History of 21st November

164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
235 - St Anterus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
496 - St Gelasius I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
695 - Pope Sergius names Willibrord as archbishop Clemens of Friezen
1272 - Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.
1317 - Frederik of Sierck/Zyrick becomes bishop of Utrecht
1492 - Pinta under Martin A Pinzon separates from Columbus's fleet
1620 - Pilgrim Fathers reach America: Provincetown Harbor, Mass
1620 - Mayflower Compact signed by Pilgrims in Cape Cod
1654 - Richard Johnson, a free black, granted 550 acres in Virginia
1696 - J Vanbrughes "Relapse or Virtue in Danger," premieres in London
1729 - Netherlands signs Treaty of Seville
1759 - Battle at Maxen: Prussian army surrenders to Austrians
1783 - Pilstre de Rozier & Marquis d'Arlandes make 1st free balloon flight
1787 - Andrew Jackson admitted to bar
1789 - North Carolina ratifies constitution, becomes 12th US state
1791 - Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic.
1794 - Honolulu Harbor discovered
1806 - Decree of Berlin: Emperor Napoleon I bans all trade with England
1813 - Stettin surrenders to allied armies
1818 - Russia's Czar Alexander I petitions for a Jewish state in Palestine
1824 - 1st Jewish Reform congregation forms, Charleston, SC
1834 - HMS Beagle anchors at Bay of San Carlos, Chile
1837 - Thomas Morris of Australia skips rope 22,806 times
1847 - Steamer "Phoenix" is lost on Lake Michigan, kills 200
1848 - Alfred de Musset's "Andre del Sarto," premieres in Paris
1848 - Cincinnati Turngemeinde founded
1849 - Friedrich Hebbel's "Der Rubin," premieres in Vienna
1852 - Duke U, founded in 1838 as Union Institute chartered as Normal College
1864 - -22] Battle at Griswoldville, Georgia
1865 - Shaw University forms in Raleigh NC
1871 - Moses F Gale patents a cigar lighter (NYC)
1871 - The 1st human cannonball, Emilio Onra, is shot
1876 - Skirmish between HM Stanley's expedition & natives
1877 - Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention (phonograph)
1880 - Henry Stanley & Pierre de Brazza quarrel about possession of Congo
1895 - Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Bruce Partington Plans" (BG)
1901 - Richard Strauss' opera "Feuersnot," premieres in Dresden
1902 - 1st night football game, Phila Athletics beats Kanaweola AC, 39-0
1902 - Baseball's Phila Athletics & Phillies form pro football teams, joining Pitts Stars in 1st attempt at a National Football League
1905 - 1st game ever played in the Australian Tennis Open
1906 - China prohibits opium trade
1914 - Billy Mallett of Hamilton Tigers kicks 9 singles in a game
1914 - British army conquerors Bazra
1916 - HMHS Britannic sinks in the Aegean Sea after a mine explodes, killing 30 people.
1917 - M Gorki calls Lenin a blind fanatic/unthinking adventurer
1918 - 2 German ammunition trains explode in Hamont Belgium, 1,750 die
1918 - Polish soldiers organize a pogrom against Jews of Galicia Poland
1920 - Karel Capék's "Vec Makropulos," premieres in Prague
1920 - Mussolini's squad begins terror, 11 die in Bologna Italy
1922 - Rebecca L Felton (Ga) sworn in as 1st female US Senator
1924 - British premier Baldwin cancels Labor contract with USSR
1925 - Red Grange plays final Univ of Illinois game, signs with Chicago Bears
1933 - 1st US ambassador to USSR, W.C. Bullitt, begins service
1934 - "Uiver" returns from Schiphol in London-Melbourne air race
1934 - NY Yankees buy Joe DiMaggio from SF Seals (Pacific Coast League)
1935 - 1st commercial crossing of Pacific by plane (China Clipper)
1935 - Jean Giraudoux' "La Guerre de Troie n'Aura," premieres in Paris
1937 - Dmitri Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony premieres in Lenningrad
1938 - -24] Belgian king Leopold III visits Netherlands
1938 - Nazi forces occupy western Czech & declared them German citizens
1940 - Nazi occupiers forbid building schools in Netherlands
1942 - Hitler names fieldmarshal Erich von Manstein commander of the newly-created Army Group Don (Heeresgruppe Don)
1942 - Tweety Bird, aka Tweety Pie, debuts in "Tale of Two Kitties"
1943 - 7 Belgian ministers in London sentence King Leopold III
1944 - Personnel & executive staff of Philips demonstrate for more food
1945 - Benjamin Britten's 2nd String quartet in C, premieres
1945 - General Motors workers go on strike
1946 - Georgi Dimitrov elected premier of Bulgaria
1946 - Harry Truman becomes 1st US president to travel in a submerged sub
1947 - Bill Longson beats Lou Thesz in St Louis, to become wrestling champ
1949 - Bill Veeck sells Indians for $22 million
1952 - 1st US postage stamp in 2 colors (rotary process) introduced
1952 - Dodgers pitcher Joe Black wins NL Rookie of Year
1953 - "Pitdown Man," discovered in 1912 proved to be a hoax
1953 - WKJG TV channel 33 in Ft Wayne, IN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 - Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce that the "Piltdown Man" skull, held to be one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, was a hoax.
1955 - Argentina asks Panama for return of ex-president Peron
1955 - KTVO TV channel 3 in Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1956 - Don Newcombe, wins NL MVP & 1st-ever Cy Young Award
1959 - Jack Benny (violin) & Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet
1960 - Bob Scheffing signs to manage Tigers after Casey Stengel turns it down
1962 - The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.
1963 - JFK flies to Texas
1964 - "Something More!" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 15 perfs
1964 - "Zizi" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 49 performances
1964 - Pope Paul VI signs 3rd sitting of 2nd Vatican council
1964 - World's longest suspension bridge "Verrazano Narrows" opens (NYC)
1965 - 1st freighter arrives in Ashdod Port Israel
1965 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1966 - Dutch govt of Zijlstra forms
1967 - Phillip & Jay Kunz fly a kite a record 28,000 feet
1967 - 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."
1968 - Cin trades shortstop Leo Cardenas to Twins for pitcher Jim Merritt
1968 - Supremes & Temptations release "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
1968 - Yoko Ono suffers a miscarriage
1969 - KXIX (now KVCT) TV channel 19 in Victoria, TX (ABC) 1st broadcast
1969 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 - NY Knicks 1st game against Cleve Cavalier, Knicks win 102-94 at MSG
1971 - NY Rangers scores a NHL record 8 goals in 1 period

1971 - Richard Baker becomes teacher of SF Zen Center
1971 - Indian troops partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas) defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.
1972 - Red Sox Carlton Fisk wins AL Rookie of Year, Mets Jon Matlack wins NL
1973 - Pete Rose wins NL MVP
1973 - Pres Nixon's attorney, J Fred Buzhardt, reveals presence of 18½ minute gap in a White House tape recording related to Watergate
1974 - Freedom of Information Act passed by Congress over Pres Ford's veto
1975 - Linda McCartney drug charges in US are dropped
1977 - 1st flight of Concorde (London to New York)
1977 - Orioles 1st baseman Eddie Murray wins AL Rookie of Year
1978 - Bob Horner of Braves wins NL Rookie of Year Award
1979 - Crowd at Islamabad, Pakistan attack US embassy, 1 dies
1980 - Dallas' "Who Shot JR?" episode (Kristen) gets a 53.3 rating (83 mill)
1980 - Fire at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas kills 84
1980 - Gene Michael named 25th Yank mgr, replacing Dick Howser, who resigns
1980 - It is revealed Kristen shot J.R. Ewing on "Dallas"
1980 - John & Yoko pose nude for photographer Allan Tannenbaum
1980 - MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in fire; 84 die
1981 - 400,000 demonstrate in Amsterdam against cruise missiles
1981 - Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," single goes #1 & stays for 10 weeks
1983 - "Doonesbury" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 104 performances
1983 - NY Ranger Ron Greschner marries model Carol Alt
1986 - Central African Republic adopts constitution
1986 - Suriname army leader Desi Bouterse massacres Moiwana village
1987 - Actress Demi Moore marries actor Bruce Willis
1987 - Horse Racing Breeders' Cup Champs: Epitome, Ferdinand, Miesque, Sacahuista, Success Express, Theatrica, Very Subtle at Hollywood
1989 - Law banning smoking on most domestic flights signed by Pres Bush
1989 - TV cameras permitted in British House of Commons
1990 - Michael Milken is sentenced to 10 years for security law violations
1991 - Poetess Maria Elene Cruz Varela arrested in Cuba
1992 - Jan Karlsson swims world record 50m butterfly (23.80 sec)
1992 - Jani Sievinen swims world record 100m medley (53.78 sec)
1992 - Louise Karlsson swims world record 50m freestyle (31.19 sec)
1992 - Oregon Sen Bob Packwood issues apology for unwelcome sexual advances
1992 - Sam's Town Bowling Invitational won by Tish Johnson
1993 - "Cinderella" closes at New York State Theater NYC after 14 perfs
1993 - "Cyrano - The Musical" opens at Neil Simon Theater NYC for 137 perfs
1993 - Neo-fascists MSI win 36% of municipal elections in Rome
1994 - 1st-class cricket debut of Andrew Symonds (Queensland v NSW, SCG)
1995 - Dow Jones closes above 5,000 for 1st time
1995 - Israel grants jailed US spy Jason Pollard, citizenship
1995 - New double Beatle CD released with new song "Free as a Bird"
1996 - "Rehearsal" opens at Criterion Theater NYC
1996 - A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33.
2002 - NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
2004 - The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, unleashing massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.
2004 - The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island receives the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed as a result.
2004 - The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.
2006 - Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.