Born On This Day:

• Voltaire, 1694
• Samuel Cunard, 1787
• Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa), 1854
• René Magritte, 1898
• Jim Bishop, 1907
• Eleanor Powell, 1912
• Roy & John Boulting, 1913
• Stan Musial, 1920
• Ralph Meeker, 1920
• Vivian Blaine, 1921
• Marlo Thomas, 1938
• Natalia Makarova, 1940
• David Hemmings, 1941
• Goldie Hawn, 1945
• Lorna Luft, 1952
• Tina Brown, 1953
• Mariel Hemingway, 1961
• Bjork, 1965
• Troy Aikman, 1966
• Ken Griffey, 1969

Died On This Day:

• Emperor Franz Joseph I, of Austria, 1916
• Robert Benchley, 1945
• Mel Ott, 1958
• Max Baer, 1959
• Bill Bixby, 1993
• Quentin Crisp, 1999

Today's Events:

• 1620 - Pilgrims in Mayflower first land at Cape Cod; Sign Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor.
• 1783 - Montgolfier and Pilatre de Rozier make first hot air balloon ascent over Paris; first men to fly!
• 1789 - North Carolina 12th state admitted to Union.
• 1806 - Napoleon inaugurates 'Continental System' during Napoleonic Wars, forbidding trade with Britain; lasted until 1812.
• 1843 - Vulcanization of rubber patented by Thomas Hancock. (Charles Goodyear next year?)
• 1846 - Oliver Wendell Holmes suggests the word 'anaesthesia' to describe the state produced by inhalation of ether.
• 1871 - Moses F. Gale of New York patents the cigar lighter.
• 1918 - Surrender of German Battle fleet to Allies.
• 1934 - Cole Porter's 'Anything Goes' opens at Alvin Theatre, N.Y.
• 1953 - Times of London reveals British Museum discovery that Piltdown Man is a hoax.
• 1962 - End of Cuban missile crisis.
• 1964 - New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge, then the longest suspension bridge (now 3rd) opens to traffic from Brooklyn to Staten Island.
• 1974 - IRA bombs in Birmingham kill 19.
• 1980 - More than half of U.S. TV viewers turn to CBS to find out Who Shot J.R.? on 'Dallas.'
• 2002 - Princess Anne becomes first modern royal to acquire criminal record - her dog bit two kids.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Gelasius I

Non-Specific Holiday:

• THANKSGIVING DAY (U.S.) last Thursday of November.
• TUNG CHICH, Feast of the Winter Solstice in China (sometime during the eleventh moon on the shortest day of the year)
• DIVALI (India) five day autumn festival.
• BHRATRI DWITYA, Hindu Festival of Brothers
• TUNG CHICH, Feast of the Winter Solstice in China (sometime during the eleventh moon on the shortest day of the year)
• ADVENT SUNDAY, Sunday nearest to feast of Saint Andrew (Nov. 30) whether before or after.
• HANUKKA also spelled CHANUKAH (Jewish Feast of Lights), eight day holiday beginning on 25th of lunar month Kislev.
• TSAO CHÜN, Festival of the Kitchen God in China (23rd day of the twelfth moon (or 24th in Kwantung)
• CH'U HSI, Night of the Thirtieth (29th day of the twelfth moon)
• ELEPHANT ROUNDUP AT SURIN, THAILAND celebrated third Sunday in November
• ON-MATSURI, Yamato region harvest festival in Nara, Japan
• CHICHIBU NO YO-MATSURI, Kabuki and fireworks in Japan