November 2

November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 59 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday (58 in 400 years each) than on Saturday or Sunday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Thursday (56).

Events

• 619 – A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.
• 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War.
• 1675 – Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip's War.
• 1795 – The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
• 1868 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally.
• 1889 – North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
• 1899 – The Boers begin their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
• 1912 – Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople.
• 1914 – World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles are subsequently closed.
• 1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
• 1917 – The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting.
• 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the United States presidential election, 1920.
• 1930 – Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1936 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.
• 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.
• 1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians.
• 1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose or H-4 The Hercules; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.
• 1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
• 1951 – Canada in the Korean War: A platoon of The Royal Canadian Regiment defends a vital area against a full battalion of Chinese troops in the Battle of the Song-gok Spur. The engagement lasts into the early hours of November 3.
• 1953 – The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan names the country The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
• 1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
• 1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
• 1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.
• 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
• 1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.
• 1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
• 1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
• 1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
• 1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
• 1988 – The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
• 1990 – British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses.

Births

• 682 – Umar II, Arabian caliph (d. 720)
• 971 – Mahmud of Ghazni (d. 1030)
• 1470 – Edward V of England (d. 1483)
• 1553 – Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1633)
• 1636 – Edward Colston, English merchant and politician (d. 1721)
• 1649 – Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond (d. 1660)
• 1692 – Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer and diplomat (d. 1766)
• 1696 – Conrad Weiser, American soldier, monk, and judge (d. 1760)
• 1699 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter and educator (d. 1779)
• 1709 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (d. 1759)
• 1734 – Daniel Boone, American hunter and explorer (d. 1820)
• 1739 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1799)
• 1741 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch lawyer and politician (d. 1784)
• 1754 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French general (d. 1794)
• 1755 – Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (d. 1793)
• 1766 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858)
• 1767 – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (d. 1820)
• 1777 – Fortunat Alojzy Gonzaga Żółkowski, Polish actor and translator (d. 1822)
• 1795 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
• 1799 – John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (d. 1885)
• 1799 – Titian Peale, American entomologist and photographer (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (d. 1889)
• 1815 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864)
• 1821 – George Bowen, Irish-English diplomat, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1899)
• 1833 – Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian physician and academic (d. 1904)
• 1837 – Émile Bayard, French illustrator and painter (d. 1891)
• 1844 – Mehmed V, Ottoman sultan (d. 1918)
• 1847 – Georges Sorel, French philosopher and author (d. 1922)
• 1855 – Henrik Schück, Swedish historian, author, and academic (d. 1947)
• 1865 – Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th President of the United States (d. 1923)
• 1877 – Joseph De Piro, Maltese priest and missionary (d. 1933)
• 1877 – Aga Khan III, Indian 48th Shia Imam (d. 1957)
• 1878 – Ōkido Moriemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 23rd Yokozuna (d. 1930)
• 1879 – Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player and violinist (d. 1965)
• 1883 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (d. 1947)
• 1885 – Harlow Shapley, American astronomer and academic (d. 1972)
• 1886 – Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (d. 1971)
• 1890 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 30th Yokozuna (d. 1933)
• 1890 – Moa Martinson, Swedish author (d. 1964)
• 1891 – David Townsend, American art director and set decorator (d. 1935)
• 1892 – Alice Brady, American actress (d. 1939)
• 1893 – Battista Farina, Italian businessman, founded the Pininfarina Company (d. 1966)
• 1894 – Alexander Lippisch, German-American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1973)
• 1903 – Travis Jackson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1987)
• 1905 – James Dunn, American actor (d. 1967)
• 1905 – Georges Schehadé, Lebanese poet and playwright (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Daniil Andreyev, Russian poet and mystic (d. 1959)
• 1906 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1976)
• 1908 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (d. 1983)
• 1908 – Bunny Berigan, American trumpet player (d. 1942)
• 1910 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian lawyer and politician, Egyptian Minister of Interior (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1911 – Raphael M. Robinson, American mathematician, philosopher, and theorist (d. 1995)
• 1913 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1914 – Johnny Vander Meer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1915 – Sidney Luft, American film producer (d. 2005)
• 1917 – Ann Rutherford, American actress (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (d. 2015)
• 1919 – Warren Stevens, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Bill Mazer, Ukrainian-American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Shepard Menken, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Bill Mosienko, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1994)
• 1922 – Seánie Duggan, Irish hurler (d. 2013)
• 1924 – David Bauer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1988)
• 1924 – Rudy Van Gelder, American record producer and engineer (d. 2016)
• 1927 – Steve Ditko, American author and illustrator
• 1927 – John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover, English businessman and politician
• 1928 – Gerry Alexander, Jamaican cricketer and veterinarian (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Paul Johnson, English journalist, historian, and author
• 1929 – Amar Bose, American engineer and businessman, founded the Bose Corporation (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Robert Gover, American journalist and author (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, Pakistani judge and politician, 9th President of Pakistan
• 1929 – Richard E. Taylor, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1931 – Phil Woods, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Ron Sproat, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Bill Gothard, American minister and author
• 1934 – Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis player
• 1936 – Rose Bird, American lawyer and judge, 25th Chief Justice of California (d. 1999)
• 1936 – Jack Starrett, American actor and director (d. 1989)
• 1937 – Earl Carroll, American singer (d. 2012)
• 1938 – Jay Black, American singer
• 1938 – Pat Buchanan, American journalist and politician
• 1938 – Queen Sofía of Spain
• 1939 – Pauline Neville-Jones, Baroness Neville-Jones, English broadcaster and politician, Minister for Security
• 1939 – Richard Serra, American sculptor and academic
• 1940 – Jim Bakken, American football player
• 1940 – Phil Minton, English singer and trumpet player
• 1941 – Arun Shourie, Indian journalist, economist, and politician, Indian Minister of Communications
• 1941 – Dave Stockton, American golfer
• 1941 – Bruce Welch, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1942 – Shere Hite, German sexologist, author, and educator
• 1942 – Stefanie Powers, American actress
• 1944 – Patrice Chéreau, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1944 – Keith Emerson, English keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2016)
• 1945 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (d. 2013)
• 1945 – Larry Little, American football player
• 1945 – J. D. Souther, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1946 – Alan Jones, Australian race car driver and sportscaster
• 1946 – Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (d. 2001)
• 1947 – Dave Pegg, English bass player and producer
• 1949 – Lois McMaster Bujold, American author
• 1951 – Thomas Mallon, American novelist, essayist, and critic
• 1954 – Pat Croce, American businessman and author
• 1955 – Chris Burnett, American saxophonist and composer
• 1955 – Thomas Grunenberg, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Dale Brown, American author and pilot
• 1957 – Carter Beauford, American drummer and composer
• 1958 – Willie McGee, American baseball player and manager
• 1959 – Peter Mullan, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1960 – Rosalyn Fairbank, South African tennis player
• 1961 – k.d. lang, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1961 – Jeff Tedford, American football player and coach
• 1962 – David Brock, American journalist and author
• 1962 – Mireille Delunsch, French operatic soprano
• 1962 – Derek Mountfield, English footballer and manager
• 1963 – Bobby Dall, American bass player
• 1963 – Jonas Gardell, Swedish author and screenwriter
• 1963 – Ron McGovney, American bass player
• 1963 – Borut Pahor, Slovenian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Slovenia
• 1963 – Craig Saavedra, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Park Young-seok, South Korean mountaineer and explorer (d. 2011)
• 1964 – Britta Lejon, Swedish lawyer and politician
• 1965 – Nick Boles, English businessman and politician
• 1965 – Arnold Clavio, Filipino journalist
• 1965 – Shah Rukh Khan, Indian actor and producer
• 1965 – Samuel Le Bihan, French actor and screenwriter
• 1966 – David Schwimmer, American actor
• 1967 – Kurt Elling, American singer-songwriter
• 1967 – Simon Hill, English-Australian journalist and sportscaster
• 1967 – Scott Walker, American politician, 45th Governor of Wisconsin
• 1968 – Neal Casal, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and photographer
• 1972 – Darío Silva, Uruguayan footballer and coach
• 1972 – Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian ice hockey player and coach
• 1973 – Ben Graham, Australian footballer
• 1973 – Marisol Nichols, American actress
• 1974 – Orlando Cabrera, Colombian-American baseball player
• 1974 – Nelly, American rapper
• 1974 – Sofia Polgar, Hungarian chess player
• 1975 – Stéphane Sarrazin, French race car driver
• 1975 – Chris Walla, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1976 – Margus Hernits, Estonian figure skater
• 1976 – Sidney Ponson, Aruban baseball player
• 1977 – Rodney Buford, American basketball player
• 1977 – Konstantinos Economidis, Greek tennis player
• 1977 – Emma Reynolds, English politician
• 1977 – Leon Taylor, English diver and sportscaster
• 1978 – Carmen Cali, American baseball player
• 1979 – Simone Puleo, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Diego Lugano, Uruguayan footballer
• 1980 – Amos Roberts, Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Kim So-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1981 – Katharine Isabelle, Canadian actress
• 1981 – Mitchell Johnson, Australian cricketer
• 1981 – Rafael Márquez Lugo, Mexican footballer
• 1981 – Roddy White, American football player
• 1982 – Esha Deol, Indian actress
• 1982 – Yunel Escobar, Cuban-American baseball player
• 1982 – Charles Itandje, French footballer
• 1983 – Darren Young, American wrestler
• 1986 – Andy Rautins, Canadian basketball player
• 1987 – Danny Cipriani, English rugby player
• 1987 – Gwendoline Taylor, New Zealand actress
• 1988 – Julia Görges, German tennis player
• 1989 – Stevan Jovetić, Montenegrin footballer
• 1989 – Natalie Pluskota, American tennis player
• 1989 – Luke Schenn, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1990 – Christopher Dibon, Austrian footballer
• 1994 – Shaq Coulthirst, English footballer

Deaths

• 943 – Emma of France (b. 894)
• 1083 – Matilda of Flanders (b. 1031)
• 1285 – Peter III of Aragon (b. 1239)
• 1483 – Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1454)
• 1610 – Richard Bancroft, English archbishop and academic (b. 1544)
• 1618 – Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (b. 1568)
• 1716 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German botanist and physician (b. 1651)
• 1807 – Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1730)
• 1846 – Esaias Tegnér, Swedish poet and bishop (b. 1782)
• 1852 – Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, Russian general (b. 1782)
• 1863 – Theodore Judah, American engineer (b. 1826)
• 1877 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (b. 1784)
• 1886 – James Watney junior, English brewer, cricketer, and politician (b. 1832)
• 1887 – Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1811)
• 1887 – Jenny Lind, Swedish operatic soprano (b. 1820)
• 1898 – George Goyder, English-Australian surveyor (b. 1826)
• 1905 – Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist and physiologist (b. 1817)
• 1930 – Viggo Jensen, Danish weightlifter, target shooter, and gymnast (b. 1874)
• 1935 – Jock Cameron, South African cricketer (b. 1905)
• 1944 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and engineer (b. 1889)
• 1945 – Hélène de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (b. 1868)
• 1949 – Jerome F. Donovan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1872)
• 1950 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish author, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
• 1952 – Mehmet Esat Bülkat, Greek-Turkish general (b. 1862)
• 1958 – Jean Couzy, French mountaineer and engineer (b. 1923)
• 1959 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian trade union leader and politician (b. 1885)
• 1960 – Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor and composer (b. 1896)
• 1961 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (b. 1894)
• 1963 – Ngô Đình Diệm, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam (b. 1901)
• 1963 – Ngô Đình Nhu, Vietnamese activist, archivist, politician, and tactical strategist (b. 1910)
• 1966 – Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
• 1966 – Mississippi John Hurt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1892)
• 1970 – Richard Cushing, American cardinal (b. 1895)
• 1970 – Pierre Veyron, French race car driver (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Robert Mensah, Ghanaian footballer (b. 1939)
• 1975 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 1981 – Wally Wood, American author, illustrator, and publisher (b. 1927)
• 1982 – Lester Roloff, American preacher and radio host (b. 1914)
• 1990 – Eliot Porter, American photographer, chemist, and academic (b. 1901)
• 1991 – Irwin Allen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1916)
• 1991 – Mort Shuman, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1936)
• 1992 – Robert Arneson, American sculptor and academic (b. 1930)
• 1992 – Hal Roach, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1892)
• 1994 – Martin Taras, American animator and director (b. 1914)
• 1994 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright (b. 1917)
• 1996 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (b. 1963)
• 1996 – John G. Crommelin, American admiral and politician (b. 1902)
• 1998 – Vincent Winter, Scottish actor and production manager (b. 1957)
• 2000 – Robert Cormier, American journalist and author (b. 1925)
• 2002 – Charles Sheffield, American physicist and author (b. 1935)
• 2003 – Frank McCloskey, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1939)
• 2004 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch actor, director, and producer (b. 1957)
• 2005 – Ferruccio Valcareggi, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Charmaine Dragun, Australian journalist (b. 1978)
• 2007 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1906)
• 2007 – The Fabulous Moolah, American wrestler (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Madelyn Dunham, American banker and business executive (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Nien Cheng, Chinese-American author (b. 1915)
• 2010 – Clyde King, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Boots Plata, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar, Indian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Robert Morton Duncan, American soldier and judge (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Joe Ginsberg, American baseball player (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Pino Rauti, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Han Suyin, Chinese-Swiss physician and author (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu, Indian politician (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Walt Bellamy, American basketball player (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Ghislaine Dupont, French journalist (b. 1956)
• 2013 – Clifford Nass, American author and academic (b. 1958)
• 2013 – Kjell Qvale, Norwegian-American businessman (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Michael Coleman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
• 2014 – Veljko Kadijević, Croatian general and politician, 5th Federal Secretary of People's Defence (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Shabtai Teveth, Israeli historian and author (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, Polish painter, historian, and academic (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Mike Davies, Welsh-American tennis player and businessman (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Roy Dommett, English scientist and engineer (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Tommy Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Daniel Payne (Lutheran)
  • Victorinus of Pettau
  • November 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Election Day can fall, while November 8 is the latest; held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. (United States)
• All Souls' Day (Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Communion)
• Coronation of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
• Day of the Dead, the second day of Day of the Dead or El Dia de los Muertos celebration (Mexico)
• Dziady (Belarus)
• Indian Arrival Day (Mauritius)
• International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (United Nations)
• Statehood Day (North Dakota and South Dakota, United States)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada
• Today in Canadian History
• This Day Trivia