594 – St Gregory of Tours, Gallo-Roman chronicler and bishop (History of the Franks), dies at 55
1302 – St. Gertrude the Great, German Benedictine nun (b. 1256)
1905 – Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and son of Leopold I, dies at 68
1917 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (Baiser, Thinker), dies at 77
1943 – Paul Charles Rene Landormy, French musicologist, music critic, and composer, dies at 74
1947 – Victor Serge, Russian anarchist, novelist, and historian (b. 1890)
1986 – Georges Besse, French president-director of Renault, murdered
1991 – Kelly Jean Van Dyke-Nance, American actress, adult film performer and Jerry Van Dyke’s daughter, commits suicide at 33
1994 – G Waller, German/Swiss movie journalist (NRC/Variety), dies at 82
2018 – Richard Baker, English broadcaster (newsreader for BBC News, 1954-1982), dies at 93
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 17th November 2025
1785 – Church of England organizes in New England
1798 – Beginning of a 5 day New England Blizzard that covers thousands of houses and kills hundreds
1863 – Abraham Lincoln begins first draft of his Gettysburg Address
1953 – St Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc
1960 – New MLB Washington franchise is awarded to Elwood Quesada
2001 – 66th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 31-7 in Auburn
2013 – 50 people are killed after a Boeing 737 aircraft crashes in Kazan, Russia
2021 – Garbiñe Muguruza becomes first Spanish player to win WTA Finals defeating Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6–3, 7–5 in Zapopan, Mexico
Today in History for 17th November 2025
Historical Events
1917 – Vladimir Lenin defends “temporary” removal of freedom of the press
1966 – Leonids meteor shower peaks at over 150,000 per hour for 20 minutes, a storm so intense that some people think it is the end of the world
1980 – WHHM Television in Washington, D.C., becomes the first African-American public-broadcasting television station
1993 – General Sani Abacha leads a military coup against Ernest Shonekan’s transitional administration and returns the Nigerian government to military control
2001 – 66th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 31-7 in Auburn
Famous Birthdays
1899 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian film engineer, made technological sound advances in film at MGM, born in Quebec Westmount, Quebec, born in Westmount, Quebec (d. 1971)
1925 – Libby Newman, American artist, born in Rockland, Delaware (d. 2023)
1929 – Sumner White, US yachtsman (Olympic gold 1952), born in New York City (d. 1988)
1938 – Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk singer (“Sundown”; “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald”), born in Orillia, Ontario (d. 2023)
1983 – Ryan Braun, American baseball player (Milwaukee Brewers), born in Los Angeles, California
Famous Deaths
1934 – Joachim Ringelnatz [Hans Bötticher], German writer and artist, dies at 51
1941 – Ernst Udet, German WWI pilot and notable flying ace who helped develop the Luftwaffe under the Nazi Party, commits suicide at 45
1992 – Audre Lorde, American writer, feminist and activist (Black Unicorn), dies of cancer at 58
2006 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian soccer forward (Hungary 85 caps, Spain 4; Real Madrid, Budapest Honvéd) and manager (Panathinaikos), dies of pneumonia at 79
2021 – Dave Frishberg, American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist (“I’m Just A Bill”; “Van Lingle Mungo”), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 16th November 2025
1808 – Mustapha IV, sultan of Turkey (1807-08), dies at 29
1869 – Hamiora Pere is hanged for treason at the Terrace Gaol, Wellington – only New Zealander ever to be executed for treason
1884 – František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian military physician and medicinal lecturer, dies at 49
1980 – O. V. [Overton Vertis] Wright, American blues singer, dies at 41
1987 – Zubir Said, Singaporean composer who composed Singapore’s national anthem, dies at 80
1994 – John Boylan, American actor (Twin Peaks, Sleepless in Seattle), dies at 82
1994 – Dino Valenti [Chester Powers, Jr.], American rock guitarist and singer (Quicksilver Messenger Service – “Fresh Air”), dies at 57
1997 – Georges Marchais, French political leader (French Communist Party), dies at 77
2007 – Gene Golub, American mathematician known for his work on numerical analysis, dies at 75
2010 – Wyngard Tracy, Filipino talent manager (b. 1952)
Historical Events for 16th November 2025
1839 – US diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood first reach the ruins of the Maya city of Copan (modern Honduras)
1925 – American Association for Advancement of Atheism forms (NY)
1973 – Skylab 4 launched into Earth orbit
1978 – Major Indoor Soccer League holds its 1st draft
1990 – Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega claims the US denied him a fair trial
1995 – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother undergoes hip surgery
2008 – 60th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Jimmie Johnson wins
2013 – Sachin Tendulkar plays his very last cricket match before retiring in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium against the West Indies
Today in History for 16th November 2025
Historical Events
1798 – Kentucky becomes first state to nullify an act of Congress
1957 – BBC’s 1st pop music show, the “Six-Five Special”, is broadcast from the tiny 2i’s Coffee Bar in London
1959 – Boston business executive Billy Sullivan is awarded eighth and final franchise of developing American Football League (AFL); later branded Boston Patriots
1970 – South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky defends operations in Cambodia because communist forces could overrun South Vietnam “within 24 hours” if troops operating there were withdrawn
1972 – “Dear Oscar” opens at Playhouse Theater NYC for 5 performances
Famous Birthdays
1896 – Joan Lindsay, Australian author (Picnic at Hanging Rock), born in St Kilda East, Victoria, Australia (d. 1984)
1908 – Sœur Emmanuelle [Madeleine Cinquin], Belgian-French and honorary Egyptian religious sister (Roman Catholic), human rights worker, and writer (Un pauvre a crié, le Seigneur l’écoute), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 2008)
1930 – Walter Cole [stage name Darcelle XV] American drag performer (Portland’s Darcelle XV Showplace, aged 85 became world’s oldest drag performer), born in Portland, Oregon (d. 2023)
1961 – Bruno Amato, American actor (The Internship), born in Orange, New Jersey
1983 – Britta Steffen, German swimmer (Olympic gold 50/100m 2008), born in Schwedt, Germany
Famous Deaths
1328 – Prince Hisaaki, 8th Japanese shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate (1289-1308), dies at 52
1668 – Antoon Anselmo, South Netherlands lawyer, dies at about 79
1884 – František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian military physician and medicinal lecturer, dies at 49
1958 – Samuel Hopkins Adams [Warner Fabian], American journalist and muckraker (Great American Fraud), dies at 87
1965 – William Thomas Cosgrave, Irish politician and Fine Gael party leader (President of the Irish Free State, 1922-32), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 15th November 2025
655 – Penda of Mercia, Pagan Anglo-Saxon King of Mercia, killed at the Battle of Winwaed and his head cut off at about 49 [b. 606. exact date uncertain]
1907 – Horatio Richmond Palmer, American composer and choir director, dies at 73
1934 – Anton Dreesmann, German-Dutch manufacturer (Vroom and Dreesman), dies at 80
1993 – Luciano Liggio [Leggio], Italian mafia leader and painter, dies while serving a life sentence in prison of a heart attack at 68
1998 – Stokely Carmichael, American civil rights activist (b. 1941)
2009 – Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (b. 1914)
2017 – Keith Barron, English actor (At Earth’s Core, Baby Love), dies at 83
2020 – Campbell Forsyth, Scottish soccer goalkeeper (4 caps; St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Southampton), dies at 86
2023 – Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese Buddhist leader (Soka Gakkai), dies at 95
2023 – George Chigova, Zimbabwean soccer goalkeeper (32 caps; Polokwane City FC, SuperSport United FC), dies from heart disease at 32
Historical Events for 15th November 2025
1679 – English House of Commons accepts Exclusion Bill
1715 – Barrier Treaty, Austria cedes area to Netherlands
1813 – Tax revolt in Amsterdam
1939 – Nazis begin mass murder of Warsaw Jews
1944 – Surprise attack on office of Nethche Bank
1955 – Poland and Yugoslavia sign trade agreement
1969 – Janis Joplin, accused of vulgar and indicent language in Tampa, Florida
1983 – 75th hat trick in NHL New York Islander franchise history, scored by Mike Bossy
Today in History for 15th November 2025
Historical Events
1813 – Allied troops occupies Groningen
1826 – Dutch Business Me gets monopoly on opium trade in Java/Madura
1936 – Nazi-Germany and Japan sign Anti-Komintern pact
1979 – ABC-TV announces it would broadcast nightly specials on Iran hostage
2005 – 39th Country Music Association Awards: Keith Urban and Gretchen Wilson win
Famous Birthdays
1897 – Aneurin Bevan, Welsh-British politician (Member of Parliament, 1929-60; Minister of Health, 1945-51 – launched NHS), born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales (d. 1960)
1902 – Jack Ingram, American actor (Law of the West), and stuntman, born in Frankfort, Illinois (d. 1969)
1954 – Ab Bryant, Canadian rock bassist (Chilliwack, 1978-81 – “My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)”), born in Canada
1967 – E-40 [Earl Stevens], American rapper * “Tell Me When to Go”), born in Vallejo, California
1968 – Ol’ Dirty Bastard [Russell Jones], American rapper (Wu Tang Clan), born in Brooklyn, New York City (d. 2004)
Famous Deaths
565 – Justinian I (The Great), Byzantinian Emperor (527-565), commissioned Corpus Juris Civilis, important civil law code, dies at 82
655 – Penda of Mercia, Pagan Anglo-Saxon King of Mercia, killed at the Battle of Winwaed and his head cut off at about 49 [b. 606. exact date uncertain]
1931 – C. A. J. van Dishoeck, Dutch publisher, dies at 68
1994 – Elizabeth George Speare, American author (The Witch of Blackbird Pond), dies at 85
1996 – Alger Hiss, former alleged spy/lawyer, dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 14th November 2025
1844 – John Abercrombie, Scottish physician, dies at 64
1908 – Guangxu, Chinese Emperor of the Qing dynasty (1875-1908), dies of arsenic poisoning at 37
1910 – John La Farge, American painter (stained glass), dies at 75
1922 – Karl Michael Ziehrer, Austrian composer, dies at 79
1935 – Jacobus Wouterus van Dieren, Dutch biologist (specializing in study of dune formation, particularly on West Frisian Island of Terschelling), dies of kidney failure at 33
1992 – Clem Beauchamp, American film actor, stuntman, and production manager (Tarzan; Dick Tracy; The Adventures of Superman), dies at 94
1993 – Sanzo Nosaka, co-founder of Japanese Communist Party (1922), dies
2001 – Charlotte Coleman, British actress (Four Weddings and a Funeral), dies of an asthma attack at 33
2020 – M. A. Foster, American sci-fi author, (Gameplayers of Zan), dies at 81
2024 – Vic Flick, British studio guitarist (“James Bond Theme”; George Martin Orchestra; John Barry Seven), film score composer, and arranger, dies at 87