November 28

William Blake 1757-1827

Events

• 1095 – On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appoints Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
• 1443 – Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in Middle Albania and raise the Albanian flag.
• 1520 – After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
• 1582 – In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage license.
• 1627 – The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy has its greatest and last victory in the Battle of Oliva.
• 1660 – At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.
• 1666 – At least 3000 men of the Scottish Royal Army led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns defeat about 900 Covenanter rebels in the Battle of Rullion Green.
• 1729 – Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.
• 1785 – The Treaty of Hopewell is signed.
• 1811 – Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, premieres at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.
• 1814 – The Times in London is for the first time printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.
• 1821 – Panama Independence Day: Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.
• 1843 – Ka La Hui: Hawaiian Independence Day – The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.
• 1862 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General James G. Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates.
• 1885 – Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria.
• 1893 – Women vote in a national election for the first time: the New Zealand general election.
• 1895 – The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
• 1905 – Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.
• 1907 – In Haverhill, Massachusetts, scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer opens his first movie theater.
• 1909 – Sergei Rachmaninoff makes the debut performance of his Piano Concerto No. 3, considered to be one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.
• 1910 – Eleftherios Venizelos, leader of the Liberal Party, wins the Greek elections again.
• 1912 – Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
• 1914 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
• 1917 – The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia.
• 1918 – Bukovina votes for the union with the Kingdom of Romania.
• 1919 – Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. (Countess Markievicz, the first to be elected, refused to sit.)
• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: Kilmichael Ambush - The Irish Republican Army ambush a convoy of British Auxiliaries and kill seventeen.
• 1925 – The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee as WSM Barn Dance.
• 1942 – In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 491 people.
• 1943 – World War II: Tehran Conference – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran to discuss war strategy.
• 1958 – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.
• 1960 – Mauritania becomes independent of France.
• 1964 – Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippines President Elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.
• 1966 – Michel Micombero overthrows the monarchy of Burundi and makes himself the first president.
• 1971 – Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation is severely beaten by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers; he dies two days later.
• 1971 – Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• 1972 – Last executions in Paris, of the Clairvaux Mutineers, Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet, guillotined at La Sante Prison. (Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice is condemned to death anyway.) The chief executioner is Andre Obrecht.
• 1975 – East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.
• 1979 – Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 operated sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.
• 1980 – Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid – Over 70% of Iraqi Navy was destroyed by Iranian Navy in The Persian Gulf. The Iranian Navy's Day.
• 1981 – Our Lady of Kibeho: Schoolchildren in Kibeho, Rwanda, experience the first of a series of Marian apparitions.
• 1987 – South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on-board.
• 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution – In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.
• 1991 – South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
• 2002 – Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air-missiles.

Births

• 1118 – Manuel I Komnenos, Greek Byzantine Emperor (d. 1180)
• 1489 – Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland (d. 1541)
• 1570 – James Whitelocke, English judge (d. 1632)
• 1598 – Hans Nansen, Danish statesman (d. 1667)
• 1628 – John Bunyan, English cleric and author (d. 1688)
• 1632 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, French composer (d. 1687)
• 1640 – Willem de Vlamingh, Flemish sea captain
• 1661 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey (d. 1723)
• 1681 – Jean Cavalier, French Protestant rebel leader (d. 1740)
• 1700 – Nathaniel Bliss, Astronomer Royal (d. 1764)
• 1700 – Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1770)
• 1757 – William Blake, British poet (d. 1827)
• 1772 – Luke Howard, British meteorologist (d. 1864)
• 1785 – Victor de Broglie, Prime Minister of France (d. 1870)
• 1792 – Victor Cousin, French philosopher (d. 1867)
• 1793 – Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, Swedish romantic poet (d. 1866)
• 1805 – John Stephens, American archeologist (d. 1852)
• 1810 – William Froude, British naval architect (d. 1879)
• 1820 – Friedrich Engels, German philosopher (d. 1895)
• 1829 – Anton Rubinstein, Russian composer (d. 1894)
• 1837 – John Wesley Hyatt, American inventor (d. 1920)
• 1853 – Helen Magill White, first American woman to earn a PhD (d. 1944)
• 1857 – King Alfonso XII of Spain (d. 1885)
• 1864 – James Allen English writer (d. 1912)
• 1864 – Lindley M. Garrison, American Secretary of War (d. 1932)
• 1866 – Henry Bacon, American architect (d. 1924)
• 1876 – Bert Vogler, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1908, (d. 1946)
• 1880 – Alexander Blok, Russian poet (d. 1921)
• 1881 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (d. 1942)
• 1887 – Ernst Röhm, Nazi official (d. 1934)
• 1891 – Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino jurist & politician (d. 1949)
• 1894 – Henry Hazlitt, Libertarian philosopher, economist (d. 1993)
• 1895 – José Iturbi, Spanish pianist (d. 1980)
• 1896 – Lilia Skala, Austrian actress (d. 1994)
• 1896 – Dawn Powell, American writer (d. 1965)
• 1904 – Nancy Mitford, British essayist (d. 1973)
• 1904 – James Eastland, American politician (d. 1986)
• 1906 – Emmanuel Kriaras, Greek philologist and lexicographer
• 1907 – Alberto Moravia, Italian writer (d. 1990)
• 1907 – Rose Bampton, American opera singer (d. 2007)
• 1908 – Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist (d. 2009)
• 1908 – Adekunle Ajasin, Nigerian politician (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Václav Renc, Czech poet (d. 1973)
• 1912 – Morris Louis, American painter (d. 1962)
• 1915 – Evald Okas, Estonian painter (d. 2011)
• 1915 – Yves Thériault, Canadian author (d. 1983)
• 1916 – Mary Lilian Baels, Princess of Rethy, Belgium (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (d. 1981)
• 1923 – James Karen, American actor
• 1924 – Dennis Brutus, South African poet
• 1925 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (d. 1978)
• 1927 – Chuck Mitchell, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1928 – John Coleman, Australian rules footballer (d. 1973)
• 1928 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist (d. 1980)
• 1928 – Piet Steenbergen, Dutch footballer (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Berry Gordy Jr., American record company owner
• 1931 – Tomi Ungerer, French graphic artist
• 1931 – Dervla Murphy, Irish cyclist and author
• 1932 – Ray Perkins, Canadian singer (The Crew-Cuts)
• 1932 – Gato Barbieri, Argentinian saxophonist
• 1933 – Joe Knollenberg, American politician
• 1933 – Hope Lange, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1935 – Prince Hitachi, Japanese royalty
• 1935 – Randolph Stow, Australian author
• 1936 – Gary Hart, American politician
• 1936 – Celin Romero, Spanish guitarist
• 1940 – Bruce Channel, American singer
• 1941 – Laura Antonelli, Italian actress
• 1942 – Paul Warfield, American football player
• 1943 – Randy Newman, American composer
• 1944 – R.B. Greaves, Guyanan singer
• 1944 – Timothy Krajcir, American serial killer
• 1946 – Joe Dante, American film director and producer
• 1947 – Michel Berger, French songwriter (d. 1992)
• 1947 – Maria Farantouri, Greek singer
• 1947 – Panayotis Varotsos, Greek physicist
• 1948 – Beeb Birtles, Dutch-Australian musician (Little River Band)
• 1948 – Dick Morris, American political figure, author
• 1949 – Alexander Godunov, Russian ballet dancer (d. 1995)
• 1949 – Paul Shaffer, Canadian orchestra leader
• 1950 – Ed Harris, American actor
• 1950 – Russell Alan Hulse, American physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1952 – S. Epatha Merkerson, American actress
• 1953 – Sixto Lezcano, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1955 – Alessandro Altobelli, Italian footballer
• 1955 – Jeffrey Byron, American actor
• 1955 – Adem Jashari, Albanian freedom fighter
• 1956 – Richard Bean, English playwright
• 1957 – David Van Day, British singer (Dollar)
• 1958 – Dave Righetti, American baseball player
• 1958 – Kriss Akabusi, British athlete and television presenter
• 1959 – Judd Nelson, American actor
• 1960 – John Galliano, British fashion designer
• 1960 – Andy Ritchie, English footballer
• 1960 – Kenny Wharton, English football coach
• 1961 – Martin Clunes, British actor
• 1961 – Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican film director
• 1961 – John Fenty, English football coach
• 1961 – Jane Sibbett, American actress
• 1962 – Paul Dinello, American comedian and actor
• 1962 – Jon Stewart, American comedian
• 1962 – Matt Cameron, American drummer (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam)
• 1962 – Davey Boy Smith, English professional wrestler (d. 2002)
• 1963 – Walt Weiss, American baseball player
• 1963 – Armando Iannucci, Scottish comedian
• 1963 – Johnny Newman, American basketball player
• 1963 – Jesus Ledesma Aguilar, Mexican convicted killer (d. 2006)
• 1964 – Michael Bennet, American politician
• 1964 – John Burkett, American baseball player
• 1964 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player
• 1965 – Erwin Mortier, Belgian author
• 1965 – Matt Williams, American baseball player
• 1966 – Sam Seder, American comedian
• 1966 – Helen Fospero, British television presenter and newsreader
• 1967 – Anna Nicole Smith, American television personality (d. 2007)
• 1967 – Stephnie Weir, American comedian
• 1967 – José del Solar, Peruvian footballer
• 1968 – Dawn Robinson, American singer (En Vogue)
• 1969 – Robb Nen, American baseball player
• 1969 – Lexington Steele, American adult film actor
• 1970 – Álex López Morón, Spanish tennis player
• 1971 – Rob Conway, American professional wrestler
• 1971 – Fenriz, Norwegian musician (Darkthrone)
• 1972 – Paulo Figueiredo, Angolan footballer
• 1972 – Anastasia Kelesidou, Greek discus thrower
• 1972 – Jesper Strömblad, Swedish guitarist (In Flames)
• 1973 – Jade Puget, American musician (AFI)
• 1974 – András Tölcséres, Hungarian footballer
• 1974 – Styles P, American rapper
• 1974 – Kristian Schmid, Australian actor
• 1974 – apl.de.ap, Filipino-American rapper
• 1975 – Sunny Mabrey, American actress
• 1975 – Park Sung-Bae, South Korean football player
• 1975 – Takashi Shimoda, Japanese footballer
• 1975 – Sigurd Wongraven, Norwegian musician (Satyricon)
• 1975 – Eka Kurniawan, Indonesian writer
• 1976 – Ryan Kwanten, Australian actor
• 1977 – DeMya Walker, American basketball player
• 1977 – Greg Somerville, New Zealand rugby union footballer
• 1977 – Marlon Broomes, British footballer
• 1977 – Fabio Grosso, Italian footballer
• 1977 – Gavin Rae, Scottish footballer
• 1978 – Freddie Mitchell, American football player
• 1978 – Mehdi Nafti, Tunisian footballer
• 1978 – Brent Albright, American professional wrestler
• 1978 – Michael Simpkins, British football player
• 1978 – Haytham Tambal, Sudanese footballer
• 1978 – Aimee Garcia, American actress
• 1979 – Chamillionaire, American rapper
• 1979 – Joel Maximo, American professional wrestler
• 1979 – Daniel Henney, Korean-American model-actor
• 1979 – Olcay Çetinkaya, Turkish football player
• 1980 – Stuart Taylor, British footballer
• 1980 – Lisa Middelhauve, German singer (Xandria)
• 1981 – Brian Tevreden, Dutch footballer
• 1981 – Jacqui Ainsley, British model
• 1982 – Leandro Barbosa, Brazilian basketball player
• 1982 – Chris Harris, British speedway rider
• 1983 – Nelson Haedo Valdez, Paraguayan footballer
• 1984 – Andrew Bogut, Australian basketball player
• 1984 – Marc-Andre Fleury, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Joross Gamboa, Filipino actor
• 1984 – Trey Songz, American recording artist
• 1984 – Mary Elizabeth Winstead, American actress
• 1985 – Caitlin McClatchey, Scottish swimmer
• 1986 – Mouhamadou Dabo, French footballer
• 1987 – Karen Gillan, Scottish actress
• 1988 – Christopher Stringini, American singer
• 1988 – Scarlett Pomers, American actress
• 1989 – Laura Alleway, Australian football player
• 1990 – Dedryck Boyata, Belgian football player
• 1991 – Jessica Robinson, English singer and actress
• 1992 – Adam Hicks, American actor
• 1994 – Lola Sanchez, Australian actress
• 1997 – Thor Salden, Belgian singer

Deaths

• 741 – St. Gregory III
• 1170 – Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd (b. c. 1100)
• 1262 – Shinran, Japanese religious leader (b. 1173)
• 1290 – Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I of England (b. 1241)
• 1574 – Georg Major, German Protestant theologian (b. 1502)
• 1585 – Hernando Franco, Spanish composer (b. 1532)
• 1667 – Jean de Thévenot, French traveller and scientist (b. 1633)
• 1675 – Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh, English Civil War soldier (b. c. 1608)
• 1675 – Leonard Hoar, American President of Harvard University (b. 1630)
• 1680 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian baroque sculptor (b. 1598)
• 1680 – Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1606)
• 1694 – Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet (b. 1644)
• 1695 – Giovanni Paolo Colonna, Italian composer (b. c. 1637)
• 1695 – Anthony Wood, English antiquarian (b. 1632)
• 1698 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France (b. 1622)
• 1763 – Naungdawgyi, King of Burma (b. 1734)
• 1785 – William Whipple, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1730)
• 1794 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (b. 1730)
• 1801 – Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, French geologist (b. 1750)
• 1815 – Johann Peter Salomon, German violinist, impresario, and composer (b. 1745)
• 1852 – Ludger Duvernay, French printer and newspaper publisher (b. 1799)
• 1852 – Emmanuil Xanthos, figure of the Greek War of Independence, co-founder of Filiki Eteria (b. 1772)
• 1859 – Washington Irving, American writer (b. 1783)
• 1870 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter (b. 1841)
• 1872 – Mary Fairfax Somerville, British scientific writer (b. 1780)
• 1878 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader (b. 1805)
• 1880 – Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, (Portuguese) Archbishop of Goa (b. 1837)
• 1890 – Jyotirao Phule, Indian social reformer.
• 1907 – Stanislaw Wyspianski, Polish dramatist, poet, painter, and architect (b. 1869)
• 1912 – Walter Benona Sharp, American oil tycoon (b. 1870)
• 1915 – Mubarak Al-Sabah "The Great", Emir of Kuwait (b. 1896)
• 1917 – Mikelis Avlichos, Greek poet (b. 1844)
• 1921 – `Abdu'l-Bahá, Persian leader of the Bahá'í Faith (b. 1844)
• 1930 – Greek Orthodox Patriarch Constantine VI of Constantinople (b. 1859)
• 1935 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist (b. 1877)
• 1939 – James Naismith, Canadian creator of basketball (b. 1861)
• 1945 – Dwight F. Davis, U.S. Secretary of War and donor of the Davis cup (b. 1879)
• 1947 – Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, French general (b. 1902)
• 1954 – Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1901)
• 1960 – Richard Wright, American author (b. 1908)
• 1960 – Tsunenohana Kan'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 31st Yokozuna (b. 1896)
• 1962 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (b. 1880)
• 1963 – Karyn Kupcinet, American actress (b. 1941)
• 1967 – Leon M'ba, Gabonese politician (b. 1902)
• 1968 – Enid Blyton, British children's author (b. 1897)
• 1971 – Wasfi Tel, Jordanian Prime Minister (b. 1920)
• 1972 – Havergal Brian, British composer (b. 1875)
• 1973 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (b. 1886)
• 1976 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (b. 1907)
• 1977 – Trevor Bardette, American actor (b. 1902)
• 1977 – Bob Meusel, American baseball player (b. 1896)
• 1978 – Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Argentine football executive (b. 1902)
• 1983 – Christopher George, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1986 – Herb Vigran, American actor (b. 1910)
• 1987 – Choh Hao Li, Chinese biochemist (b. 1913)
• 1992 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (b. 1917)
• 1993 – Jerry Edmonton, Canadian drummer (Steppenwolf) (b. 1946)
• 1993 – Garry Moore, American entertainer (b. 1915)
• 1994 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (b. 1960)
• 1994 – Buster Edwards, English train robber (b. 1932)
• 1994 – Jerry Rubin, American activist (b. 1938)
• 1997 – Georges Marchal, French actor (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Kerry Wendell Thornley, co-founder of Discordianism (b. 1938)
• 2000 – Liane Haid, Austrian actress (b. 1895)
• 2001 – Kal Mann, American lyricist (b. 1917)
• 2001 – William Reid, British aviator awarded the Victoria Cross (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Dave "Snaker" Ray, American blues musician (b. 1943)
• 2003 – Ted Bates, English footballer (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Antonia Forest, British children's author (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Marc Lawrence, American actor (b. 1910)
• 2006 – Lyubov Polishchuk, Russian actress (b. 1949)
• 2006 – Robert Volpe, Artist ,Art Theft Detective (b. 1942)
• 2007 – Gudrun Wagner, co-director of the Bayreuth Festival (b. 1944)
• 2009 – Gilles Carle, Canadian screenwriter and film director (b. 1928)
• 2009 – Takeo Kajiwara, Japanese Go player (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Giorgos Fountas, Greek actor (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Patrice O'Neal, American stand-up comedian (b. 1969)

Holidays and observances

• Ascension of `Abdu'l-Bahá (Bahá'í Faith)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Catherine Labouré
  • Feast of the Holy Sovereigns (Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii)
  • Herman of Alaska, the anniversary of his actual death. Eastern Orthodox
  • Pope Gregory III
• Independence Day / National Day / Flag Day, celebrate the independence of Albania from Turkey in 1912, the first Albanian flag raise by Skanderbeg in 1443, and for the new parliamentary constitution in 1998.
• Independence Day, celebrate the independence of Mauritania from France in 1960.
• Independence Day, celebrate the independence of Panama from Spain in 1821.
• Navy Day (Iran)
• Republic Day (Burundi)
• Republic Day (Chad)