medium annual wage of just $18,000, with most aged 25 - 54 according to analysis by Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program
- 2019 First of a series of national strikes in Colombia against the government of President Iván Duque and proposed cuts to pensions
- 2019 WHO says Measles has killed more than 5,000 people in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019, in world's largest and fastest-moving epidemic
- 2020 Texas National Guard mobilized to help El Paso County, deal with a morgue crisis as COVID-19 cases and deaths surge
- 2021 "Voiceless Mass" by Raven Chacon, premieres at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee - first work by an Native American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music [1]
Zverev's Second ATP
2021 Alexander Zverev of Germany captures his second ATP Finals men's tennis title defeating world #2 Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 in Turin
First Qatar Grand Prix
2021 British driver Lewis Hamilton wins 1st Qatar Grand Prix Formula One motor race at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar
- 2022 China reports new COVID-19 outbreaks, with 28,127 new cases, with half in Guangzhou and the municipality of Chongqing and public venues closed in Beijing and Shanghai [1]
- 2022 Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes near the city of Cianjur, on the Indonesian island of Java, killing at least 268 people, with over 1000 injured [1]
Music History
2023 Bradley Cooper's film "Maestro" about conductor Leonard Bernstein's marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre is released in US
- 2023 Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, pleads guilty to allowing customers to launder money - will pay $4.3 billion in fines to US government [1]
