November 8 encyclopedia topics

Events

1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a celebration as would befit a returning god.
1520 - Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces results in the execution of around 100 people.
1576 - Eighty Years' War: Pacification of Ghent - The States-General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
1602 - The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is opened to the public.
1620 - The Battle of White Mountain takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours.
1793 - In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum.
1837 - Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which later becomes Mount Holyoke College.
1861 - American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.
1889 - Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.
1892 - The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time.
1895 - While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
1901 - Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.
1917 - The People's Commissars give authority to Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.
1923 - Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.
1933 - Great Depression: New Deal - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.
1935 - A dozen labor leaders come together to announce the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), an organization charged with advancing industrial unionism.
1937 - The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude ("The Eternal Jew") opens in Munich.
1938 - A pogrom against the Jews of Germany and Austria takes place in response to the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris.
1939 - Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
1939 - In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes an assassination attempt while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
1941 - The Albanian Communist Party is founded.
1942 - Holocaust: In Ternopil, western Ukraine, the German SS deport about 2,400 Jews from Ternopil ghetto to the Belzec death camp, in the so called "Second Aktion". When the Germans captured Ternopil, about 18,000 Jews lived in the city.
1942 - World War II: Operation Torch - United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.
1942 - World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, in which 400 civilian French patriots neutralize Vichyist XIXth Army Corps after 15 hours of fighting, and arrest several Vichyst generals, allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers.
1950 - Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.
1957 - Operation Grapple X, Round C1: Britain conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the Pacific. Two tests earlier that year were publicly hailed as successful, but in fact largely failed.
1965 - The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
1965 - The Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom.
1965 - The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Operation Hump during the Vietnam War.
1966 - Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate.
1966 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.
1973 - The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay 2.9 million USD.
1976 - A series of earthquakes spreads panic in the city of Thessaloniki, which is evacuated.
1977 - Manolis Andronikos, a Greek Archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.
1979 - The Chilean Communist Party (Proletarian Action) is formed.
1987 - Remembrance Day Bombing: In Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, an Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes, at a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead, killing twelve people.
1989 - Hong Kong's MTR Lam Tin Station comes into service.
2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".
2004 - War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Births

35 - Nerva, Roman Emperor (d. 98)
1342 - Julian of Norwich, English saint (d. 1416)
1431 - Vlad III the Impaler, Wallachian prince (d. 1476)
1491 - Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (d. 1544)
1622 - King Charles X of Sweden (d. 1660)
1656 - Edmond Halley, British astronomer and mathematician (d. 1742)
1706 - Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (d. 1772)
1710 - Sarah Fielding, English writer (d. 1768)
1715 - Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, wife of Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1797)
1723 - John Byron, British naval officer (d. 1786)
1768 - Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom, (d. 1840)
1777 - Désirée Clary, queen of Sweden (d. 1860)
1836 - Milton Bradley, American game manufacturer (d. 1911)
1847 - Jean Casimir-Perier, French politician (d. 1907)
1847 - Bram Stoker, Irish novelist (d. 1912)
1848 - Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and logician (d. 1925)
1854 - Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (d. 1919)
1866 - Herbert Austin, English automobile pioneer (d. 1941)
1868 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (d. 1942)
1869 - Zinaida Gippius, Russian woman-poet in exile in France (d. 1945)
1883 - Arnold Bax, English composer (d. 1953)
1884 - Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1922)
1885 - Hans Cloos, German geologist (d. 1951)
1885 - Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (d. 1946)
1885 - Emil Fahrenkamp, German architect (d. 1966)
1893 - Clarence Williams, American composer (d. 1965)
1893 - Prajadhipok, Rama VII, king of Thailand (d. 1941)
1895 - Photios Kontoglou, Greek writer, painter and iconographer (d. 1965)
1896 - Bucky Harris, baseball player (d. 1977)
1897 - Dorothy Day, social activist (d. 1980)
1898 - Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (d. 1937)
1900 - Margaret Mitchell, American author (d. 1949)
1900 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (d. 1943)
1904 - Cedric Belfrage English-born writer (d. 1990)
1908 - Martha Gellhorn, American writer (d. 1998)
1913 - June Havoc, American actress
1918 - Hermann Zapf, German designer
1919 - P. L. Deshpande, Indian author (d. 2000)
1920 - Esther Rolle, American actress (d. 1998)
1920 - Eugênio de Araújo Sales, Brazilian cardinal
1922 - Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (d. 2001)
1922 - Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (d. 1996)
1923 - Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)
1924 - Joe Flynn, American actor (d. 1974)
1927 - Ken Dodd, English comedian
1927 - Nguyen Khanh, Prime Minister of South Vietnam
1927 - Patti Page, American singer
1929 - António Castanheira Neves, Portuguese philosopher
1929 - Bobby Bowden, American football coach
1931 - Darla Hood, American actress (d. 1979)
1931 - Morley Safer, Canadian journalist
1933 - Peter Arundell, British racing driver
1935 - Alain Delon, French actor
1935 - Alfonso López Trujillo, Colombian Cardinal Bishop
1938 - Driss Basri, Moroccan Interior Minister (d. 2007)
1942 - Angel Cordero Jr., Puerto Rican jockey
1943 - Martin Peters, English footballer
1944 - Bonnie Bramlett, American singer (Delaney, Bonnie & Friends)
1946 - Guus Hiddink, Dutch football coach
1946 - Roy Wood, English songwriter and musician (Electric Light Orchestra, The Move, Wizzard)
1947 - Minnie Riperton, American singer (d. 1979)
1949 - Bonnie Raitt, American singer
1949 - Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice Presidenf of the National Rifle Association.
1950 - Mary Hart, American television personality
1951 - Alfredo Astiz, Argentine general
1952 - Jan Raas, Dutch cyclist
1952 - Jerry Remy, American baseball player, color commentator
1952 - Christie Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises
1952 - John Denny, American baseball player
1953 - John Musker, American animation director
1953 - Alfre Woodard, American actress
1954 - David Bret, Anglo-French biographer and broadcaster
1954 - Michael D. Brown, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency director
1954 - Kazuo Ishiguro, British author
1954 - Rickie Lee Jones, American singer
1954 - Jeanette McGruder, American musician (P Funk)
1956 - Steven Miller, American record producer
1956 - Richard Curtis, British screenwriter
1957 - Porl Thompson, British musician (The Cure)
1957 - Alan Curbishley, English football manager
1958 - Don Byron, American clarinetist
1960 - Oleg Menshikov, Russian actor
1960 - Michael Nyqvist, Swedish actor
1961 - Leif Garrett, American singer
1965 - Jeff Blauser, American baseball player
1965 - Craig Chester, American actor and screenwriter
1966 - Gordon Ramsay, British chef and reality television personality
1967 - Courtney Thorne-Smith, American actress
1967 - Henry Rodriguez, Dominican Republic baseball player
1968 - Parker Posey, American actress
1968 - Zara Whites, Dutch actress
1968 - Sergio Porrini, Italian footballer
1969 - Roxana Zal, American actress
1970 - Tom Anderson, co-founder of MySpace
1970 - José Francisco Porras, Costa Rican footballer
1970 - Diana King, Jamaican singer
1971 - Carlos Atanes, Spanish film director
1971 - Aaron Yates (Tech N9NE), American rapper
1972 - Gretchen Mol, American actress
1973 - Vanesa Littlecrow, Puerto Rican cartoonist, dancer, writer and model
1974 - Masashi Kishimoto, Japanese manga author
1974 - Seishi Kishimoto, Japanese manga author
1975 - Tara Reid, American actress
1975 - José Pinto, Spanish footballer
1976 - Brett Lee, Australian cricketer
1976 - Colin Strause, American director
1977 - Bucky Covington, American entertainer
1977 - Jully Black, Canadian R&B singer
1977 - Nick Punto, American baseball player
1978 - Ali Karimi, Iranian footballer
1978 - Júlio Sérgio Bertagnoli, Brazilian footballer
1978 - Tim de Cler, Dutch footballer
1978 - Maurice Evans, American basketball player
1978 - Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer
1979 - Aaron Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
1979 - Dania Ramírez, Dominican actress
1980 - Ana Vidovic, classical guitarist
1980 - Luis Fabiano, Brazilian footballer
1981 - Joe Cole, English footballer
1982 - Mika Kallio, Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racer
1982 - Lynndie England, former U.S. Army reservist, associated with Abu Ghraib
1982 - Sam Sparro, Australian producer, songwriter, performer, former child actor
1983 - Kat Shoob, British television presenter
1983 - Blanka Vlašić, Croatian high jumper
1983 - Remko Pasveer, Dutch footballer
1985 - Jack Osbourne, English television star
1987 - Samantha Droke, American actress
2003 - Lady Louise Windsor, British royal