1918 – World War I ends: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside of Compigne in France. The war officially stops at 11:00 (The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). This day became recognized as Veteran’s Day in the United States.
0308 – The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I is declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul.
0725 – English pilgrim Willibald (later St. Willibald) arrives in Jerusalem. One of the first known Europeans to visit the Holy Land.
1158 – Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa declares himself ruler of North Italy
1215 – The Fourth Lateran Council meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ.
1400 – Battle of Aleppo: Timur and his army defeat the forces of Sultan Faraj, Mameluke ruler of Egypt, 20,000 people reportedly massacred and a pyramid of their skulls built
1500 – Treaty of Granada Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agree to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them.
1620 – The Mayflower Compact was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower when they landed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. The compact called for “just and equal laws.”
1634 – Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes “An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery”
1673 – Second Battle of Khotyn in the Ukraine, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski. defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets of Kazimierz Siemienowicz were successfully used.
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
1745 – Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army invades England, in attempt to restore House of Stuart to the British throne
1750 – The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, was formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the first college fraternity
1778 – Cherry Valley Massacre: an attack by Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces on a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers.
1831 – Nat Turner, a slave and educated minister, was hanged in Jerusalem, VA, after inciting a violent slave uprising.
1839 – The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia.
1851 – The telescope was patented by Alvan Clark.
1864 – Sherman’s troops destroy Rome, Georgia
1880 – Australian outlaw and bank robber Ned Kelly was hanged at the Melbourne jail at age 25.
1887 – Labor Activists were hanged in Illinois after being convicted of being connected to a bombing that killed eight police officers.
1889 – Washington became the 42nd state of the United States.
1911 – Russia issues an ultimatum to Persia and follows it with an invasion of North Persia to impose political control
1918 – World War I ends: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside of Compigne in France. The war officially stops at 11:00 (The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). This day became recognized as Veteran’s Day in the United States.
1920 – The body of an unknown British soldier was buried in Westminster Abbey. The service was recorded with the first electronic recording process developed by Lionel Guest and H.O. Merriman.
1921 – The Tomb of the Unknowns was dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia by U.S. President Harding.
1924 – Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the first Greek Republic.
1933 – Dust Bowl: In South Dakota, a very strong dust storm strips topsoil from desiccated farmlands
1940 – The Jeep made its debut. Willys-Overland delivered the prototype “Quad” (named for the 4×4 system it featured), to the U.S. Army on Armistice Day (Veteran’s Day), November of 1940.
1942 – During World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France.
1959 – 1st episode of Jay Ward’s cartoon series “Rocky & His Friends”, featuring Rocket J. (“Rocky”) Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. airs on NBC
1962 – Kuwait’s National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait.
1965 – The government of Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. The country later became known as Zimbabwe.
1966 – The U.S. launched Gemini 12 from Cape Kennedy, FL. The craft circled the Earth 59 times before returning.
1967 – Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to “new left” antiwar activist Tom Hayden.
1972 – The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Bihn to the South Vietnamese army. The event symbolized the end of direct involvement in the Vietnam War by the U.S. military.
1975 – Civil war broke out when Angola gained independence from Portugal.
1981 – The U.S.S. Ohio was commissioned at the Electric Boat Division in Groton, CT. It was the first Trident class submarine.
1983 – President Reagan became first US President to address Japan’s legislature
1984 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan accepted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
1986 – Sperry Rand and Burroughs merged to form “Unisys,” becoming the second largest computer company.
1988 – Police in Sacramento, CA, found the first of seven bodies buried on the grounds of a boardinghouse. Dorothea Puente was later charged in the deaths of nine people, convicted of three murders and sentenced to life in prison.
1991 – The U.S. stationed its first diplomat in Cambodia in 16 years to help the nation arrange democratic elections.
1992 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin told U.S. senators in a letter that Americans had been held in prison camps after World War II. Some were “summarily executed,” but others were still living in his country voluntarily.
1993 – In Washington, DC, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated to honor the more than 11,000 women who had served in the Vietnam War.
1994 – In Gaza, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at an Israeli military checkpoint killing three soldiers.
1996 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveiled “The Wall That Heals.” The work was a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that would tour communities throughout the United States.
1997 – The Eastman Kodak Company announced that they were laying off 10,000 employees.
1998 – Israel’s Cabinet ratified a land-for-peace agreement with the Palestinians.
1999 – House of Lords Act 1999 passed \ The act removed the right to a place in the House of Lords based on peerage and hereditary rights.
2001 – Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they were traveling on top off.
2002 – Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged $100 million to fight AIDS in India.
2013 – 4 people are killed and 8 are injured after a building catches fire in Mumbai, India
2014 – An Italian appeals court overturns a manslaughter conviction against 6 scientists for failing to give adequate warning of a deadly earthquake
2015 – Montreal begins a controversial dumping of raw sewage (2.1bn gallons) into the St Lawrence River
2019 – Transit of Mercury across the sun, closer than any other transit this century
2021 – Near-earth asteroid Kamo`oalewa, the size of a ferris wheel, very likely a fragment of the moon, according to a new study
2022 – Cypto currency FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried files for bankruptcy, amid accusations of financial mismanagement and criminal misconduct
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
