Here are 50 newsworthy anniversaries coming up in November 2013 for you to write about (and make money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.
We have painstakingly cross-checked every entry, but you are advised to check all facts again as part of your research. Please let us know of any errors you find.
This list is a small sample of the entries for November in The Date-A-Base Book 2013. There are more than 300 anniversaries for this month in the book, which covers the whole of 2013 from January to December and features more than 4,000 anniversaries.
The 2014 edition is also available.
250 years ago (15 Nov 1763)
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon began surveying the Mason-Dixon Line, which established the common boundaries of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. (Survey completed in 1767)
150 years ago (14 Nov 1863)
Birth of Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Belgian-born American industrial chemist who invented Bakelite and helped found the plastics industry
150 years ago (19 Nov 1863)
American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
150 years ago (21 Nov 1863)
Birth of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, (pen name ‘Q’), British poet, novelist, anthologist, and literary critic, best known for the ‘Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250-1900’
150 years ago (26 Nov 1863)
The first modern Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated across the whole of the USA, following President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation in October. It has been celebrated annually ever since
125 years ago (6 Nov 1888)
Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony was first performed, St. Petersburg, Russia
125 years ago (9 Nov 1888)
Jack the Ripper murdered his fifth and last-known victim, Mary Jane Kelly, in London
100 years ago (2 Nov 1913)
Birth of Burt Lancaster, award-winning American film actor and director, one of the greatest Hollywood stars (‘Elmer Gantry’, ‘The Birdman of Alcatraz’, ‘From Here to Eternity’, ‘Field of Dreams’, and many others)
100 years ago (5 Nov 1913)
Birth of Vivien Leigh, award-winning Indian-born British stage and film actress (‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, and others)
100 years ago (7 Nov 1913)
Birth of Albert Camus, French novelist, essayist and playwright, winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature
100 years ago (9 Nov 1913)
Birth of Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-born American film actress, and co-inventor of spread spectrum radio communication
100 years ago (14 Nov 1913?)
The first volume (of 7) of Marcel Proust’s autobiographical novel ‘À la recherche du temps perdu’ (‘In Search of Lost Time’ or ‘Remembrance of Things Past’) was published in France. (The final volume was published in 1927. The English translation was published between 1922 and 1931)
100 years ago (22 Nov 1913)
Birth of Benjamin Britten, leading British composer, conductor and pianist
90 years ago (1 Nov 1923)
Finnair was founded. It is the largest airline in Finland
90 years ago (8-9 Nov 1923)
The Beer Hall Putsch, Munich, Germany – Adolf Hitler’s first (but unsuccessful) attempt to seize power. 16 Nazis and 4 police officers were killed
90 years ago (11 Nov 1923)
The eternal flame at the tomb of the unknown solder under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France was lit for the first time. It was the first modern-day eternal flame in Europe
80 years ago (8 Nov 1933)
Great Depression – New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled the Civil Works Administration, designed to create temporary jobs for more than 4 million unemployed people
80 years ago (11 Nov 1933)
A severe dust storm stripped the topsoil from farmlands in South Dakota, creating a dust bowl. This exacerbated the Great Depression
75 years ago (9-10 Nov 1938)
Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass): the Nazis burned synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish homes and businesses in Germany and Austria. More than 90 Jews were killed and over 30,000 were transported to concentration camps
75 years ago (10 Nov 1938)
Irving Berlin’s song ‘God Bless America’ was first performed (by Kate Smith on her radio show)
75 years ago (10 Nov 1938)
Death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of Turkey (1923-38)
70 years ago (22 Nov 1943)
Lebanon gained its independence from France
65 years ago (26 Nov 1948)
The first Polaroid instant cameras went on sale, in Boston, Massachusetts
60 years ago (9 Nov 1953)
Cambodia became independent from France
60 years ago (9 Nov 1953)
Death of Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet, playwright and short story writer, best known for the play ‘Under Milk Wood’, and for his notorious hard-drinking lifestyle
60 years ago (21 Nov 1953)
British scientists dramatically revealed that the fossilised skull of ‘Piltdown Man’, discovered in England in 1912 and thought to be from one of the earliest humans, was a hoax constructed from the skulls of 3 different species
50 years ago (1 Nov 1963)
The Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico was officially opened. It is the largest single-aperture radio telescope ever constructed and measures 305 metres (1,000 feet) in diameter
50 years ago (7 Nov 1963)
The comedy film ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ was released in the USA. (UK: 2nd Dec)
50 years ago (15 Nov 1963)
The island of Surtsey, off the coast of Iceland, was ‘born’ when an underwater volcano erupted and rose above the surface of the sea
50 years ago (22 Nov 1963)
U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas
50 years ago (22 Nov 1963)
Death of C. S. Lewis, Irish-born British novelist, literary critic and academic, best known for ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’
50 years ago (22 Nov 1963)
Death of Aldous Huxley, British writer and critic, best known for his novel ‘Brave New World’
50 years ago (23 Nov 1963)
The first episode of the science fiction television series ‘Doctor Who’ was broadcast in the UK. It is the longest-running and most successful science fiction TV series in the world
50 years ago (24 Nov 1963)
Lee Harvey Oswald, the sniper charged with the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby in Dallas, Texas. The shooting was seen by millions of people, as Oswald’s transfer to the county jail was being broadcast live on television
40 years ago (3 Nov 1973)
NASA launched the ‘Mariner 10’ space probe to Venus and Mercury
40 years ago (14 Nov 1973)
Princess Anne of the United Kingdom married Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey, London. (Separated 1989, divorced 1992)
30 years ago (9 Nov 1983)
Dutch brewer Alfred (‘Freddy’) Heineken was kidnapped and a ransom demand issued for more than $10 million. (Released unharmed on 30th)
30 years ago (26 Nov 1983)
Britain’s biggest ever robbery: £26 million worth of gold bars were stolen from the Brinks Mat warehouse at Heathrow Airport, London
25 years ago (8 Nov 1988)
George H.W. Bush was elected as the 41st President of the United States. (Inaugurated 20th January 1989)
25 years ago (16 Nov 1988)
Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan – the first female leader of a Muslim state
25 years ago (22 Nov 1988)
The U.S. Air Force unveiled the B-2 stealth bomber to the public
20 years ago (1 Nov 1993)
The Maastricht Treaty came into effect, establishing the European Union
20 years ago (3 Nov 1993)
Death of Léon Theremin, Russian scientist and inventor, best known for inventing the theremin – one of the first electronic musical instruments
15 years ago (1 Nov 1998)
The European Court of Human Rights was founded in Strasbourg, France
15 years ago (5 Nov 1998)
The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, announced his resignation after the Republican Party performed badly in the 1998 Congressional election. (Jan 1999: resigned from the House. May 2011: began campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination)
15 years ago (9 Nov 1998)
Capital punishment was completely abolished in the UK for all offences. (It had been abolished for everything except treason and piracy in 1973)
15 years ago (19 Nov 1998)
Lewinsky Scandal: the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings against President Bill Clinton
15 years ago (20 Nov 1998)
The first module of the International Space Station, the Russian-built Zarya (‘Sunrise’) module, was launched
10 years ago (14 Nov 2003)
The dwarf planet Sedna was discovered
10 years ago (26 Nov 2003)
The last Concorde supersonic airliner was retired from service
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