November 26

November 26

November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 35 days remaining.

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 See also

Events

1778 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover Maui.
1805 - Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
1825 - At Union College in Schenectady, New York a group of college students form Kappa Alpha Society as the first college social fraternity (it was the first to combine aspects of secret Greek-letter societies, literary societies and formalized student social groups).
1862 - Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) sends the handwritten manuscript of Alice's Adventures Underground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.
1863 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Meade's forces could not find any weaknesses in the Confederate lines and give-up trying after five days).
1872 - The San Francisco Evening Bulletin exposes one of the most notorious mining scandals in US history, The Great Diamond Hoax.
1922 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
1922 - Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so but it was not widely distributed).
1941 - US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States (this partly reverses a 1939 action by Roosevelt that changed the celebration of Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November).
1941 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - A fleet of six aircraft carriers commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo leaves Hitokapu Bay for Pearl Harbor under strict radio silence.
1941 - World War II: The Hull note ultimatum is delivered to Japan by the United States.
1942 - The film Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.
1949 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution. [1]
1950 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China move into North Korea and launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and American forces, ending any thought of a quick end to the conflict.
1965 - In the Hammaguira launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter space.
1968 - Vietnam War: United States Air Force 1st Lt. and Bell UH-1F helicopter pilot James P. Fleming gets and responds to an urgent message from an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. After a failed first rescue attempt Fleming lands under heavy fire and picks up the unit (he was later rewarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery).
1983 - Brinks Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly UK�26 million are taken from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport (only a fraction of the gold was ever recovered, and only two men were convicted of the crime). [1]
1985 - US President Ronald Reagan signs over rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.
1986 - Iran-Contra scandal: US President Ronald Reagan announces that as of December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will be serving as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission).
1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament.
2003 - Last ever flight by Concorde.

Births

1607 - John Harvard, cleric (d. 1638)
1792 - Sarah Grimke, abolitionist, feminist (d. 1873)
1832 - Mary Edwards Walker, feminist, physician (d. 1919)
1869 - Maud, Queen of Norway (d.1938)
1876 - Willis Carrier, engineer, inventor (d. 1950)
1885 - Heinrich Br�ning, German Reichskanzler 1930-1932 (d. 1970)
1894 - Norbert Wiener, mathematician, founder of Cybernetics (d. 1964)
1899 - Bruno Hauptmann, kidnapper of Charles Lindbergh III (d. 1936)
1910 - Cyril Cusack, actor (d. 1993)
1912 - Eug�ne Ionesco, playwright (d. 1994)
1912 - Eric Sevareid, journalist (d. 1992)
1915 - Earl Wild, pianist
1922 - Charles Schulz, cartoonist (d. 2000)
1924 - George Segal, sculptor
1925 - Eugene Istomin, pianist (d. 2003)
1927 - Jean-Pierre Daras, actor (d. 1999)
1933 - Robert Goulet, singer, actor
1934 - Barry Coe, actor
1937 - Boris Yegorov, cosmonaut
1938 - Rich Little, comedian, actor
1939 - Tina Turner, singer, actress
1943 - Bruce Paltrow, producer, director (d. 2002)
1948 - Kresimir Cosic, professional basketball player (d. 1995)
1951 - Ilona Staller, aka Cicciolina, pornographic film actress, politician
1959 - Jamie Rose, actress

Deaths

1252 - Blanche of Castile, wife of Louis VIII of France
1836 - John MacAdam, road builder
1956 - Tommy Dorsey, Big Band leader
1959 - Albert Ket�lbey, composer
1963 - Amelita Galli-Curci, opera singer
1980 - Peter DePaolo, automobile racer
1996 - Michael Bentine, comedian
2002 - Verne Winchell, founder of Winchell's Donuts.
2002 - Wilhelm Bittorf, journalist
2003 - Stefan Wul, French sf writer

Holidays and observances

Bahá'í Faith: Day of the Covenant
Mongolia : Independence Day