1601–1900 1778 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui. 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. 1812 – The Battle of Berezina begins during Napoleon's retreat from Russia. 1852 – An earthquake as high as magnitude 8.8 rocks the Banda Sea, triggering a tsunami and killing at least 60 in the Dutch East Indies. 1863 – United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. Following the Franksgiving controversy from 1939 to 1941, it has been observed on the fourth Thursday in 1942 and subsequent years. 1865 – Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile. 1901–present 1914 – HMS Bulwark is destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men while at anchor near Sheerness. 1917 – The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France. 1917 – The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams. 1918 – The Montenegrin Podgorica Assembly votes for a "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia. 1920 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Red Army launches a surprise attack against the Makhnovshchina. 1922 – Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3,000 years. 1922 – The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.) 1924 – The Mongolian People's Republic is officially established after a new constitution, passed by the first State Great Khural, abolishes the monarchy. 1939 – Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later. 1941 – World War II: The Hull note is given to the Japanese ambassador, demanding that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina, in return for which the United States would lift economic sanctions. On the same day, Japan's 1st Air Fleet departs Hitokappu Bay for Hawaii. 1942 – World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia. 1942 – Casablanca, the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City. 1943 – World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria. 1944 – World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's shop in New Cross, London, killing 168 people. 1944 – World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium. 1949 – The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. 1950 – Korean War: Communist Chinese troops launch a massive counterattack (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir) against United Nations and South Korean forces. 1965 – France launches Astérix, becoming the third nation to put an object in orbit using its own booster. 1968 – Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor. 1970 – In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded. 1977 – An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the "Ashtar Galactic Command", takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm. 1979 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 crashes near Taif in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, killing all 156 people on board. 1983 – Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport. 1986 – Iran–Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission. 1986 – The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of committing war crimes as a guard at the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem. 1991 – National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities with Azeri names. 1998 – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland. 1998 – The Khanna rail disaster takes 212 lives in Khanna, Ludhiana, India. 1999 – The 7.5 Ambrym earthquake shakes Vanuatu and a destructive tsunami follows. Ten people were killed and forty were injured. 2000 – George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote. 2003 – The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England. 2004 – Ruzhou School massacre: A man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China. 2004 – The last Poʻouli (Black-faced honeycreeper) dies of avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii, before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct. 2008 – Mumbai attacks, a series of terrorist attacks killing approximately 175 citizens by 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan based extremist Islamist terrorist organisation. 2008 – The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, now out of service, docks in Dubai. 2011 – NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others. 2011 – The Mars Science Laboratory launches to Mars with the Curiosity Rover. 2018 – The robotic probe Insight lands on Elysium Planitia, Mars. 2019 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes western Albania leaving at least 52 people dead and over 1,000 injured. This was the world's deadliest earthquake of 2019, and the deadliest to strike the country in 99 years. 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization identifies the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.
1601–1900 1778 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui. 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. 1812 – The Battle of Berezina begins during Napoleon's retreat from Russia. 1852 – An earthquake as high as magnitude 8.8 rocks the Banda Sea, triggering a tsunami and killing at least 60 in the Dutch East Indies. 1863 – United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. Following the Franksgiving controversy from 1939 to 1941, it has been observed on the fourth Thursday in 1942 and subsequent years. 1865 – Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile. 1901–present 1914 – HMS Bulwark is destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men while at anchor near Sheerness. 1917 – The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France. 1917 – The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams. 1918 – The Montenegrin Podgorica Assembly votes for a "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia. 1920 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Red Army launches a surprise attack against the Makhnovshchina. 1922 – Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3,000 years. 1922 – The Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor. (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so, but it was not widely distributed.) 1924 – The Mongolian People's Republic is officially established after a new constitution, passed by the first State Great Khural, abolishes the monarchy. 1939 – Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later. 1941 – World War II: The Hull note is given to the Japanese ambassador, demanding that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina, in return for which the United States would lift economic sanctions. On the same day, Japan's 1st Air Fleet departs Hitokappu Bay for Hawaii. 1942 – World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia. 1942 – Casablanca, the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City. 1943 – World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria. 1944 – World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's shop in New Cross, London, killing 168 people. 1944 – World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium. 1949 – The Constituent Assembly of India adopts the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. 1950 – Korean War: Communist Chinese troops launch a massive counterattack (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir) against United Nations and South Korean forces. 1965 – France launches Astérix, becoming the third nation to put an object in orbit using its own booster. 1968 – Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor. 1970 – In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded. 1977 – An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the "Ashtar Galactic Command", takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm. 1979 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 crashes near Taif in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, killing all 156 people on board. 1983 – Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport. 1986 – Iran–Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission. 1986 – The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of committing war crimes as a guard at the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem. 1991 – National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities with Azeri names. 1998 – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland. 1998 – The Khanna rail disaster takes 212 lives in Khanna, Ludhiana, India. 1999 – The 7.5 Ambrym earthquake shakes Vanuatu and a destructive tsunami follows. Ten people were killed and forty were injured. 2000 – George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote. 2003 – The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England. 2004 – Ruzhou School massacre: A man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China. 2004 – The last Poʻouli (Black-faced honeycreeper) dies of avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii, before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct. 2008 – Mumbai attacks, a series of terrorist attacks killing approximately 175 citizens by 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan based extremist Islamist terrorist organisation. 2008 – The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, now out of service, docks in Dubai. 2011 – NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others. 2011 – The Mars Science Laboratory launches to Mars with the Curiosity Rover. 2018 – The robotic probe Insight lands on Elysium Planitia, Mars. 2019 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes western Albania leaving at least 52 people dead and over 1,000 injured. This was the world's deadliest earthquake of 2019, and the deadliest to strike the country in 99 years. 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization identifies the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.