November 1
November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining.
Events
- 1512 - The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
- 1604 - At Whitehall Palace in London, the William Shakespeare tragedy Othello is presented for the first time.
- 1611 - At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time.
- 1683 - The British crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties.
- 1755 - 1755 Lisbon earthquake: In Portugal, Lisbon is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty and ninety thousand people.
- 1765 - The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the 13 colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.
- 1800 - US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).
- 1848 - In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, The Boston Female Medical School (which later merged with Boston University School of Medicine), opens.
- 1859 - The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse was lighted for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for nineteen miles.
- 1861 - American Civil War: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George McClellan as commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott.
- 1870 - In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast.
- 1876 - New Zealand's provincial government system is dissolved.
- 1894 - Russian Tsar Alexander III dies and is succeeded by his son Nicholas II.
- 1914 - World War I: Battle of Coronel fought. This is the first British naval defeat of the war.
- 1918 - Malbone Street Wreck: the worst rapid transit accident in world history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City, with at least 93 dead.
- 1922 - The Ottoman Empire is abolished and its last sultan, Mehmed VI, abdicates.
- 1943 - World War II: Operation Goodtime launched - United States Marines invade Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
- 1950 - Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman.
- 1952 - Operation Ivy - The United States successfully detonates the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Mike" ["m" for megaton], at Eniwetok island in the Bikini atoll located in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1954 - The Front de Libération Nationale fires the first shots of the Algerian War of Independence.
- 1955 - A United Airlines DC-6B exploded in mid-air and crashed near Longmont, Colorado killing 44 people
- 1960 - While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.
- 1969 - After seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis Presley's song "Suspicious Minds," hits No. 1 on the Billboard Music charts.
- 1973 - Watergate Scandal: Leon Jaworski is appointed as the new Watergate Special Prosecutor.
- 1981 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1993 - The Maastricht Treaty activates, formally establishing the European Union.
- 1994 - George Lucas leaves the day-to-day operations of his filmmaking business and starts a sabbatical (while on sabbatical, he wrote the prequel Star Wars trilogy).
- 1998 - The European Court of Human Rights is instituted.
Births
- 1778 - Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1837)
- 1798 - Sir Henry Lee Guinness, brewer
- 1801 - Vincenzo Bellini, composer (d. 1835)
- 1871 - Stephen Crane, writer (d. 1900)
- 1877 - Roger Quilter, composer (d. 1953)
- 1880 - Alfred Wegener, meteorologist, geophysicist (d. 1930)
- 1880 - Sholom Asch, writer (d. 1957)
- 1880 - Grantland Rice, sports writer (d. 1954)
- 1886 - Hermann Broch, Austrian author (d. 1951)
- 1892 - Alexander Alekhine, chess player (d. 1946)
- 1902 - Eugen Jochum, conductor (d. 1987)
- 1923 - Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction author (d. 2001)
- 1923 - Victoria de los Angeles, soprano
- 1929 - Betsy Palmer, actress
- 1934 - William Mathias, composer (d. 1992)
- 1935 - Gary Player, golfer
- 1940 - Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, Chief Justice of India
- 1942 - Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta
- 1943 - Salvatore Adamo Belgian/Italian singer
- 1952 - Larry Flynt, magazine publisher
- 1957 - Lyle Lovett, singer
- 1962 - Antony Kiedis, singer
- 1963 - Rick Allen, Def Leppard drummer
- 1967 - Sophie B. Hawkins, musician
- 1972 - Toni Collette, actress
Deaths
- 1903 - Theodor Mommsen, author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1902
- 1924 - William Tilghman, frontier marshal
- 1963 - Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam
- 1972 - Ezra Pound, poet
- 1979 - Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States
- 1982 - King Vidor, film director
- 1982 - James Broderick, actor
- 1983 - Anthony van Hoboken, musicologist
- 1985 - Phil Silvers, actor, comedian
- 1999 - Walter Payton, American football player
- 2002 - Käte Jaenicke, actress
Holidays
October 31 - November 2 - October 1 - December 1 - more historical anniversaries
