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1970–The George Harrison triple LP, All Things Must Pass, is released in the U.S. This is Harrison’s masterpiece, giving the world a long-overdue look at his talent for songwriting.


BC 8–Poet and Roman soldier, Horace, dies in Rome, Italy, at age 56. The rhetorician Quintillian regarded his Odes as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading. Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses and caustic iambic poetry.

25–Luoyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han.

176–Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son, Commodus, the rank of "Imperator" and makes him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions.

395–Rufinus, praetorian prefect of the East, is murdered by Gothic mercenaries under Gainas.

511–King Clovis I dies at Lutetia and is buried in the Abbey of St. Genevieve.

602–Emperor Maurice is forced to watch his five sons be executed before being beheaded himself; their bodies are thrown into the sea and their heads are exhibited in Constantinople.

1095–Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.

1252–Blanche of Castile dies in Paris, France, at age 64. She was Queen of France, as the wife of Louis VIII.

1701–Astronomer, Anders Celsius, who proposed the Celsius temperature scale, is born in Uppsala, Sweden.

1703–The first Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed south of Rame Head, England, during the Great Storm of 1703.

1727–The foundation stone to the Jerusalem Church is laid in Berlin, Germany.

1763–Princess Isabella of Parma dies of smallpox at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria, at age 21.

1807–The Portuguese Royal Family leaves Lisbon to escape from Napoleonic troops.

1810–The Berners Street hoax is perpetrated by Theodore Hook in Westminster, London, England.

1815–The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland is adopted.

1830–Saint Catherine Labouré experiences a vision of the Blessed Virgin standing on a globe, crushing a serpent with her feet, and emanating rays of light from her hands.

1835–James Pratt and John Smith are hanged in London, England: they are the last two men to be executed for sodomy in England.

1839–The American Statistical Association is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

1856–The Coup of 1856 leads to Luxembourg's unilateral adoption of a new, reactionary constitution.

1863–In the American Civil War, Union forces, under General George Meade, take up positions against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

1868–During the American Indian Wars, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on reservation land.

1886–German judge, Emil Hartwich, sustains fatal injuries in a duel, which would become the background for Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest.

1894–Industrialist, Konosuke Matsushita, is born in Wakayama, Japan. He was the founder of Panasonic.

1895–At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, France, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.

1896–Also Sprach Zarathustra, by Richard Strauss, is performed for the first time.

1901–The U.S. Army War College is established in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

1911–Theatrical producer, David Merrick, is born David Lee Margulois in St. Louis, Missouri. His productions include Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, Gypsy, Irma La Douce, A Taste of Honey, Becket, Oliver!, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Promises, Promises.

1912–Spain declares a protectorate over the north shore of Morocco.

1917–”Buffalo” Bob Smith, TV host of the children’s show, Howdy Doody, is born in Buffalo, New York.

1920–Car dealer, Cal Worthington, is born Calvin Coolidge Worthington in Shidler, Oklahoma. He was best known for his unique radio and television advertisements for the Worthington Dealership Group primarily on the West Coast in America during the 1970s.

1924–The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in New York City.

1925–Comedian, Ernie Wise, of Morecambe & Wise, is born in England.

1934–American criminal, Baby Face Nelson, dies in a gun battle with FBI agents in Wilmette, Illinois, at age 25. He was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. He became “Public Enemy No. 1.” His nickname was given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature.

1935–Al Jackson, Jr., drummer for Booker T. & the M.G.'s, is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1936–Robert Johnson records Cross Road Blues.

1940–In Romania, the ruling Iron Guard fascist party assassinates over 60 arrested aides of King Carol II of Romania, along with other political dissidents.

1941–Country singer, Eddie Rabbitt, is born Edward Thomas Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York. He had the big hit I Love a Rainy Night.

1942–In World War II: The French navy scuttles its ships and submarines at Toulon, to keep them out of Nazi hands.

1944–During World War II, an explosion at a Royal Air Force ammunition dump in Staffordshire, England, kills 70 people.

1944–Rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, is born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle, Washington. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. His hits include Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Foxy Lady, and All Along the Watchtower.

1945–CARE (then the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) was founded to a send CARE packages of food relief to Europe after World War II.

1953–Playwright, Eugene O'Neill, dies in Room 401 of the Sheraton Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, at age 65. He had been in ill health for many years and suffered with alcoholism and depression. His last words were: "I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room and died in a hotel room." His last plays, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten, were to a large extent autobiographical. Not long after finishing A Moon for the Misbegotten, he developed a severe tremor in his hands which prevented him from writing. O'Neill lived without the ability to write for another ten years.

1954–Alger Hiss is released from prison after serving 44 months for perjury. He was an American government official who was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948.

1957–Caroline (Bouvier) Kennedy is born in Manhattan, New York. Her parents are John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.

1958–A chart topper: It’s Only Make Believe by Conway Twitty.

1963–The Convention on the Unification of Certain Points of Substantive Law on Patents for Invention is signed at Strasbourg, France.

1965–The Pentagon tells President Lyndon Johnson that if planned operations are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam must be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.

1965–Ken Kesey holds the first of his public “acid tests.”

1967–The Beatles LP, Magical Mystery Tour, is released in the U.S. This was never released as an album in the U.K.

1968–Penny Ann Early becomes the first woman to play major professional basketball: she plays for the Kentucky Colonels in an ABA game against the Los Angeles Stars.

1969–Buckingham Palace announces that Mr. Barry Hearn, who returned his MBE in 1965, when The Beatles were awarded the honor, has asked for the return of his MBE, now that John Lennon has returned his. Sadly, Buckingham Palace cannot locate Mr. Hearn’s returned medal.

1970–The George Harrison triple LP, All Things Must Pass, is released in the U.S. This is Harrison’s masterpiece, giving the world a long-overdue look at his talent for songwriting.

1971–The Soviet space program's Mars 2 orbiter releases a descent module. It malfunctions and crashes, but it is the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars.

1973–The U.S. Senate votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On December 6th, the House will confirm him 387-35).

1975–The Provisional IRA assassinates Ross McWhirter, after a press conference in which McWhirter had announced a reward for the capture of those responsible for multiple bombings and shootings across England.

1978–Mayor George Moscone and openly gay City Supervisor, Harvey Milk, are assassinated in San Francisco, California, by former Supervisor, Dan White.

1978–The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is founded in the city of Riha (Urfa), Turkey.

1981–German singer and actress, Lotte Lenya, dies in New York, at age 83.

1982–A chart topper: Micky by Toni Basil.

1983–A Boeing 747 crashes near Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, killing 181 people.

1984–Under the Brussels Agreement, signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain, the former agrees to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including sovereignty.

1987–South African Airways Flight 295 crashes and kills all 159 people on board.

1989–A Boeing 727 explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground. The Medellín Cartel will claim responsibility for the attack.

1990–Actor, David White, dies of a heart attack in North Hollywood, California, at age 74. He is best known for the role of Larry Tate on Bewitched. He also appeared in Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, The Untouchables, The Fugitive, Mission: Impossible, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel, My Favorite Martian, and The Twilight Zone.

1991–The United Nations Security Council adopts Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.

1992–For the second time in a year, military forces try to overthrow President Carlos Andrés Pérez in Venezuela.

1997–Twenty-five people are killed in the second Souhane massacre in Algeria.

1999–The centre-left Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government, with leader, Helen Clark, becoming the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand history.

2001–A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planet, Osiris, by the Hubble Space Telescope, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.

2004–Pope John Paul II returns the relics of Saint John Chrysostom to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

2005–The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.

2006–The Canadian House of Commons approves a motion introduced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, recognizing the Québécois as a nation within Canada.

2007–Physician and academic, Robert Cade, dies of kidney failure in Gainesville, Florida, at age 80. He was co-inventor of the sports drink, Gatorade. Gatorade would have significant medical applications for treating dehydration in patients, and has generated over $150 million in royalties for the University of Florida (where it was developed).

2008–Politician, V.P. Singh, dies of multiple myeloma in New Delhi, Delhi, India, at age 77. He was the 7th Prime Minister of India.

2009–A bomb explosion derails the Nevsky Express train between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, killing 28 people and injuring 96 others.

2011–Film director, Ken Russell, dies of natural causes in London, England, at age 84. His films include Billion Dollar Brain, Women in Love, The Boy Friend, Mahler, Tommy, Lisztomania, Altered States, Crimes of Passion, and Gothic.

2014–Film producer and screenwriter, Frank Yablans, dies of natural causes in Los Angeles, California, at age 79. He was President of Paramount Pictures (1971-1975).

2015–A suicide-bomb attack on a Shia Muslim procession in Nigeria's northern Kano state kills at least 21 people.

2015–An armed man in a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, shoots at least four members of the Colorado Springs Police Department, with one officer later dying. Two civilians were also killed, and six were injured. The shooter later surrendered.

2015–In Detroit, Michigan, the Detroit Land Bank Authority is demolishing structures that are beyond repair and auctioning those that are salvageable. Bids start at $1,000.

2016–In a referendum, Switzerland refuses to abolish commercial nuclear power by 2029.

2016–One person is killed, and nine others are wounded in a mass shooting in the French Quarter section of New Orleans, Louisiana, following the Bayou Classic football game. Police arrest two men, one of whom was injured during the shooting.

2016–At least 19 people are dead after two days of fighting between the Uganda People's Defence Force and a tribal militia believed to be loyal to Charles Mumbere, King of Rwenzururu.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Horace; Princess Isabella of Parma; Cal Worthington (and his "dog Spot"); Jimi Hendrix; Conway Twitty; All Things Must Pass by George Harrison; David White; and Ken Russell.
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