November 20
is the 324th day of the year (325th in
leap years) in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 41 days remaining.
*
284 -
Diocletian was chosen as
Roman Emperor.
*
1407 - A solemn truce between
John, Duke of Burgundy and
Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans is agreed under the auspices of
John, Duke of Berry. Orléans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.
*
1490 -
Joanot Martorell's book
Tirant lo Blanc is published for the first time.
*
1695 -
Zumbi, the last of the leaders of
Quilombo dos Palmares in early
Brazil, was executed.
*
1700 -
Great Northern War:
Battle of Narva - King
Charles XII of Sweden defeats the army of
Tsar Peter the Great at
Narva.
*
1789 -
New Jersey becomes the first
U.S. state to ratify the
Bill of Rights.
*
1820 - An 80-ton
sperm whale attacks the
Essex (a
whaling ship from
Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of
South America (
Herman Melville's 1851 novel
Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this story).
*
1902 -
Henri Desgrange and fellow journalist
Géo Lefèvre dream up the idea of the
Tour de France over lunch at the Café de Madrid in
Paris.
*
1910 -
Mexican Revolution:
Francisco I. Madero issues the
Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing President
Porfirio Díaz, declaring himself president, and calling for a revolution to overthrow the
government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
*
1917 -
World War I:
Battle of Cambrai begins -
British forces make early progress in an attack on
German positions but are later pushed back.
* 1917 -
Ukraine is declared a republic.
*
1940 -
World War II:
Hungary,
Romania and
Slovakia join the
Axis Powers.
*
1943 - World War II:
Battle of Tarawa begins -
United States Marines land on
Tarawa atoll in the
Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from
Japanese shore guns and machine guns.
*
1945 -
Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24
Nazi war criminals start at the
Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
*
1947 -
The Princess Elizabeth marries
Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at
Westminster Abbey in
London.
*
1952 -
Slánský trials - a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
*
1955 -
Bo Diddley becomes the first
African American performer to appear on
The Ed Sullivan Show. Apparently
Sullivan was infuriated when Diddley sang his self-titled song instead of
Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit, "
Sixteen Tons".
* 1955 -
RCA offers a $35,000 contract for
Elvis Presley.
*
1962 -
Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the
Soviet Union's agreeing to remove its missiles from
Cuba, U.S. President
John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the
Caribbean nation.
*
1966 -
Cabaret opens at the
Imperial Theatre,
New York.
*
1968 -
Vietnam War: Eleven men comprising a Long Range Patrol team from F Company, 58th Infantry,
101st Airborne are surrounded and nearly wiped out by
North Vietnamese army regulars from the 4th and 5th Regiment. The seven wounded survivors are rescued after several hours by an impromptu force made of other men from their unit.
*
1969 -
Vietnam War: The
Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the
My Lai massacre in
Vietnam.
*
1974 - The
United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against
AT&T. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T and its
Bell System.
*
1979 - About 1,500 Terrorists revolt in
Saudi Arabia at the site of the
Kaaba in
Mecca during the pilgramage and take about 6000 hostages in the Kaaba. The Saudi government received help from French special forces to put down the uprising.
*
1982 -
Andy Kaufman was forever voted off of
Saturday Night Live by a live phone poll;
Cal executes
The Play in a
college football game against
Stanford.
*
1983 - In the U.S., an estimated 100 million people watch the controversial made-for-
television movie
The Day After, depicting a
nuclear war and its effects on the United States.
*
1984 -
SETI is founded.
*
1989 -
Velvet Revolution: The number of protestors assembled in
Prague,
Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
*
1992 - In
England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of
Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a
spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).
*
1993 -
Savings and Loan scandal: The
United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of
California senator
Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive
Charles Keating.
*
1994 - The
Angolan government and
UNITA rebels sign the
Lusaka Protocol in
Zambia, ending 19 years of
civil war (in
1995 localized fighting resumed).
*
1998 - A court in
Taliban-controlled
Afghanistan declares accused terrorist
Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the
1998 U.S. embassy bombings in
Kenya and
Tanzania.
* 1998 - The first module of the
International Space Station,
Zarya, was launched.
*
2001 - In
Washington, D.C., U.S. President
George W. Bush dedicates the
United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the
Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late
Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.
*
2003 - After the
November 15 bombings, a second day of the
2003 Istanbul Bombings occurs in
Istanbul,
Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of
HSBC Bank AS and the
British consulate.
* 2003 -
Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation.
*
270 -
Maximinus,
Roman Emperor (d.
313)
*
1602 -
Otto von Guericke, German physicist (d.
1686)
*
1620 -
Peregrine White, first English child born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d.
1704)
*
1621 -
Avvakum, Russian priest and writer (d.
1682)
*
1625 -
Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (d.
1654)
*
1660 -
Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (d.
1741)
*
1750 -
Tipu Sultan, Indian ruler (d.
1799)
*
1761 -
Pope Pius VIII (d.
1830)
*
1762 -
Pierre André Latreille, French entomologist (d.
1833)
*
1765 - Sir
Thomas Fremantle, British naval captain (d.
1819)
*
1839 -
Christian Wilberg, German painter (d.
1882)
*
1841 -
Victor D'Hondt, Belgian mathematician (d.
1901)
* 1841 -
Wilfrid Laurier, seventh
Prime Minister of Canada (d.
1919)
*
1851 -
Queen Margherita of Italy (d.
1926)
*
1858 -
Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author,
Nobel laureate (d.
1940)
*
1864 -
Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer (d.
1931)
*
1866 -
Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American judge (d.
1944)
*
1880 -
George McBride, baseball player (d.
1973)
*
1884 -
Norman Thomas, American social reformer (d.
1968)
*
1886 -
Karl von Frisch, Austrian zoologist,
Nobel laureate (d.
1982)
*
1889 -
Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (d.
1953)
*
1896 -
Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (d.
1977)
*
1903 -
Alexandra Danilova, Russian ballerina (d.
1997)
*
1908 -
Alistair Cooke, British-born journalist (d.
2004)
*
1910 -
Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch physicist (d.
1944)
*
1912 -
Otto von Habsburg, Austrian royal
*
1913 -
Judy Canova, American actress (d.
1983)
*
1914 -
Emilio Pucci, Italian fashion designer (d.
1992)
*
1917 -
Robert Byrd, American politician
* 1917 -
Bobby Locke, South African golfer (d.
1987)
*
1919 -
Evelyn Keyes, American actress
*
1921 -
Jim Garrison, American detective (d.
1992)
*
1923 -
Nadine Gordimer, South African writer,
Nobel laureate*
1924 -
Benoît Mandelbrot, Polish-born mathematician
*
1925 -
Robert F. Kennedy, American politician (d.
1968)
* 1925 -
Maya Plisetskaya, Russian ballet dancer
*
1926 -
Andrzej W. Schally, Polish-born endocrinologist,
Nobel laureate* 1926 -
Kaye Ballard, American comic actress
*
1927 -
Estelle Parsons, American actress
*
1928 -
Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor
*
1932 -
Richard Dawson, British actor, Game Show Host
*
1936 -
Don DeLillo, American author
*
1937 -
René Kollo, German singer
* 1937 -
Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish cross-country skier
*
1939 -
Dick Smothers, American comedian
*
1940 -
Bob Einstein, American actor
*
1942 -
Joseph Biden, American politician
* 1942 -
Norman Greenbaum, American singer
*
1943 -
Veronica Hamel, American actress
*
1946 -
Duane Allman, American guitarist. (
Allman Brothers) (d.
1971)
* 1946 -
Greg Cook, American football player
*
1947 -
Joe Walsh, American musician
*
1948 -
John R. Bolton, American ambassador
* 1948 -
John Panozzo, American musician (
STYX)
* 1948 -
Barbara Hendricks, American-born singer
* 1948 -
Richard Masur, American actor
*
1949 -
Thelma Drake, American politician
*
1951 -
David Walters, American politician
*
1956 -
Bo Derek, American actress
* 1956 -
Mark Gastineau, American football player
*
1957 -
Margaret Spellings, American cabinet officer
*
1959 -
James P. McGovern, American politician
* 1959 -
Sean Young, American actor
*
1961 -
Dave Watson, English footballer
*
1963 -
Timothy Gowers, British mathematician
* 1963 -
Ming-Na Wen,
Macau-born actress
*
1965 -
Mike D, American musician (
Beastie Boys)
*
1965 -
Yoshiki Hayashi, Japanese musician (
X Japan)
*
1966 -
Kevin Gilbert, American musician (d.
1996)
*
1970 -
Matt Blunt, American politician
* 1970 -
Delia Gonzalez, American boxer
*
1971 -
Joey Galloway,
American football wide receiver* 1971 -
Joel McHale, American actor
*
1975 -
Dierks Bentley, American singer
* 1975 -
Tímea Vágvölgyi, Hungarian model
* 1975 -
Davey Havok, singer (
AFI)
* 1975 -
J.D. Drew, baseball player
*
1976 -
Dominique Dawes, American gymnast
*
1981 -
Kimberley Walsh, English singer (
Girls Aloud)
*
870 - King
Edmund of East Anglia*
1316 - King
John I of France (d.
1316)
*
1518 -
Marmaduke Constable, English soldier
* 1518 -
Pierre de La Rue, Flemish composer
*
1529 -
Karl von Miltitz, papal nuncio
*
1591 -
Christopher Hatton, English politician (b.
1540)
*
1612 -
John Harington, English writer (b.
1561)
*
1651 -
Mikołaj Potocki, Polish soldier (b.
1595)
*
1662 -
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b.
1614)
*
1695 -
Zumbi, Brazilian runaway slave
*
1737 -
Caroline of Ansbach, Queen of
George II of Great Britain (b.
1683)
*
1742 -
Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat (b.
1661)
*
1758 -
Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer (b.
1694)
*
1764 -
Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (b.
1690)
*
1778 -
Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (b.
1726)
*
1894 -
Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer (b.
1829)
*
1910 (N.S.) -
Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (b.
1828)
*
1925 -
Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom (b.
1844)
*
1936 -
Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish anarchist (b.
1896)
* 1936 -
José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish activist (b.
1903)
*
1945 -
Francis William Aston, British chemist,
Nobel laureate (b.
1877)
*
1950 -
Francesco Cilea, Italian composer (b.
1866)
*
1957 -
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist (d.
1875)
*
1960 -
Chris Whitley, American musician (d.
2005)
*
1973 -
Allan Sherman, American comedian (b.
1924)
*
1975 -
Francisco Franco, Head of State of Spain (1936-1975) (b.
1892)
*
1978 -
Vasilisk Gnedov, Russian poet (b.
1890)
*
1980 -
John McEwen, eighteenth
Prime Minister of Australia (b.
1900)
*
1997 -
Dick Littlefield, baseball player (b.
1926)
*
1998 -
Galina Starovoitova, Russian politician (b.
1946)
*
2000 -
Mike Muuss, American computer programmer (b.
1958)
* 2000 -
Kalle Päätalo, Finnish writer (b.
1919)
*
2003 -
Robert Addie, British actor (cancer) (b.
1960)
* 2003 -
David Dacko, first
President of the Central African Republic (b.
1930)
* 2003 -
Eugene Kleiner, American entrepreneur (b.
1923)
* 2003 -
Roger Short, British Consulate General (b.
1944)
* 2003 -
Jim Siedow, American actor (b.
1920)
* 2003 -
Kerem Yilmazer, Turkish actor (b.
1945)
*
2004 -
David Grierson, Canadian radio host (b.
1955* 2004 -
Jenny Ross, English musician (
Section 25) (b.
1962)
*
2005 -
Sheldon Gardner, American psychologist (b.
1934)
* 2005 -
James King, American singer (b.
1925)
*
Church of England -
Edmund the Martyr*
Brazil -
Zumbi Day (since 1978)
*
United Kingdom - wedding day of
Queen Elizabeth II (
1947), official flag day
*
Mexico -
Anniversary of the Revolution (1910)
*
UNICEF - Universal
Children's Day*
Vietnam -
Teacher's Day (
Ngày nhà giáo Việt Nam)
*
Transgender Day of Remembrance (since 1999) [
1]
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This DayNovember 19 -
November 21 -
October 20 -
December 20 --
listing of all days
