November 21st in History
Piltdown Man (Eoanthropus dawsoni)
On This Day in History
- יהודה המכב (Judas Maccabee) rededicates the Second Temple in Jerusalem, an event commemorated in the annual Jewish Festival of Lights, better known as חֲנֻכָּה (Hanukkah) (164 BCE)
- The Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (1620 CE, O.S. November 11*)
- The first free (untethered) hot air balloon flight takes place (1783 CE)
- North Carolina is admitted as the 12th US state (1789 CE)
- Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph (1877 CE)
- Albert Einstein’s paper, “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on Its Energy Content,” which introduces E=mc2, is published in Annalen der Physik (1905 CE)
- Georgian Rebecca Felton becomes the first female US senator (1922 CE)
- Columbine Mine Massacre: Unarmed striking coal miners are attacked with machine guns by state police in civilian clothes; six are killed (1927 CE)
- The Piltdown Man is formally determined to be a hoax (1953 CE)
- The first permanent ARPANET (Internet) link is established (1969 CE)
- US Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying for Israel (1985 CE)
- Smoking is banned on all US domestic flights (1989 CE)
*O.S. = Old Style, a date written in the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian.
Births
- Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet), philosopher (1694 CE)
- Samuel Cunard, founder of the Cunard Line of passenger ships (1787 CE)
- Hetty Green, investor known as the “Witch of Wall Street” (1834 CE)
- René Magritte, painter (1898 CE)
- יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער (Isaac Bashevis Singer), writer (1902 CE)
- Coleman Hawkins, jazz saxophonist (1904 CE)
- Eleanor Powell, actress and dancer (1912 CE)
- Sid Luckman, football player (1916 CE)
- Stan Musial, baseball player (1920 CE)
- Christopher Tolkien, editor and author, son of J. R. R. Tolkien (1924 CE)
- Joseph Campanella, actor (1927 CE)
- Beryl Bainbridge, author (1932 CE)
- Marlo Thomas, actress (1937 CE)
- Dr. John (John Rebennack, Jr.), musician (1940 CE)
- Juliet Mills, actress (1941 CE)
- Earl Monroe, basketball player (1944 CE)
- Harold Ramis, actor and director (1944 CE)
- Goldie Hawn, actress (1945 CE)
- Lorna Luft, actress (1952 CE)
- Tina Brown, journalist and magazine editor (1953 CE)
- Nicollette Sheridan, actress (1953 CE)
- Björk (Björk Guðmundsdóttir), singer-songwriter (1965 CE)
- Reggie Lewis, basketball player (1965 CE)
- Troy Aikman, football player (1966 CE)
- Ken Griffey Jr., baseball player (1969 CE)
- Rain Phoenix, actress (1972 CE)
- Chris Moneymaker, poker player (1975 CE)
- Carly Rae Jepsen, singer-songwriter (1985 CE)
Deaths
- Robert Benchley, humorist (1945 CE)
- Mel Ott, baseball player (1958 CE)
- Max Baer, boxer (1959 CE)
- Robert Stroud, criminal and ornithologist known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz” (1963 CE)
- Harry von Zell, radio announcer (1981 CE)
- Jerry Colonna, comedian (1986 CE)
- Carl Hubbell, baseball player (1988 CE)
- Bill Bixby, actor (1993 CE)
- Quentin Crisp, actor and media personality (1999 CE)
- بيار أمين الجميل (Pierre Gemayel), Lebanese prime minister (2006 CE)
- Robert Lockwood, Jr., Delta blues guitarist (2006 CE)
- Anne McCaffrey, science fiction writer (2001 CE)
- Deborah Raffin, actress (2012 CE)
Holidays
- Alascattalo Day (Alaska)
- Armed Forces Day (Bangladesh, Greece)
- Day of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement) (Republika Srpska, or Bosnian Serb Republic)
- False Confessions Day (International, unofficial)
- National Adoption Day (US)
- No Music Day (US, unofficial)
- Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (also known as the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple) (Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches)
- Pumpkin Pie Day (US food holidays)
- Ratification Day (North Carolina)
- World Hello Day (unofficial, observed in 180 countries)
- World Television Day (United Nations)
November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years), with 40 days remaining until year’s end.