Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Historical Events on November 18

Events 1 - 200 of 215

  • 326 Old St. Peter's Basilica consecrated in Rome (stood 4th - 16th century), later replaced by current Basilica
  • 794 Japanese emperor Kammu deallocates residence of Nara to Kioto
  • 1105 Maginulf elected anti-Pope Silvester I
  • 1210 Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
  • 1302 Pope Boniface VIII issues papal bull (decree) "Unam sanctam" emphasizing the higher position of the spiritual in comparison with the secular order
  • 1307 William Tell reputedly shoots apple off his son's head
  • 1421 Southern sea floods 72 villages, killing estimated 10,000 in the Netherlands
  • 1424 Storm flood ravages Dutch coast

Earliest English Printed Book

1477 First English dated printed book "Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers" by William Caxton at his press in London

France occupies Florence

1494 French King Charles VIII occupies Florence

Gama Reaches the Cape

1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope

St. Peter's Basilica

1626 St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site and becoming the world's largest Christian basilica

  • 1667 Treaty of Bongaja: King Hassan-Udin of Makasar & VOC
  • 1686 Charles François Felix operates on King Louis XIV of France's anal fistula after practising the surgery on several peasants.

Voltaire's First Play

1718 Voltaire's first play, the tragedy "Oedipe" premieres in Paris, and first use of non de plume Voltaire by François-Marie Arouet

  • 1738 France & Austria sign peace treaty
  • 1742 Prussia and Great Britain sign an anti-French military covenant

Jacobites Occupy Carlisle

1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army occupy Carlisle during its invasion of England

Westminster Bridge Defies a King and the Church

1750 The original Westminster Bridge across the River Thames in London is opened in a midnight ceremony

  • 1755 Worst quake in Massachusetts Bay area strikes Boston; no deaths reported
  • 1787 First Unitarian minister in US ordained, Boston
  • 1803 Battle of Vertieres; Haitian population inflict final defeat on French force attempting to quell slave rebellion on colony of Saint-Dominque
  • 1804 Palver Purim 1st celebrated to commemorate miraculous escape
  • 1820 Antarctica sighted by US Navy Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer
  • 1833 Netherlands & Belgium sign Treaty of Zonhoven

Letter by Göttingen Seven

1837 Letter by Göttingen Seven published protesting abolition of constitution of Kingdom of Hanover, by seven professors including Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

  • 1852 Rose Philippine Duchesne dies in St. Charles, Missouri. She would be canonized on July 3, 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
  • 1852 State funeral of Duke of Wellington (St Paul's Cathedral, London)
  • 1861 The first provisional meeting of the Confederate Congress is held in Richmond, Virginia

Celebrated Jumping Frog

1865 Mark Twain publishes the short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in The New York Saturday Press

Susan B. Anthony Arrested

1872 Suffragette Susan B. Anthony is arrested by a U.S. Deputy Marshal and charged with illegally voting

  • 1874 National Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizes in Cleveland, Ohio
  • 1883 Antonín Dvořák's "Husitska" (Hussite Overture) premieres at the gala opening of the Prague National Theater
  • 1883 US and Canadian railroads set and synchronize four standard time zones - Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific, replacing over 100 previous time zones
  • 1889 Oahu Railway begins public service in Hawaii

Providentissimus Deus

1893 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Providentissimus Deus

  • 1894 Richard Outcault's early comic strip "Origin of a New Species" published in World
  • 1899 Trumper scores 208 in 185 mins (1 five 25 fours) NSW v Qld
  • 1901 The USA and Great Britain sign the Second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, or Interoceanic Ship Canal Treaty
  • 1902 Brooklyn toymaker Morris Michton names the teddy bear after US President Teddy Roosevelt
  • 1903 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gives US exclusive canal rights in Panama
  • 1904 General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup

Major Barbara

1905 George Bernard Shaw's play "Major Barbara" premieres in London

  • 1905 Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway
  • 1906 Anarchists bomb St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
  • 1906 Langdon Mitchell's "New York Idea" premieres in NYC
  • 1909 US invades Nicaragua, later overthrows President Zelaya
  • 1911 Britain's first seaplane flies
  • 1911 Ludwig Thuille's opera "Lobetanz" first American performance
  • 1912 Cholera breaks out in Constantinople, in the Ottoman Empire
  • 1913 Lincoln Deachey becomes the first American pilot to perform an aircraft loop-the-loop in his Curtiss aeroplane near San Diego

Battle of the Somme

1916 British General Douglas Haig finally calls off the 1st Battle of the Somme in World War I after more than 1 million soldiers had been killed or wounded

  • 1917 Sigma Alpha Rho, a Jewish high school fraternity, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • 1918 Belgian troops re-enter Brussels, lost to the German invaders on 20 August 1914
  • 1918 Latvia declares independence from Russia
  • 1919 H. Tierney & J. McCarthy's musical "Irene" premieres in NYC
  • 1920 Apollo Theater (Academy, Bryant) opens at 221 W 42nd St NYC
  • 1922 Turkish National Assembly nominates Abdul Medjid kalief
  • 1926 George Bernard Shaw accepts the Nobel Prize for Literature but refuses the prize money, saying "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize"

On persecution of Church in Mexico

1926 Pope Pius XI encyclical On persecution of Church in Mexico

Steamboat Willie

1928 Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" released, first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon

  • 1929 Foundation stone for Umaid Bhawan Palace laid in Jodhpur, India. Originally built to provide employment for drought-stricken farmers, now one of world's largest private residences
  • 1929 Large earthquake in Atlantic breaks transatlantic cable in 28 places
  • 1930 Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Soka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.
  • 1932 "Flowers & Trees" receives 1st Academy Award for a cartoon

First Ever Tie

1932 5th Academy Awards: Fredric March and Wallace Beery in 1st ever tie for Best Actor. "Grand Hotel" and Helen Hayes also win.

Franco Recognized

1936 Germany & Italy recognize Spanish government of Francisco Franco

  • 1936 Main span of Golden Gate Bridge joined
  • 1938 Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
  • 1939 Dutch KNSM passenger ship Simón Bolívar hits German mine, 86 die
  • 1939 The Irish Republican Army explodes three bombs in Piccadilly Circus
  • 1940 George Matesky, New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

Italy Departs Abyssinia

1941 Benito Mussolini's Italian forces leave Abyssinia/Ethiopia, forced out by Allied attacks

  • 1941 British troops open attack on Tobruk, North Africa
  • 1941 Jerome Chodorov/Joseph Fields' "Junior Miss" premieres in NYC

Skin of our Teeth

1942 Thornton Wilder's play "Skin of our Teeth" premieres in NYC (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1943)

  • 1943 444 British bombers attack Berlin
  • 1943 First US ambassador to Canada, Ray Atherton, nominated
  • 1943 WWII: German submarine U-211 sunk east of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean by British aircraft

Schoenberg's Prelude

1945 Arnold Schoenberg's Prelude for orchestra & mixed choir, premieres

Robinson NL MVP

1949 NL batting leader (.342) Jackie Robinson wins NL MVP

  • 1949 The U.S. Air Force grounds B-29s after two crashes and 23 deaths in three days

Mass Executions End

1950 South Korean President Syngman Rhee forced to end mass executions

  • 1951 "See it Now" premieres on TV
  • 1951 British troops occupy Ismailiya, Egypt
  • 1951 Former Cubs 1st baseman & future TV star of Rifleman Chuck Connors is 1st player to oppose the major league draft
  • 1953 Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) accept female suffrage
  • 1955 Bell X-2 rocket plane taken up for 1st powered flight

"We Will Bury You"

1956 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev says the phrase "we will bury you!" to Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow

  • 1957 Tunisia refuses Russian weapons
  • 1958 1st true reservoir in Jerusalem opens
  • 1958 Indians minority stockholders sell their stock to William Delay

Ben-Hur

1959 "Ben-Hur" directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston premieres in New York City (Academy Awards Best Picture 1960)

  • 1959 Wash Senator Bob Allison wins AL Rookie of Year
  • 1960 Charlie Finley makes a bid to purchase expansion LA Angels
  • 1960 Copyright office issues its 10 millionth registration

JFK's Military Advisors

1961 JFK sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam

  • 1961 US Ranger 2 launched to Moon; failed
  • 1963 Bell Telephone introduces the touch-tone telephone to customers in Pennsylvania
  • 1963 Dartford-Purfleet tunnel under River Thames opens

First Moroccan Parliament

1963 King Hassan II opens 1st parliament in Morocco

Robinson AL MVP

1964 Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson wins American League MVP

  • 1965 Twins SS Zoilo Versalles is named AL MVP

Sandy Koufax

1966 Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Sandy Koufax announces his retirement due to an arthritic left elbow

  • 1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • 1966 US Roman Catholic bishops ends rules against eating meat on Fridays
  • 1967 British government devalues pound from US equivalent of $2.80 to $2.40
  • 1968 Soviets recover the Zond 6 spacecraft after a flight around the moon
  • 1969 Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi assigned to the Tate and LaBianca murders, will eventually convict Charles Mason for orchestrating the killings

Pauling on Vitamin C

1970 American scientist Linus Pauling declares large doses of Vitamin C could ward off colds (never proven definitively)

Frazier vs. Foster

1970 Future HOF boxer Joe Frazier KOs defending champion Bob Foster in 2nd round at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan for the WBA, WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles

Bench NL MVP

1970 Johnny Bench wins NL MVP

  • 1970 Netherlands & Albania form diplomatic relations
  • 1970 Russia lands self propelled rover on Moon
  • 1971 A British soldier is shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast
  • 1971 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
  • 1973 Arab oil ministers cancel the scheduled 5 percent cut in production for EEC
  • 1973 Greek regime calls emergency crisis due to mass protests

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

1974 "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" album by English progressive rock band Genesis is released, their last to feature original frontman Peter Gabriel

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan

1975 "Rufus featuring Chaka Khan" 4th studio album by Rufus is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1976)

  • 1975 Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver returns to US
  • 1975 Calvin Murphy (Houston) ends NBA free throw streak of 58 games
  • 1976 MLB New York Yankees sign free agent pitcher Don Gullett
  • 1976 Spain's parliament establishes democracy after 37 yrs of dictatorship
  • 1978 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Jonestown Massacre

1978 In Jonestown, Guyana, 918 members of the Peoples Temple are murdered or commit suicide under the leadership of cult leader Jim Jones

  • 1978 Leo J Ryan, American politician, and 4 others, killed in Jonestown, Guyana by members of Peoples Temple, followed by ritual mass suicide of 914 members of the religious cult

US Ambassador Charged

1979 Ayatollah Khomeini charges US ambassador and embassy with espionage

Heaven's Gate

1980 "Heaven's Gate" film directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken premieres - one of the biggest box office bombs ever

Brett AL MVP

1980 Despite missing 45 games, George Brett wins AL MVP

Schmidt NL MVP

1981 Phillies 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt wins his 2nd consecutive NL MVP

Sports History

1982 South Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim dies from injuries sustained during a 14-round beating by Ray Mancini in Las Vegas; WBC shortens title bouts to 12 rounds; WBA and WBO follow in 1988, and IBF in 1989

  • 1983 Argentina announces its ability to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons
  • 1984 Browns set team records for most sacks (11)
  • 1984 Flyers' Ron Sutter fails on 11th penalty shot against Islanders
  • 1984 NBC premiere of the first part of fact based crime mystery "Fatal Vision", based on Joe McGinnis' novel about Jefferey MacDonald and the 1970 murders of his then-pregnant wife and two children
  • 1984 NJ Devils shutout NY Rangers 6-0
  • 1984 The Soviet Union helps deliver American wheat during the Ethiopian famine

Gooden and Saberhagen Cy Young

1985 Dwight Gooden (NL) and Bret Saberhagen (AL) win Cy Young Award

  • 1985 Enterprise (OV-101) flies from Kennedy Space Center to Dulles Airport
  • 1985 Howard Stern radio show returns to NYC (WXRK 92.3 FM-afternoons)

Spies Like Us

1985 Paul McCartney releases film theme single "Spies Like Us"

  • 1987 31 people die in a fire at King's Cross, London's busiest tube station
  • 1987 Congressional committee reports on Iran-Contra affair

Dawson's MVP

1987 Cubs Andre Dawson is 1st player from a last-place club to win an MVP

  • 1989 Pennsylvania is first to restrict abortions after US Supreme Court gave states the right to do so

US Inaugural Title

1990 1st Solheim Cup Women's Golf, Lake Nona G & CC: US beats Europe 11½-4½ in inaugural event; Kathy Whitworth US captain; Mickey Walker Europe skipper

Agassi Wins ATP

1990 Andre Agassi claims his first and only season-ending ATP Tour World Championship tennis title with a 5–7, 7–6, 7–5, 6–2 win over defending champion Stefan Edberg in Frankfurt, Germany

  • 1990 NFL NY Giants beat Det Lions 20-0, to run 1990 record to 10-0

Seles' First WTA

1990 Yugoslavian tennis star Monica Seles beats Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 to win her first of 3 straight WTA Tour Championships in NYC; first 5-set women's final since 1901

  • 1991 Auburn men's basketball team placed on 2 yr probation for recruiting violations and not eligible for post-season play 1991-92
  • 1991 France deports Marlon's daughter Cheyenne Brando to Tahiti
  • 1991 Muslim Shi'ites release hostages Terry Waite & Thomas Sutherland

Siege of Vukovar Ends

1991 The Croatian city of Vukovar surrenders to Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces after an 87-day siege

  • 1992 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Las Vegas NV on KXTE 107.5 FM
  • 1993 27 killed at prison in Morazan, El Salvador

Music History

1993 American rock band Nirvana films a mostly acoustic set at Sony Music Studios in New York City, for the television series MTV Unplugged

  • 1993 Black and white leaders in South Africa approve new democratic constitution
  • 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes US House of Representatives
  • 1993 North-Siberia record cold for November (-55°C)

Eddie Vedder

1993 Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder arrested for public drunkiness

Star Trek: Generations

1994 "Star Trek: Generations" film directed by David Carson and starring Patrick Stewart premieres

  • 1996 "Star Trek: First Contact" film directed by Jonathan Frakes and starring Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes premieres

Murder of Interest

1996 Eappen family hire Louise Woodward as their nanny, later charged with murder and convicted of involuntary manslaughter

  • 1997 "Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture" album is released by Sony Music Soundtrax

Glitter Arrested

1997 70s glam-rock star Gary Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) arrested by British police in child porn probe

  • 1997 Arizona Diamondbacks & Tampa Bay Devil Rays expansion draft
  • 1997 FBI says no evidence of foul play in 1996 TWA 800 crash
  • 1997 Mavericks' A. C. Green ties Randy Smith's NBA record of 906 cons games
  • 1997 Rare black pearl necklace auctioned for record $902,000
  • 1997 Warner Bros. releases "Songs from The Capeman", ninth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon; it contains Simon's own performances of songs from his Broadway musical flop
  • 1997 Willem de Kooning painting "Two Standing Women" sold for $4,182,500
  • 1999 In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 27 injured at Texas A&M University when a massive bonfire under construction collapses.
  • 2001 Home crowd favourite Leyton Hewitt wins his first of 2 season-ending Tennis Masters Cup titles with a 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 victory over Frenchman Sébastien Grosjean in Sydney, Australia
  • 2001 Phillips Petroleum and Conoco merge into a new company as 'ConocoPhillips', the third-largest oil and natural gas company in the US

Brainwashed

2002 Dark Horse/EMI posthumously releases "Brainwashed", George Harrison's 12th and final studio album

  • 2002 Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq

Up!

2002 Mercury Nashville Records releases "Up!", the 4th studio album by Shania Twain (Billboard Album of the Year, 2003)

  • 2003 In England, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective
  • 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules the state's ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional
  • 2003 The congress of the Communist Party of Indian Union (Marxist-Leninist) decides to merge the party into Kanu Sanyal's CPI(ML).
  • 2004 Russia officially ratifies the Kyoto Protocol

Walk the Line

2005 20th Century Fox releases "Walk the Line", starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, and directed by James Mangold; Witherspoon wins an Academy Award

Federer's Back-To-Back Titles

2007 Roger Federer scores back-to-back season-ending Tennis Masters Cup titles beating Spaniard David Ferrer 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 in the final in Shanghai, China

One Direction

2011 "The X Factor" group One Direction release their debut album "Up All Night" in Ireland and the UK

Macapagal-Arroyo Arrested

2011 Former Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is arrested and held at Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage

  • 2011 Video game Minecraft is officially released by Mojang
  • 2012 Israeli Gaza rocket strikes kill 80 alleged terrorist targets

Lewis Hamilton

2012 Lewis Hamilton wins the 2012 US Formula One Grand Prix

  • 2013 20 people are killed after a train collides with a minibus in Cairo, Egypt
  • 2014 Jamaica win the 2014 Caribbean Cup in football

Roger the Ripped Kangaroo

2015 "Kangaroo Dundee" wildlife TV series premieres featuring Brolga and Roger the ripped Kangaroo on BBC Two

  • 2015 2 female suicide bombers aged 18 and 11 blow themselves up in Kano, Nigeria, killing 15 and injuring over 100

Willie Nelson

2015 American singer-songwriter Willie Nelson receives Library of Congress Gershwin Prize at the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C.

  • 2015 French police raid terrorist cell in Saint Denis, killing 2 including the leader of the Paris terror attacks Abdelhamid Abaaoud