Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in November 2023 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)
Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2023, which lists more than 3,000 anniversaries.
1 Nov 1848 – 175 years ago
The first railway bookstall was opened by W. H. Smith at Euston Station, London, UK.
2 Nov 1948 – 75 years ago
Harry S. Truman was re-elected as U.S. President for a second term, in the greatest election upset in U.S. history. Every prediction had indicated that Thomas E. Dewey would win. The Chicago Daily Tribune famously (and erroneously) announced Dewey’s ‘victory’ on the front page of its 3rd November issue.
3 Nov 1983 – 40 years ago
In a referendum, the white citizens of South Africa voted to approve the Tricameral Parliament. Indian and coloured South Africans would be represented by new, separate parliamentary chambers, while blacks would continue to be excluded. The new parliament was established in September 1984 and remained in effect until 1994.
4 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
Birth of Alfred (‘Freddy’) Heineken, Dutch brewery executive. He turned Heineken into a worldwide brand using innovative marketing methods. (Died 2002.)
5 Nov 1943 – 80 years ago
World War II: the Vatican City was bombed – the only time this happened during the war. The perpetrators remained a mystery for decades, but it is now known that Italian Fascists dropped five bombs from an unmarked plane in an attempt to knock out the radio station, which they believed was broadcasting military messages to the enemy. Four of the bombs exploded, causing some damage, but no deaths were reported.
6 Nov 1943 – 80 years ago
World War II: the Soviet Red Army recaptured Kiev (now in Ukraine) from the Germans. The Germans had destroyed numerous historic buildings.
7 Nov 1973 – 50 years ago
The War Powers Resolution came into effect in the USA. It limits the President’s power to commit the country to an armed conflict without congressional approval.
8 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
Birth of Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer. Joint winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for co-inventing the integrated circuit. He also designed the first pocket calculator. (Died 2005.)
9 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
Birth of Alice Coachman, American athlete. The first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal (1948, high jump).
10 Nov 1983 – 40 years ago
American computer student Fred Cohen demonstrated the first computer virus at a computer security seminar. He had created the virus with computer scientist Len Adleman on 3rd November.
11 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
The eternal flame at the tomb of the unknown solder under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France was lit. It was the first modern-day eternal flame in Europe.
12 Nov 1933 – 90 years ago
The first known photographs of the Loch Ness Monster were taken by Hugh Gray, a local man, during one of his regular Sunday walks. (1 photo was later confirmed to be a hoax, and 4 of the others were blank.)
13 Nov 1973 – 50 years ago
Britain declared a state of emergency as a strike by coal miners caused supplies to dwindle. A 3-Day Week was introduced to conserve supplies.
14 Nov 1948 – 75 years ago
Birth of King Charles III of the United Kingdom.
15 Nov 1963 – 60 years ago
The island of Surtsey, off the coast of Iceland, was ‘born’ when an under-water volcano erupted and rose above the surface of the sea.
16 Nov 1873 – 150 years ago
Birth of W. C. Handy, (‘the Father of the Blues’), American blues/jazz composer and trumpet player who introduced Delta blues to a national audience.
17 Nov 1873 – 150 years ago
Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, was formed when the cities of Buda, Pest and Óbuda merged.
18 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
Birth of Alan B. Shepard, American astronaut. The first American in space. (Died 1998).
19 Nov 1523 – 500 years ago
Pope Clemens VII was elected.
20 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
American inventor Garrett Morgan was granted a U.S. patent for the three-position traffic light. (U.S. Patent No. 1,475,024.)
21 Nov 1953 – 70 years ago
British scientists revealed that the fossilised skull of ‘Piltdown Man’, discovered in England in 1912 and thought to be from one of the earliest humans, was a hoax constructed from the skulls of 3 different species.
22 Nov 1963 – 60 years ago
U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President.
23 Nov 1963 – 60 years ago
The first episode of the science fiction television series Doctor Who was broadcast in the UK. It is the longest-running and most successful science fiction TV series in the world.
24 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
Radio Belgium began broadcasting.
25 Nov 1923 – 100 years ago
The first two-way transatlantic radio broadcast. Amateur radio enthusiast Leon Deloy from Nice, France conversed with two other amateur radio operators, Fred Schnell and with John Reinartz, in the USA. They sent Morse code messages using shortwave radios.
26 Nov 1948 – 75 years ago
The first Polaroid instant cameras (the model 95 Land Camera) went on sale, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
27 Nov 1998 – 25 years ago
The Sega Dreamcast video games console was released in Japan. It was Sega’s last games console. (North America: 9th September 1999, Europe: 14th October 1999.)
28 Nov 1958 – 65 years ago
The USA carried out its first successful full-range flight of an Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
The Soviet Union had already fully tested its first ICBM (the R-7) in August 1957.
29 Nov 1898 – 125 years ago
Birth of C. S. Lewis, Irish-born British novelist, theologian and broadcaster. Best known for The Chronicles of Narnia.
30 Nov 1993 – 30 years ago
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (commonly known as the Brady Bill) was signed into law in the USA by U.S. President Bill Clinton. It required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, and background checks of prospective buyers.
(Effective from 28th February 1994.)
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2023. The 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 editions are also available if you work further ahead. The anniversaries are available as PDF ebooks, Excel spreadsheets, and printed paperback books.
How to use the anniversaries:
If you’d like to know more about how to turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines and newspapers, take a look at our free 68-page guide, Ditch Your Day Job: the easiest way to make a living (or earn some extra cash) as a writer.
It has some terrific bonuses too, including a complete month of anniversaries from The Date-A-Base Book 2023, hundreds of article-writing tips and ideas, plus a 25 percent discount when you buy two or more editions of The Date-A-Base Book.