November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 59 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions is signed.
- 1675 – King Philip's War: A combined effort by the Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies attacks the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansetts.
- 1769 – Don Gaspar de Portolà leads the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay.
- 1772 – American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form the first Committee of Correspondence.
- 1783 – In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".
- 1795 – The French Directory succeeds the French National Convention as the government of Revolutionary France.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
- 1868 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally
- 1882 – Oulu, Finland is devastated by the Great Oulu Fire of 1882
- 1889 – North and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
- 1895 – The first gasoline-powered race in the United States. First prize: $2,000
- 1898 – Cheerleading is started at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team.
- 1899 – The Boers begin their 118 day siege of British held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
- 1909 – Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity is founded at Boston University.
- 1914 – Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
- 1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
- 1917 – The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting.
- 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
- 1930 – Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1936 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.
- 1936 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.
- 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.
- 1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians.
- 1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose or H-4 The Hercules; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.
- 1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
- 1953 – The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan names the country The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
- 1957 – The Levelland UFO Case in Levelland, Texas, generates national publicity.
- 1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
- 1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway
- 1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd., the Lady Chatterley's Lover case
- 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Ðình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
- 1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.
- 1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
- 1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
- 1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
- 1973 – The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India form a 'United Front' in the state of Tripura.
- 1974 – 78 die when the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after a club official barred the doors after the fire started.
- 1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
- 1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
- 1988 – The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
- 2000 – The first resident crew to the ISS docked in November 2nd on the Soyuz TM-31.
- 2007 – 50,000–100,000 people demonstrate against the Georgian government in Tbilisi.
[edit] Births
- 971 – Emperor Mahmud of Ghaznavid Empire (d. 1030)
- 1082 – Emperor Huizong of China (d. 1135)
- 1470 – King Edward V of England, one of the two princes in the Tower (d. 1483)
- 1475 – Princess Anne of York, Countess of Surrey (d. 1511)
- 1636 – Edward Colston, English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
- 1667 – James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland (d. 1737)
- 1692 – Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer (d. 1766)
- 1696 – Conrad Weiser, Pennsylvania's ambassador to the Native Americans (d. 1760)
- 1699 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (d. 1779)
- 1709 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (d. 1759)
- 1734 – Daniel Boone American explorer (d. 1820)
- 1739 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (d. 1799)
- 1741 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (d. 1784)
- 1754 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French royalist general and counterrevolutionary (d. 1794)
- 1755 – Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (d. 1793)
- 1766 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858)
- 1777 – Fortunat Alojzy Gonzaga Żółkowski, Polish actor (d. 1822)
- 1777 – Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom (d. 1848)
- 1795 – James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
- 1799 – John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (d. 1885)
- 1808 – Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (d. 1889)
- 1815 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864)
- 1821 – Sir George Bowen, British provincial governor (d. 1899)
- 1833 – Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian doctor (d. 1904)
- 1837 – Émile Bayard, French artist, illustrator (d. 1891)
- 1844 – Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1918)
- 1855 – Henrik Schück, Swedish literary historian (d. 1947)
- 1865 – Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (d. 1923)
- 1877 – Joseph De Piro, Maltese founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul (d. 1933)
- 1877 – Victor Trumper, Australian cricketer (d. 1915)
- 1877 – Aga Khan III, Shia Imam (d. 1957)
- 1878 – Ōkido Moriemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 23rd Yokozuna (d. 1930)
- 1879 – Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player (d. 1965)
- 1883 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, cardinal and archbishop of Quebec (d. 1947)
- 1885 – Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (d. 1972)
- 1886 – Dhirendranath Datta, Bangladeshi politician (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Moa Martinson, Swedish writer (d. 1964)
- 1890 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 30th Yokozuna (d. 1933)
- 1891 – David Townsend, Art Director (d. 1935)
- 1892 – Alice Brady, Academy Award-winning American actress (d. 1939)
- 1893 – Battista Farina, founder of Pininfarina company (d. 1966)
- 1894 – Alexander Lippisch, German scientist (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer, known from Seven Years in Tibet (d. 1973)
- 1903 – Travis Jackson, American baseball player (d. 1987)
- 1904 – Hugh Patrick Lygon, English aristocrat (d. 1936)
- 1905 – James Dunn, American actor (d. 1967)
- 1905 – Georges Schehadé, Lebanese poet and playwright (d. 1989)
- 1906 – Daniil Andreev, Russian poet (d. 1959)
- 1906 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director (d. 1976)
- 1908 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (d. 1983)
- 1910 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician (d. 1999)
- 1911 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
- 1911 – Raphael Robinson, US mathematician (d. 1995)
- 1913 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1914 – Johnny Vander Meer, baseball player (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Beryl McBurnie, Trinidadian dancer (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Sidney Luft, American movie director (d. 2005)
- 1917 – Ann Rutherford, American actress (d. 2012)
- 1919 – Warren Stevens, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Shepard Menken, American voice actor (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Bill Mosienko, National Hockey League player (d. 1994)
- 1924 – (Father) David Bauer, Canadian ice hockey player and priest (d. 1988)
- 1924 – Rudy Van Gelder, American recording engineer
- 1924 – Stavros Xenidis, Greek actor (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Steve Ditko, American artist
- 1928 – Paul Johnson, British historian
- 1929 – Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, former President of Pakistan
- 1929 – Richard E. Taylor, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 – Ron Sproat, American TV writer and playwright (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Bill Gothard, American minister and speaker
- 1934 – Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis player
- 1936 – Rose Bird, American judge (d. 1999)
- 1936 – Jack Starrett, American actor and director (d. 1989)
- 1937 – Earl Carroll, lead vocalist of The Cadillacs
- 1938 – Jay Black, American singer, (Jay and the Americans)
- 1938 – Pat Buchanan, American journalist and politician
- 1938 – David Lane, American white nationalist (d. 2007)
- 1938 – Queen Sofia of Spain
- 1939 – Richard Serra, American sculptor and video artist
- 1940 – Jim Bakken, American football player
- 1940 – Phil Minton, jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter
- 1941 – Bruce Welch, English musician and songwriter (The Shadows)
- 1941 – Arun Shourie, Indian journalist, author, and politician
- 1942 – Shere Hite, American-German author
- 1942 – Stefanie Powers, American actress
- 1944 – Patrice Chéreau, French director, actor and producer
- 1944 – Keith Emerson, British keyboardist and composer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
- 1945 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player
- 1945 – J. D. Souther, American country-rock singer
- 1946 – Alan Jones, Australian race car driver
- 1946 – Marieta Severo, Brazilian actress
- 1946 – Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (d. 2001)
- 1947 – Dave Pegg, English multi-instrumentalist, bass guitarist, longest serving member of Fairport Convention
- 1950 – Alex Fagan, American law enforcement official (d. 2010)
- 1950 – Erika Mann, German politician
- 1951 – Vassilis Leventis, Greek politician
- 1951 – Thomas Mallon, American novelist and critic
- 1951 – Lindy Morrison, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens)
- 1952 – Maxine Nightingale, English singer
- 1954 – Pat Croce, American entrepreneur
- 1955 – Chris Burnett, American musician
- 1955 – Thomas Grunenberg, German footballer
- 1956 – Dale Brown, American author
- 1956 – Peter Mullan, Scottish actor
- 1957 – Carter Beauford, American drummer (Dave Matthews Band)
- 1957 – Notis Sfakianakis, Greek singer
- 1957 – Michael Bailey Smith, American actor
- 1958 – Willie McGee, American baseball player
- 1961 – k.d. lang, Canadian musician
- 1961 – Jeff Tedford, American college football coach
- 1962 – David Brock, American political commentator, pundit
- 1962 – Mireille Delunsch, French soprano
- 1962 – Simon Hill, English-Australian football commentator
- 1962 – Derek Mountfield, English football player
- 1963 – Bobby Dall, American bass guitarist (Poison)
- 1963 – Jonas Gardell, Swedish writer
- 1963 – Ron McGovney, American musician
- 1963 – Craig Saavedra, American filmmaker
- 1963 – Park Young Seok, South Korean mountaineer
- 1964 – Britta Lejon, Swedish politician
- 1965 – Shahrukh Khan, Indian actor
- 1965 – Samuel Le Bihan, French actor
- 1965 – Arnold Clavio, Filipino broadcast journalist
- 1966 – Sean Kanan, American actor
- 1966 – Tim Kirkman, American filmmaker
- 1966 – Khaled Abol Naga, Egyptian actor
- 1966 – David Schwimmer, American actor
- 1966 – Yoshinari Ogawa, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1967 – Kurt Elling, American jazz vocalist
- 1967 – Marc van Roon, Dutch improvising musician
- 1967 – Scott Walker, American politician
- 1968 – Ultra Naté, American musician
- 1969 – Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, American bassist (KoЯn)
- 1970 – Sharmell Sullivan, American professional wrestling valet
- 1970 – Ely Buendia, Filipino vocalist (Eraserheads)
- 1972 – Samantha Janus, British entertainer
- 1972 – Darío Silva, Uruguayan footballer
- 1972 – Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Marisol Nichols, American actress
- 1974 – Orlando Cabrera, Colombian baseball player
- 1974 – Nelly, American rapper
- 1974 – Prodigy, American rapper (Mobb Deep)
- 1975 – Stéphane Sarrazin, French rally driver
- 1975 – Chris Walla, American musician (Death Cab for Cutie)
- 1976 – Sidney Ponson, Aruban baseball player
- 1977 – Rodney Buford, American basketball player
- 1977 – Jason Cerbone, American actor
- 1977 – Konstantinos Economidis, Greek tennis player
- 1977 – Randy Harrison, American actor
- 1978 – Carmen Cali, American baseball player
- 1978 – Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, Brazilian mixed-martial artist
- 1979 – Erika Flores, American actress
- 1979 – Julie Lund, Danish actress
- 1979 – Simone Puleo, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Darren Young, American wrestler
- 1980 – Kim So-yeon, South Korean actress
- 1980 – Diego Lugano, Uruguayan footballer
- 1980 – Amos Roberts Australian Rugby League player
- 1981 – Wilson Betemit, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Katharine Isabelle, Canadian actress
- 1981 – Rafael Márquez Lugo, Mexican footballer
- 1981 – Avy Scott, American pornographic actress
- 1981 – Roddy White, American football player
- 1982 – Yunel Escobar, Cuban baseball player
- 1982 – Kyoko Fukada, Japanese actress, model, and singer
- 1982 – Charles Itandje, French footballer
- 1984 – Tamara Hope, Canadian actress
- 1984 – Julia Stegner, German model
- 1986 – Andy Rautins, Canadian basketball player
- 1986 – Diana Penty, Indian model and actress
- 1986 – Lara Sacher, Australian actress
- 1987 – Danny Cipriani, English rugby union player
- 1987 – Justin Bird, Hard working American
- 1989 – Stevan Jovetić, Montenegrin footballer
- 1989 – Luke Schenn, Canadian hockey player
- 1989 – Katelyn Tarver, American singer
- 1990 – Kendall Schmidt, American singer and actor (Big Time Rush)
[edit] Deaths
- 943 – Queen Emma of France, (b. 894)
- 1083 – Matilda of Flanders, Queen consort of William I the Conqueror (b. 1031)
- 1285 – King Peter III of Aragon (b. 1239)
- 1327 – King James II of Aragon (b. 1267)
- 1483 – Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1454)
- 1610 – Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1544)
- 1618 – Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (b. 1568)
- 1716 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (b. 1651)
- 1807 – Baron de Breteuil, French statesman (b. 1730)
- 1846 – Esaias Tegnér, Swedish writer, educator, and bishop (b. 1782)
- 1852 – Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, Russian general (b. 1782)
- 1863 – Theodore Judah, American railroad engineer (b. 1826)
- 1877 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (b. 1784)
- 1887 – Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano (b. 1820)
- 1898 – George Goyder, English surveyor (b. 1826)
- 1905 – Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist (b. 1817)
- 1930 – Viggo Jensen, Danish weightlifter, shooter, gymnast and athlete (b. 1874)
- 1935 – Jock Cameron, South African cricketer (b. 1905)
- 1944 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and inventor (b. 1889)
- 1945 – Princess Thyra, daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1880)
- 1945 – Hélène de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (b. 1868)
- 1949 – Jerome F. Donovan, American politician (b. 1872)
- 1950 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1856)
- 1952 – Mehmet Esat Bülkat, Ottoman general (b. 1862)
- 1958 – Jean Couzy, French mountaineer (b. 1923)
- 1959 – Michael Considine, Australian politician (b. 1885)
- 1960 – Dimitris Mitropoulos, Greek conductor and composer (b. 1896)
- 1961 – James Thurber, American humorist (b. 1894)
- 1963 – Ngô Đình Diệm, South Vietnamese politician (b. 1901)
- 1966 – Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1884)
- 1966 – Mississippi John Hurt, American blues singer (b. 1892)
- 1970 – Richard Cushing, cardinal and archbishop of Boston (b. 1895)
- 1971 – Robert Mensah, Ghanaian Olympian and association football player(b. 1939)
- 1975 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian film director (b. 1922)
- 1979 – Jacques Mesrine, French criminal (b. 1936)
- 1982 – Lester Roloff, American religious personality (b. 1914)
- 1984 – Velma Barfield, American convicted murderer (b. 1932)
- 1986 – Paul Frees, American voice actor (b. 1920)
- 1991 – Irwin Allen, American film producer (b. 1916)
- 1992 – Hal Roach, American director and producer (b. 1892)
- 1996 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (b. 1963)
- 1996 – John G. Crommelin, United States Navy officer and white supremacist political candidate (b. 1902)
- 1998 – Vincent Winter, British actor (b. 1957)
- 2000 – Robert Cormier, American author, columnist and reporter (b. 1925)
- 2002 – Tonio Selwart, German actor (b. 1896)
- 2002 – Charles Sheffield, American author and physicist (b. 1935)
- 2003 – Frank McCloskey, American politician (b. 1939)
- 2004 – Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, United Arab Emiratesian politician (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (b. 1951)
- 2005 – Ferruccio Valcareggi, Italian football player and coach (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Charmaine Dragun, Australian journalist (b. 1978)
- 2007 – Witold Kiełtyka, Polish metal drummer (b. 1984)
- 2007 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (b. 1906)
- 2007 – Lillian Ellison, American professional wrestler (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Henry Cele, South African actor (b. 1949)
- 2010 – Andy Irons, American professional surfer (b. 1978)
- 2010 – Clyde King, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Sickan Carlsson, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1915)
[edit] Holidays and observances
