November This Day in History, Historic Events
What Historic November Events Occurred on Your Birthday?
Our “This Day in History for November” section contains historical November events categorized by month and day. See what happened on your birthday, or any day of the year. Find out what happened on this day in November.
Major Historical November Events
November 1 Historical Events
Pope Gregory IV makes All Saints Day compulsory. (845)
President John Adams and his family move into the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, becoming the first president to live there. (1800)
The first reference to a poker game (on a Mississippi riverboat). (1834)
The first bare-breasted females (Zulu tribe) appear in the National Geographic magazine. (1896)
The Bra is patented. (1914)
The Ottoman Empire ends. The Republic of Turkey is created. (1922)
November 2 Historical Events
Peter the Great becomes Emperor of Russia. (1721)
George Washington says goodbye to his troops after the end of the Revolutionary War. (1783)
American astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev are the first crew to reside onboard the International Space Station (ISS). (2000)
November 3 Historical Events
The first Opium War between China and Britain begins. (1839)
Clarence Birdseye markets frozen peas. (1952)
The Wizard of Oz is televised for the first time. (1956)
November 4 Historical Events
The first wagon train arrives in California. (1841)
Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd. (1842)
James Ritty patents the cash register. (1879)
Egyptologist Howard Carter and a team of excavators discover the intact tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. (1922)
November 5 Historical Events
Parker Brothers markets the board game Monopoly. (1935)
Voters re-elect President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third time. (1940)
November 6 Historical Events
Voters elect Abraham Lincoln as the next President of the United States. (1860)
Canada celebrates its first Thanksgiving. (1879)
Colonel Jacob Shick patents the first electric razor. (1928)
November 7 Historical Events
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. (1805)
Cartoonist Thomas Nast depicts the Republican party as an elephant in a cartoon in Harper’s Weekly. (1874)
November 8 Historical Events
Elijah Craig is the first to distill Bourbon whiskey from corn in Bourbon, KY. (1789)
Montana becomes the 41st State. (1889)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt forms the Civil Works Administration to help create jobs for millions of workers unemployed during the Great Depression. (1933)
The first jet-to-jet dogfight in history occurs. A U.S. jet shoots down a North Korean jet in the Korean War. (1950)
The soap opera “The Days of Our Lives” premieres on television. (1965)
November 9 Historical Events
Napoleon Bonaparte stages a coup in France, and becomes a dictator, giving himself the title “First Counsul”. (1799)
The “Great Boston Fire of 1872” destroys over 1,000 buildings. (1872)
Giant Pandas are discovered in China. (1927)
“Lil Abner” cartoonist Al Capp creates Sadie Hawkins Day. (1838)
Simon & Garfunkel record “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. (1969)
Garry Kasparov (Russia) becomes the youngest world chess champion at 22 years old. (1985)
November 10 Historical Events
The United States creates the Marine Corps. (1775)
Henry Morton Stanley meets David Livingstone in Central Africa and says the immortal words: “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”. (1871)
The Gideon Bible is put into a hotel room for the first time. (1908)
Telephone area codes were put in use. Direct dial telephone service is first available coast to coast. (1951)
Sesame Street premiers on PBS television. (1969)
The ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald breaks in two and sinks during a fierce storm on Lake Superior. The worst Great Lakes ship disaster in history. There were no survivors. (1975)
November Historical Events: Parker Bros. Markets Monopoly (1935)
November 11 Historical Events
Forty-one Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sign a compact calling for a “body Politick” just off the Massachusetts coast. (1620)
Chrysanthemums arrive in England from China. (1790)
Mary Edward Walker becomes the first female surgeon awarded the Medal of Honor. (1865)
Construction is started on a naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (1909)
The “Great Black Blizzard”, is the first of several dust storms to create the dust bowl, which tears through South Dakota. (1933)
Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” for the first time. (1939)
The first episode of “Rocky and Friends” airs on television. (1858)
November 12 Historical Events
“Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ”, written by soldier Lew Wallace, is published. (1880)
The first ever television gardening show, “In Your Garden” premieres on BBC in England. (1936)
The space shuttle Columbia launches for the second time. This was the first time a space vehicle was used more than once. (1981)
November 13 Historical Events
Benjamin Franklin says his famous quote: ” Nothing is certain but death and taxes”. (1789)
The Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River opens to the public, connecting New York City and New Jersey. (1927)
The United States lowers the minimum draft age from 21 to 18. (1942)
False fingernails are sold for the first time. (1952)
November 14 Historical Events
The first streetcar goes into operation. (1832)
“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville is published. (1851)
Hydropower plant at Niagara Falls begins operation. (1896)
Yale University goes Co-ed. (1968)
Television Sitcom “Murphy Brown” premieres. (1988)
November 15 Historical Events
The Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation. (1777)
Isaac Pitman introduces his shorthand system of writing. (1837)
November 16 Historical Events
The city of Havana, Cuba is moved to its current location to avoid mosquito infestations. (1519)
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches the Pacific Ocean. (1805)
Walt Disney opens EPCOT Center. (1965)
November 17 Historical Events
The first ship sails through the Panama Canal. (1913)
At just 21 years old, Britany Spears becomes the youngest singer to get a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. (2003)
November 18 Historical Events
William Tell allegedly shoots an apple off his son’s head with a bow and arrow. (1307)
Saint Peter’s Basilica is consecrated. It replaces the original basilica on the same site and becomes the largest Christian Basilica in the world. (1626)
Susan B. Anthony is arrested for leading a group of women to register and then vote at a Rochester, NY. polling site. (1872)
Brooklyn toymaker Morris Michton names the teddy bear after Teddy Roosevelt. (1902)
Disney’s Steamship Willie premieres – Mickey Mouse is “born”! (1928)
November 19 Historical Events
On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus discovers Puerto Rico. (1493)
Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. (1863)
American inventor Frederick E. Blaisdell patents the pencil. (1895)
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts hits supermarket shelves. (1965)
November 20 Historical Events
The U.S. government begins requiring photos on passports. (1914)
Ford quits making the unpopular Edsel. (1959)
In a television interview, Princess Diana admits she cheated on Prince Charles. (1995)
November Historical Events - False Fingernails are Sold for the First Time (1952)
November 21 Historical Events
Honolulu Harbor is discovered. (1794)
The horror film “Frankenstein” is released. (1931)
November 22 Historical Events
The first snowmobile patent is issued to Carl Eliason of Sayner, WI. (1927)
President John F. Kennedy, the youngest person to become a U.S. president, is assassinated in Dallas, Texas as his motorcade traveled through the city. (1959)
Scientists at Harvard University isolate a single human gene for the first time. (1969)
November 23 Historical Events
A patent is issued for the horseshoe manufacturing machine. (1835)
The revolutionary Jukebox is first displayed, becoming an instant success. See National Jukebox Day. (1889)
J.L. Love receives a patent for the pencil sharpener. (1897)
The Wright Brothers form a corporation to manufacture airplanes. (1909)
November 24 Historical Events
Charles Darwin publishes his theory on evolution “On the Origin of the Species”, sparking great controversy. (1859)
American inventor Joseph Glidden patents barbed wire. (1874)
Air Force One, the first presidential airplane, is christened. (1954)
November 25 Historical Events
The British evacuates New York City, their last military installation in the United States. (1783)
Benjamin Bannecker publishes his Farmer’s Almanac for the first time. (1792)
Evaporated milk is patented. (1880)
The first Thanksgiving Day parade is held in Philadelphia, PA. (1920)
Woody Woodpecker premieres in Walter Lantz’s cartoon “Knock, Knock”. (1940)
November 26 Historical Events
The first lion was exhibited in America. (1716)
At the request of both houses of Congress, President George Washington proclaims Thanksgiving Day. It is the first official U.S. holiday. (1789)
President George Washington holds the first-ever cabinet meeting. It is held in Washington’s home. (1791)
America’s first street railway car begins operation in New York City. The ride costs 12 cents. (1832)
The television game show “The Price is Right” premieres on NBC. (1956)
The Concorde Supersonic Transport jet (SST) makes its final flight, returning to Briton, England. (2003)
Dr Vijaypat Singhania from India earns the Guinness World Book of Records for the highest altitude. He rode a balloon to a height of 68,986 feet. (2005)
November 27 Historical Events
Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel creates the Nobel Peace Prize. (1894)
Penn Station opens in New York, becoming the world’s largest railway terminal. (1910)
Blockbuster animated film “Frozen” is released. (2013)
Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement. (2017)
November 28 Historical Events
6 cars go 55 miles from Chicago to Evanston and back in America’s first automobile race. (1895)
The “Grande Ole Opry” debuts on the radio. (1925)
Groucho Marx performs on the radio for the first time. (1932)
The first Cyber Monday is held with great success. (2005)
November 29 Historical Events
Sir James Jay invents invisible ink. (1775)
Thomas A. Edison displays his hand-cranked phonograph. (1877)
The United Nations partitions Palestine between Arabs and Jews. (1947)
Atari launches the video game “Pong”. (1972)
November 30 Historical Events
The United States and Great Britain sign a peace treaty in Paris, formally ending the Revolutionary War. (1782)
John Landis Mason patents the mason canning jar, revolutionizing food safety and storage. (1858)
Additional Resources
Famous Birthdays Who else was born on your Birthday? Find out!
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