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Take a look at these important events in the month of November, that changed world history. 

 

November 1

1683 – The British Crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties.

1688 – William III of Orange sets out a second time from Hellevoetsluis in the Netherlands to seize the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland from King James II of England during the Glorious Revolution.

1755 – In Portugal, Lisbon is totally devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between 60,000 and 90,000 people.

1765 – The British Parliament enactment of the Stamp Act  (March 22, 1765) on the Thirteen Colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America, goes into effect.

1790 – Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster.

1800 – President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

1805 – Napoleon Bonaparte invades Austria during the War of the Third Coalition.

1814 – Congress of Vienna opens to redraw the European political map after the defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars. 

November 2

1675 – Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip's War.

1675 - King Philip's War: A combined effort by the Plymouth Colony, Rhode Island Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Connecticut Colony attacks the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansett tribe.

1721 - Peter the Great (Peter I),  ruler of Russia, changed his title to emperor.

1772 - The first Committees of Correspondence are formed in Massachusetts under Samuel Adams.

1776 - During the American Revolutionary War, William Demont, became the first traitor of the American Revolution when he deserted prior to the Battle of Fort Washington

1777 - The USS Ranger, with a crew of 140 men under the command of John Paul Jones, leaves Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the naval port at Brest, France, where it will stop before heading toward the Irish Sea to begin raids on British warships. This was the first mission of its kind during the Revolutionary War.

1783 - U.S. Gen. George Washington gave his "Farewell Address to the Army" near Princeton, NJ. 

1789 - The property of the church in France is taken away by the state.

1795 – The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created. 

November 3

1783 – John Austin, a highwayman, is the last person to be publicly hanged at London's Tyburn gallows.

1783 – The American Continental Army is disbanded.

1793 – French playwright, journalist, and feminist Olympe de Gouges is executed on the guillotine.

1812 – Napoleon's armies are defeated at the Battle of Vyazma.

1817 – The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal.

1838 – The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. 

November 4

1677 – The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later jointly reign as William and Mary.

1737 – The Teatro di San Carlo is inaugurated.

1780 – Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui aka Tupac Amaru starts his Rebellion on Peru against Spain-

1783 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria.

1791 – The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.

1798 – Beginning of the Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu.

1839 – Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain. 

November 5

1688 – William III of England lands with a Dutch fleet at Brixham, Southwest England.

1757 – Seven Years' War: Frederick the Great defeats the allied armies of France and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Rossbach.

1768 – Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the purpose of which is to adjust the boundary line between Indian lands and white settlements set forth in the Proclamation of 1763 in the Thirteen Colonies.

1780 – French-American forces under Colonel LaBalme are defeated by Miami Chief Little Turtle.

1811 – Salvadoran priest José Matías Delgado, rings the bells of La Merced church in San Salvador, calling for insurrection and launching the 1811 Independence Movement.

1831 – Nat Turner, an American slave leader, is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in Virginia.

1838 – The Federal Republic of Central America begins to disintegrate when Nicaragua separates from the Federation. 

November 6

1789 – Pope Pius VI appointed Father John Carroll as the first Catholic bishop in the United States.

1792 – Battle of Jemappes in the French Revolutionary Wars

November 7

1665 – The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, is first published.

1775 – John Murray, the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, started the first mass emancipation of slaves in North America by issuing Lord Dunmore's Offer of Emancipation, which offers freedom to slaves who abandoned their colonial masters in order to fight with Murray and the British.

1786 – The oldest musical organization in the United States is founded as the Stoughton Musical Society.

1811 – Tecumseh's War: The Battle of Tippecanoe is fought near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana, United States.

1837 – In Alton, Illinois, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy is shot dead by a mob while attempting to protect his printing shop from being destroyed a third time.

November 8

1745 – Charles Edward Stuart invades England with an army of ~5000 that would later participate in the Battle of Culloden.

1837 – Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which later becomes Mount Holyoke College.

November 9

1688 – Glorious Revolution: William of Orange captures Exeter.

1697 – Pope Innocent XII founds the city of Cervia.

1720 – The synagogue of Judah HeHasid is burned down by Arab creditors, leading to the expulsion of the Ashkenazim from Jerusalem.

1729 – Spain, France, and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Seville.

1764 – Mary Campbell, a captive of the Lenape during the French and Indian War, is turned over to forces commanded by Colonel Henry Bouquet.

1780 – American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Fishdam Ford a force of British and Loyalist troops fail in a surprise attack against the South Carolina Patriot militia under Brigadier General Thomas Sumter.

1791 – Foundation of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen.

1793 – William Carey reaches the Hooghly River.

1799 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads the Coup of 18 Brumaire ending the Directory government, and becoming one of its three Consuls (Consulate Government).

1822 – The Action of 9 November 1822 between the USS Alligator and a squadron of pirate schooners off the coast of Cuba. 

November 10

1674 – Anglo-Dutch War: As provided in the Treaty of Westminster, the Netherlands cedes New Netherland to England.

1702 – English colonists under the command of James Moore besiege Spanish St. Augustine during Queen Anne's War.

1766 – The last colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers University).

1775 – The United States Marine Corps is founded at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia by Samuel Nicholas.

1793 – A Goddess of Reason is proclaimed by the French Convention at the suggestion of Pierre Gaspard Chaumette.

1821 – Cry of Independence by Rufina Alfaro at La Villa de Los Santos, Panama setting into motion a revolt that leads to Panama's independence from Spain and to it immediately becoming part of Colombia 

November 11

1673 – Second Battle of Khotyn in Ukraine: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets made by Kazimierz Siemienowicz are successfully used.

1675 – Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x).

1724 – Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London.

1750 – Riots break out in Lhasa after the murder of the Tibetan regent.

1750 – The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity.

1778 – Cherry Valley massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers.

1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein – 8000 French troops attempt to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force.

1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Crysler's Farm – British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign.

1831 – In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising.

1839 – The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia. 

November 12

1775 - Abigail Adams leads the rhetorical charge against Britain

1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is guillotined. 

1799 - First meteor shower on record: Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an early American astronomer born in Vermont, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys.

November 13

1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Gen. Richard Montgomery occupy Montreal. 

1789 - Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to a friend in which he said, "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." 

1805 - Johann George Lehner, a Viennese butcher, invented a recipe and called it the "frankfurter." 

1835- Texans officially proclaim independence from Mexico, and call themselves the Lone Star Republic, after its flag, until its admission to the Union in 1845.

November 14

1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile. 

1776 - Benjamin Franklin takes sides with the American Colonists in rebelling against Britain.

1812 - As Napoleon Bonaparte’s army retreats from Moscow, temperatures drop to 20 degrees below zero.

1832 - The first streetcar went into operation in New York City, NY. The vehicle was horse-drawn and had room for 30 people.

November 15

1705 – Battle of Zsibó: Austrian-Danish victory over the Kurucs (Hungarians).

1777 – American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the  Articles of Confederation.

1791 – The first U.S. Catholic college, Georgetown University, opens its doors.

1806 – Pike expedition: Lieutenant Zebulon Pike sees a distant mountain peak near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains. (It is later named Pikes Peak.)

November 16

1776 – American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.

1776 – American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.

1793 – French Revolution: Ninety anti-republican Catholic priests are executed by drowning at Nantes.

1797 – The Prussian heir apparent, Frederick William, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William III.

1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern – Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Joachim Murat.

1822 – American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.

1828 – Greek War of Independence: The London Protocol entails the creation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, encompassing the Morea and the Cyclades. 

November 17

1777 – The Articles Of Confederation (United States) are submitted to the states for ratification.

1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.

1800 – The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.

1810 – Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.

1811 – José Miguel Carrera, the Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.

1820 – Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica. (The Palmer Peninsula is later named after him.)

1831 – Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.

1839 – Oberto, Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, opens at the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, Italy. 

November 18

1730 – The future Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.

1803 – The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.

1809 – In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.

1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Krasnoi ends in French defeat, but Marshal of France Michel Ney's leadership leads to him becoming known as "the bravest of the brave". 

November 19

1794 – The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.

1816 – Warsaw University is established. 

November 20

1695 – Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed by the forces of Portuguese Bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho.

1739 – Start of the Battle of Porto Bello between British and Spanish forces during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at the Palisades and then attack Fort Lee. The Continental Army starts to retreat across New Jersey.

1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

1805 – Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio premieres in Vienna.

1815 – The Second Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1790 extent, imposing large indemnities, and prolonging the occupation by Allied troops for several more years.

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 is in part inspired by this story.) 

November 21

1783 – In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.

1789 – North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state. 

November 22

1718 – Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard.

1812 – War of 1812: Seventeen Indiana Rangers are killed at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek.

1837 – Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie calls for a rebellion against the United Kingdom in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper The Constitution.

November 23

1733 – The start of the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John in what was then the Danish West Indies.

1808 – French and Poles defeat the Spanish at the battle of Tudela.

1810 – Sarah Booth debuts at the Royal Opera House. 

November 24

1750 – Tarabai, the regent of the Maratha Empire, imprisons Rajaram II of Satara for refusing to remove Balaji Baji Rao from the post of Peshwa.

1832 – South Carolina passes the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring that the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were null and void in the state, beginning the Nullification Crisis.

1835 – The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers ( now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety). 

November 25

1667 – A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.

1755 – King Ferdinand VI of Spain grants royal protection to the Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus, now known as the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary.

1758 – French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Later, Fort Pitt will be built nearby and grow into modern Pittsburgh.

1759 – An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.

1783 – American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

1795 – Partitions of Poland: Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia.

1826 – The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplio to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy.

1833 – A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7-9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.

1839 – A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40-foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster. 

November 26

1778 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.

1784 – The Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the United States was established.

1789 – A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress.

1805 – Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

1825 – At Union College in Schenectady, New York, a group of college students forms the Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity. 

November 27

 1703 – The first Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703.

1727 – The foundation stone to the Jerusalem Church in Berlin is laid.

1807 – The Portuguese Royal Family leaves Lisbon to escape from Napoleonic troops.

1810 – The Berners Street hoax was perpetrated by Theodore Hook in the City of Westminster, London.

1815 – Adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland.

1830 – Saint Catherine Labouré experiences a vision of the Blessed Virgin standing on a globe, crushing a serpent with her feet, and emanating rays of light from her hands.

1835 – James Pratt and John Smith are hanged in London; they are the last two to be executed for sodomy in England.

1839 – In Boston, Massachusetts, the American Statistical Association is founded.

November 28

1666 – At least 3,000 men of the Scottish Royal Army led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns defeat about 900 Covenanter rebels in the Battle of Rullion Green.

1785 – The Treaty of Hopewell is signed.

1811 – Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

1814 – The Times in London is for the first time printed by automatic, steam-powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.

1821 – Panama Independence Day: Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.

1828 – Greek War of Independence: The French Morea expedition to recapture Morea (now the Peloponnese) ends when the last Ottoman forces depart the peninsula. 

November 29

1729 – Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.

1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, comes to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements.

1777 – San Jose, California, is founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe by José Joaquín Moraga. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.

1781 – The crew of the British slave ship Zong murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance.

1783 – A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey.

1807 – Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil: John VI of Portugal flees Lisbon from advancing Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War, transferring the Portuguese court to Brazil.

1830 – November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins. 

November 30

1707 – The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the British to capture Pensacola, Florida.

1718 – King Charles XII of Sweden dies during a siege of the fortress of Fredriksten in Norway.

1782 – American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris – In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the  1783 Treaty of Paris).

1786 – The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).

1803 – In New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transfer the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the  Louisiana Purchase.

1804 – The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial of Federalist Supreme Court Justice  Samuel Chase.

1824 – Ground is broken at Allanburg, Ontario, for the building of the first Welland Canal.

1829 – First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the groundbreaking.