Pope Anterus succeeds Pontian as the nineteenth pope.

Timur of Samarkand captures and sacks the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, taking King Bagrat V of Georgia captive.

Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.)

The Danish astronomer Ole Rømer presents the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.

In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.

North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.

Mutineers take control of the Chilean penal colony of Punta Arenas in the Strait of Magellan.

American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin Secretary of War.

Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

Port Arthur, China, falls to the Japanese, a decisive victory of the First Sino-Japanese War; Japanese troops are accused of massacring the remaining inhabitants.

Claude Monet's paintings shown at Gallery Durand-Ruel in Paris.

The Philadelphia Football Athletics defeat the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first-ever professional American football night game.

Albert Einstein's paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik.

Sailors on board Brazil's warships including the Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Bahia, violently rebel in what is now known as the Revolta da Chibata (Revolt of the Lash).

Mines from SM U-73 sink HMHS Britannic, the largest ship lost in the First World War.

The Flag of Estonia, previously used by pro-independence activists, is formally adopted as the national flag of the Republic of Estonia.

Irish War of Independence: On "Bloody Sunday" in Dublin, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassinated a group of British Intelligence agents, and British forces killed 14 civilians at a Gaelic football match at Croke Park.

Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.

Columbine Mine massacre: Striking coal miners are allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.

The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the highway is not usable by standard road vehicles until 1943).

World War II: American submarine USS Sealion sinks the Japanese battleship Kongō and Japanese destroyer Urakaze in the Formosa Strait.

The United Auto Workers strike 92 General Motors plants in 50 cities to back up worker demands for a 30-percent raise.

Two Canadian National Railway trains collide in northeastern British Columbia in the Canoe River train crash; the death toll is 21, with 17 of them Canadian troops bound for Korea.

The Natural History Museum, London announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.

American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC radio over allegations he had participated in the payola scandal.

The "La Ronde" opens in Honolulu, first revolving restaurant in the United States.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral ceasefire in the Sino-Indian War.

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opens to traffic. At the time it is the world's longest bridge span.

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."

U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. The U.S. retains rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast: A joint United States Air Force and Army team raids the Sơn Tây prisoner-of-war camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.

Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.

Voters in South Korea overwhelmingly approve a new constitution, giving legitimacy to Park Chung Hee and the Fourth Republic.

The Birmingham pub bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted.

Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand".

The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.

A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-five people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.

United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the Iran–Contra affair.

Bangkok Airways Flight 125 crashes on approach to Samui Airport, killing 38.

A major tornado strikes the Houston, Texas area during the afternoon. Over the next two days the largest tornado outbreak ever to occur in the US during November spawns over 100 tornadoes.

The Dayton Agreement is initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Humberto Vidal explosion: Thirty-three people die when a Humberto Vidal shoe shop in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico explodes.

Finnish satanist Jarno Elg kills a 23-year-old man and performs a ritual-like cutting and eating of body parts in Hyvinkää, Finland.

NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.

The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, giving rise to massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.

Anti-Syrian Lebanese politician and government minister Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.

A mine explosion in Heilongjiang, China kills 108.

At least 28 are wounded after a bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv.

Fifty-four people are killed when the roof of a shopping center collapses in Riga, Latvia.

A stampede in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe caused by the police firing tear gas kills at least eleven people and injures 40 others.

The government of Belgium imposes a security lockdown on Brussels, including the closure of shops, schools, and public transportation, due to potential terrorist attacks.

Robert Mugabe formally resigns as President of Zimbabwe, after thirty-seven years in office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

An SUV plows through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring 62.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java kills between 335 and 602 people.

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HistoryMaps Presents
Today in History
Nov 21

Shop Now

HistoryMaps PresentsToday in HistoryNov 21Enter

HistoryMaps Presents
Today in History
Nov 21