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1969–American beat writer, Jack Kerouac, dies from internal bleeding due to long-term alcohol abuse in St. Petersburg, Florida, at age 47. All of his books are in print today, including The Town and the City, On the Road, Doctor Sax, The Dharma Bums, Mexico City Blues, The Subterraneans, Desolation Angels, Visions of Cody, The Sea Is My Brother, and Big Sur.


1096–In the People's Crusade, a Seljuk Turkish army successfully fights off the People's Army of the West.

1097–Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch.

1209–Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.

1328–Emperor Hongwu of China is born in Fengyang, Anhui, Yuan Empire. Historians consider the Emperor Hongwu to have been one of the most significant emperors of China.

1392–Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant, Go-Komatsu.

1422–Charles VI of France dies in Paris, France, at age 53. Charles VI was only 11 years old when he inherited the throne in the midst of the Hundred Years' War. The government was entrusted to his four uncles: Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; John, Duke of Berry; Louis I, Duke of Anjou; and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. Although the royal age of majority was fixed at 14, the dukes maintained their grip on Charles until he took power at the age of 21.

1500–Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan dies at age 58. His successor, Go-Kashiwabara, lacked the funds to pay for a funeral ceremony, and the deceased emperor's body lay in a palace storeroom for over a month before a donation was made to the court, and a funeral could be observed.

1512–Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.

1520–Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.

1520–João Álvares Fagundes discovers the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing them their original name of "Islands of the 11,000 Virgins."

1600–Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate.

1675–Emperor Higashiyama of Japan is born. His reign spanned the years from 1687 through 1709, which is generally considered to be the Golden Age of the Edo Period.

1774–The first display of the word "Liberty" appears on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts, in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.

1797–In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun U.S. Navy frigate, USS Constitution, is launched.

1805–A British fleet, led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson, defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet, under Admiral Villeneuve, in the Battle of Trafalgar.

1816–The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings. It is the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.

1824–Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.

1854–Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.

1858–The Can-Can is performed for the first time in Paris, France.

1867–The Medicine Lodge Treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in western Oklahoma.

1879–Thomas Edison invents the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb.

1885–Wild West show performer, Lucille Mulhall, is born in St. Louis, Missouri. She was raised on the family's ranch in Oklahoma Territory, near what is now Mulhall, Oklahoma. Mulhall was the most famous Western performer of her era and and one of the first women to compete with men in roping and riding events. She was referred to as a “cowgirl” before the term was commonly used. Mulhall was known as one of the most accomplished riding and roping champions, often beating her male competitors. She is credited with integrating women into the sport of Rodeo. Mulhall was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1977.

1888–The Swiss Social Democratic Party is founded.

1892–Opening ceremonies for the World's Columbian Exposition are held in Chicago, Illinois, but because construction is behind schedule, the exposition does not open until May 1, 1893.

1895–The Republic of Formosa collapses as Japanese forces make an invasion.

1908–An advertisement in The Saturday Evening Post offers a chance to buy, for the first time, a two-sided record. It is on the Columbia label.

1910–The HMS Niobe arrives in Halifax Harbour to become the first ship of the Royal Canadian Navy.

1911–Chemist, William A. Mitchell, is born in Raymond, Minnesota. He created Pop Rocks, Tang, and Cool Whip. During his career he received over 70 patents.

1912–In the first Balkan War, Kardzhali is liberated by Bulgarian forces.

1912–Conductor, Georg Solti, is born György Stern in Budapest, Hungary. He was best known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for 22 years.

1915–Record producer, (William) Owen Bradley, is born in Westmoreland, Tennessee. He was, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly. He worked with Ernest Tubb, Burl Ives, Red Foley, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, and Conway Twitty.

1917–Trumpet player and bandleader, Dizzy Gillespie, is born John Birks Gillespie in Cheraw, South Carolina. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality went a long way in popularizing bebop and modern jazz.

1921–President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech against lynching in the deep South.

1921–George Melford's silent film, The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.

1927–Film director, Howard Zieff, is born in Chicago, Illinois. His films include Slither, Hearts of the West, House Calls, The Main Event, Private Benjamin, Unfaithfully Yours, The Dream Team, and My Girl.

1931–The Sakurakai, a secret society in the Imperial Japanese Army, launches an abortive coup d'état attempt.

1935–Derek Bell, of The Chieftains, is born George Derek Fleetwood Bell in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was a harpist, pianist, and oboist.

1940–The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, is published.

1940–Keyboard player, Manfred Mann, is born Manfred Sepse Lubowitz in Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa. He is best known as a founding member and namesake of Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann Chapter Three, and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1961, and began to write for Jazz News under the pseudonym Manfred Manne (after jazz drummer Shelly Manne), which was soon shortened to Manfred Mann. The group had hits with Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Sha La La, Pretty Flamingo, and Mighty Quinn.

1942–Singer, Elvin (Richard) Bishop, is born in Glendale, California. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when Bishop was 10 years old. In 1968, he formed the Elvin Bishop Group. His albums include The Elvin Bishop Group, Feel It!, Let It Flow, Juke Joint Jump, and Struttin' My Stuff.

1943–The Provisional Government of Free India is formally declared by Subhas Chandra Bose.

1944–In the first kamikaze attack of World War II, a Japanese fighter plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb.) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.

1944–The Nemmersdorf massacre against German civilians takes place.

1944–During World War II, the city of Aachen falls to American forces after three weeks of fighting, making it the first German city to fall to the Allies.

1945–Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.

1949–Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli captain and politician, is born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was the 9th Prime Minister of Israel. He is the first Israeli prime minister born in Israel after the establishment of the state.

1950–In the Korean War, heavy fighting begins between British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade and the North Korean 239th Regiment during the Battle of Yongju.

1956–Kenyan rebel leader, Dedan Kimathi, is captured by the British Army, signaling the ultimate defeat of the rebellion, ending the British military campaign.

1956–Actress, Carrie (Frances) Fisher, is born in Beverly Hills, California. She is best known for the role of Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie franchise. She appeared in the films Shampoo, the Blues Brothers, Under the Rainbow, Garbo Talks, The Man with One Red Shoe, Hannah and Her Sisters, Amazon Women on the Moon, The ‘Burbs, When Harry Met Sally, Sibling Rivalry, Drop Dead Fred, Soapdish, This is My Life, Austin Powers: Man of Mystery, Scream 3, and Heartbreakers. She wrote the novels Postcards from the Edge, Surrender the Pink, and Delusions of Grandma; and the non-fiction books Wishful Drinking, Shockaholic, and The Princess Diarist. Her mother was actress, Debbie Reynolds; her father was singer, Eddie Fisher; her step-mother was actress, Connie Stevens; and her half-sister is actress, Joely Fisher. She was married to singer, Paul Simon.

1957–The Elvis Presley film, Jailhouse Rock, premieres.

1958–In a New York studio, Buddy Holly & the Crickets record True Love Ways, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, Moondreams, and Raining in My Heart. It will be the Texas rocker’s last recording session.

1959–President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the U.S. Army to NASA.

1959–The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (presently known as simply The Guggenheim) opens to the public, six months after the death of its designer, Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the only building in New York City that was designed by Wright. The museum was originally commissioned as a permanent home for the vast art collection of its namesake. Guggenheim was a longtime collector of avant garde paintings, in particular, some of the finest examples of nonobjective art, including Kandinsky’s Composition 8. Over the ensuing decades, the Guggenheim Museum collection has expanded with the acquisition of several important private collections. The Guggenheim collection now includes works in many major styles, including Impressionist and Post-Impresionist, Expressionist, Surrealist, Modern, and Contemporary works. The finest artists in the world are well represented in the collection, including Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, Paul Gaugin, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Marcel DuChamp. Well over one million people visit the Guggenheim each year.

1965–Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 279,617 miles from the Sun.

1965–Musician, Bill Black, dies of a brain tumor in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 39. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio and he later formed Bill Black's Combo. The Combo’s hits include Smokie, Smokie Part 2, and White Silver Sands.

1966–A colliery spoil tip collapses on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly school children.

1967–Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters march in Washington, D.C.

1969–A coup d'état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power and establishes a socialist republic in Somalia.

1969–American beat writer, Jack Kerouac, dies from internal bleeding due to long-term alcohol abuse in St. Petersburg, Florida, at age 47. All of his books are in print today, including The Town and the City, On the Road, Doctor Sax, The Dharma Bums, Mexico City Blues, The Subterraneans, Desolation Angels, Visions of Cody, The Sea Is My Brother, and Big Sur.

1970–Educator, John T. Scopes, dies in Shreveport, Louisiana, at age 70. He was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, who was charged on May 5, 1925, for violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. He was tried in a case known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, in which he was found guilty and fined $100.

1971–A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping center in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland.

1972–A chart topper: My Ding-a-Ling by Chuck Berry.

1973–Fred Dryer, of the Los Angeles Rams, becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.

1974–John Lennon returns to Record Plant Studios, to record tracks for the LP Rock ‘n’ Roll, this time produced by himself (not Phil Spector).

1978–Australian civilian pilot, Frederick Valentich, vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.

1979–Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.

1980–Physician and psychologist, Hans Asperger, dies in Vienna, Austria. at age 74. He is best known for his early studies on mental disorders, especially in children. His work was largely unnoticed during his lifetime except for a few accolades in Vienna, and his studies on psychological disorders only acquired world renown posthumously. He wrote over 300 publications, mostly concerning a condition he termed autistic psychopathy (AP). There was a resurgence of interest in his work beginning in the 1980s, and due to his earlier work on autism spectrum disorders, Asperger syndrome (AS), was named after him.

1981–Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.

1983–The metre is defined at the 17th General Conference on Weights and Measures as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

1984–Film director, François Truffaut, dies from a brain tumor in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France, at age 52. He was one of the founders of the French New Wave movement. He appeared as an actor in many of his films, and is remembered for the role of a UFO scientist-investigtor in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Truffaut’s films include The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, Jules and Jim, Fahrenheit 451, Day for Night, and The Last Metro.

1985–A chart topper: Saving All My Love for You by Whitney Houston.

1986–In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer, Edward Tracy.

1987–The Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, killing 70 ethnic Tamil patients, doctors, and nurses.

1994–North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.

1994–In Seoul, South Korea, 32 people are killed when the Seongsu Bridge collapses.

1995–Maxene Andrews, of The Andrews Sisters, dies of a heart attack in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, at age 79. Throughout their long career, the sisters sold well over 75 million records. Their 1941 hit, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, is an early example of rhythm & blues or jump blues.

1995–Astrologer and author, Linda Goodman, dies from complications of diabetes in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at age 70. She had a big effect on the accelerating growth of the New Age movement through the unprecedented success of her first astrology book Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (1968). This was the first astrology book ever to earn a spot on The New York Times Best Seller list. It was followed by Linda Goodman's Love Signs (1978).

1999–George Martin, who produced most of The Beatles albums, lends his reputation and four decades of music business experience to a start-up Internet company catering to unsigned bands. Martin announces that he will serve as chairman of the advisory board for Garageband.com.

2003–Actor, Fred Berry, dies from a stroke in Los Angeles, California, at age 52. He is best known for the role of Fred "Rerun" Stubbs on the 1970s TV series What's Happening!! He was a member of the Los Angeles-based dance troupe, The Lockers, with which he appeared on the third episode of Saturday Night Live.

2005–Images of the dwarf planet, Eris, are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz.

2006–Sandy West, drummer for the all-girl rock group, The Runaways, dies of lung cancer at age 47.

2012–Politician, George McGovern, dies in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at age 90. He was an American historian, author, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972. In the general election McGovern lost to incumbent Richard Nixon in one of the biggest landslides in American electoral history.

2013–Record smog closes schools, roadways, and the airport in Harbin, China.

2014–CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) are among several Turner Broadcasting networks pulled from Dish Network at 2 a.m (EDT), the result of an unresolved carriage dispute. Both sides will announce a mutual agreement to restore the channels on November 21st.

2014–Journalist, Ben Bradlee, dies of Alzheimer's disease in Washington, D.C., at age 93. He was executive editor of The Washington Post from 1968 to 1991. He became a national figure during the presidency of Richard Nixon, when he challenged the federal government over the right to publish the Pentagon Papers and oversaw the publication of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's stories documenting the Watergate scandal.

2014–Politician, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani, dies from a stroke in Tehran, Iran, at age 83. He was Prime Minister of Iran.

2014–Politician, Gough Whitlam, dies in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, Australia, at age 98. He was the 21st Prime Minister of Australia.

2015–Comic actor, Marty Ingels, dies from a stroke in Tarzana, California, at age 79. He is best known for his co-starring role on the TV series I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. He appeared in the films Armored Command, The Horizontal Lieutenant, Wild and Wonderful, The Busy Body, A Guide for the Married Man, For Singles Only, The Picasso Summer, and How to Seduce a Woman.

2016–A series of cyber attacks targeting networks operated by DNS provider, Dyn, makes major internet platforms and services unavailable to a large number of users in Europe and North America.

2016–Scott Foval and Robert Creamer, two little-known but influential Democratic political operatives, leave their jobs after video investigations by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas Action finds them using methods of voter fraud to win elections.

2016–The Tennessee Valley Authority completes the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, the first U.S. nuclear reactor to enter commercial operation in 20 years.

2016–A chemical spill at the MGP Ingredients plant in Atchison, Kansas, injures 26 people and leads to evacuations.

2016–Four police officers are injured and hospitalized after chasing a car-jacking suspect in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2016–A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Tottori Prefecture in western Japan.

2016–Comedian, Kevin Meaney, dies of unknown causes in Forestburgh, New York, at age 60. He began his career in comedy in 1980. His big break into mainstream culture was his first HBO comedy special 1986, followed by his debut performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1987.

2017–President Donald Trump announces that he will allow the release of the currently classified President John F. Kennedy assassination files. The unknown number of documents would shed light on the 1963 assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Otto IV; an artistic depiction of the can-can; a poster for the film The Sheik; Manfred Mann; a poster for the film Jailhouse Rock; Jack Karouac; François Truffaut; Linda Goodman; and Marty Ingels.
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