Historical anniversaries are great for “On This Day in History” features and anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with readers and viewers, editors and producers love them, they’re easy to research, and you can easily turn them into newspaper and magazine articles, films, TV/radio/theatre shows, and more.
Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in November 2021 (so you have time to write about them!)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2021. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2022 and 2023 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
1 Nov 1996 – 25 years ago
The first DVD players and disks were released in Japan.
(USA: 26th March 1997. Europe: March 1998).
2 Nov 1961 – 60 years ago
Death of James Thurber, American writer, cartoonist and humourist.
3 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
Birth of Charles Bronson, American film actor. Best known for his tough-guy roles (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, Death Wish, and more).
(Died 2003.)
4 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
The Sturmabteilung (SA) (also known as ‘Stormtroopers’ or ‘Brownshirts’) was established as a paramilitary organisation within the Nazi Party in Germany following a riot.
5 Nov 1271 – 800 years ago
The Yuan dynasty was proclaimed in China by Kublai Khan. It ruled China until the Ming dynasty was proclaimed in 1368.
6 Nov 1991 – 30 years ago
Gulf War: the last oil well fire in Kuwait was extinguished and capped. Iraqi forces had set fire to 732 oil wells between January and February 1991.
7 Nov 1996 – 25 years ago
NASA launched its Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. It examined and mapped the entire surface and atmosphere of Mars. It operated until 2006.
8 Nov 1991 – 30 years ago
The first Turing Test competition (the Loebner Prize) was held at The Computer Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The annual test aims to demonstrate artificial intelligence. A judge holds simultaneous text-based conversations with a human and a computer. If he cannot tell which is the human and which is the computer, the prize is awarded. At the time of writing, no computer had yet won the prize.
9 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
The National Fascist Party was founded in Italy by Benito Mussolini. The party ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.
10 Nov 1871 – 150 years ago
Welsh journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley located the missing missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania. He might or might not have greeted him with the words ‘Doctor Livingstone, I presume?’
11 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, USA. An unknown soldier was interred in the tomb. He was randomly chosen from those killed on the Western Front in France during WWI.
12 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America was founded (as the American Birth Control League) when the National Birth Control League merged with the Voluntary Parenthood League.
13 Nov 1956 – 65 years ago
Montgomery bus boycott, Alabama, USA. The U.S. Supreme Court declared that Alabama’s laws requiring the segregation of races on buses was unconstitutional, upholding the ruling made by a federal district court in Alabama in April (Browder v. Gayle). The boycott ended on 20th December.
14 Nov 1896 – 125 years ago
The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 came into effect in the UK. It raised the speed limit for motor vehicles from 4 mph to 14 mph.
15 Nov 1971 – 50 years ago
Intel released its 4004 microprocessor, It was the first single-chip microprocessor be sold commercially.
16 Nov 1821 – 200 years ago
American trader William Becknell of Missouri arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, establishing what would become known as the Santa Fe Trail. The trail was a major transportation route through central North America until the arrival of the railway in 1880.
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18 Nov 1996 – 25 years ago
Channel Tunnel fire. A truck caught fire while on board a Heavy Goods Vehicle shuttle travelling through the tunnel. Considerable damage was caused and the tunnel was closed for 6 months for repairs. (There was another serious fire in September 2008, and part of one of the tunnels was closed for 5 months.)
19 Nov 1961 – 60 years ago
Michael Rockefeller, the 23-year-old son of the Governor of New York (and later US Vice President) Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared in Papua New Guinea. There are unconfirmed reports that he was killed by natives when he swam ashore at their village. His body has never been found.
20 Nov 2001 – 20 years ago
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first contraceptive patch, Ortho Evra. It went on sale in April 2002.
21 Nov 1941 – 80 years ago
The first episode of the blues music radio show King Biscuit Time was broadcast in the USA. It is the longest-running daily radio show in the USA.
22 Nov 1946 – 75 years ago
The first Biro ballpoint pens went on sale in the UK.
23 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
U.S. President Warren Harding signed the Willis Campell Act (commonly known as the Anti-beer Act). It banned doctors from prescribing alcoholic drinks for medicinal purposes, which was a loophole in the Prohibition law.
24 Nov 1971 – 50 years ago
A man using the alias Dan Cooper (known in the media as D. B. Cooper) hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines plane flying between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, USA. After extorting a $200,000 ransom he parachuted from the plane. He has never been located or formally identified and his fate is unknown.
25 Nov 1846 – 175 years ago
Birth of Carrie Nation, radical member of the American temperance movement. Noted for attacking taverns with a hatchet. She also opposed tight clothing for women.
26 Nov 1931 – 90 years ago
American physical chemist Harold Urey discovered the isotope deuterium (also known as heavy hydrogen). He received the 1934 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery.
27 Nov 1921 – 100 years ago
Birth of Alexander Dubček, leader of Czechoslovakia (1968–69). He lifted censorship and introduced liberalisation, but this ended when Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. He was forced to resign a few months later.
28 Nov 1821 – 200 years ago
Panama declared its independence from Spain. It became part of Gran Colombia in December.
29 Nov 1951 – 70 years ago
The world’s first business computer, the LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office), went into service, running business applications for J. Lyons & Co.
(In 1954 Lyons formed LEO Computers and marketed the computer to other companies. LEO Computers later became part of ICL and then Fujitsu.)
30 Nov 1931 – 90 years ago
The Crystal Palace in London was destroyed by fire.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2021. The 2022 and 2023 editions are also available if you need to work further ahead. The 2024 edition will be released later this year. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.