November 18

Events
Up to 1900
326 - The old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome.
401 - Visigoths, led by King Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade present-day northern Italy.
1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, begins.
1180 - Philip II of France becomes King.
1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
1302 - Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam ("The One Holy").
1307 - According to legend, William Tell shoots an apple off of his son's head.
1421 - A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people in the Netherlands.
1493 - Christopher Columbus first sights what is now Puerto Rico.
1494 - King Charles VII of France occupies Florence, present-day Italy.
1626 - St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated in Rome.
1738 - Augustus III is decided as the King of Poland, as the Peace of Vienna ends the War of the Polish Succession.
1803 - The Battle of Vertieres, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi.
1863 - King Christian IX of Denmark signs the November Constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark.
1883 - American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
1901 2000
1903 - The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the Americans exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
1904 - General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.
1905 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
1905 - British steamship Hilda strikes a reef off Brittany and sinks during a snowstorm, killing 125 people.
1909 - Two US warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including 2 Americans) are executed by order of Jose Santos Zelaya.
1916 - World War I: The first Battle of the Somme ends indecisively.
1918 - Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
1926 - George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize."
1926 - Dominions of the British Empire are recognised as independent states.
1928 - Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the second appearances of cartoon stars Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.
1929 - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake, centred south of Newfoundland, strikes. 12 undersea cables are broken and some south coast communities are destroyed.
1936 - Germany and Italy recognise the government of Francisco Franco in Spain.
1939 - Dutch ocean steamer Simon Bolivar runs over a German minefield near Harwich, exploding twice before sinking, killing 102 people.
1940 - German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.
1943 - World War II: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 air crew.
1944 - The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba.
1947 - The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41 people.
1961 - John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
1963 - The push-button telephone goes into service.
1968 - The James Watt Street factory fire in Glasgow, Scotland, kills 22 people.
1970 - Joe Frazier defends his heavyweight boxing world title against Bob Foster in Detroit.
1976 - The parliament of Spain passes a bill allowing the creation of democracy in the country.
1978 - In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder-suicide. 918 people died, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. A few hours earlier, United States Congressman Leo Ryan, visiting to investigate the cult, was shot dead.
1987 - In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station at King's Cross St Pancras.
1987 - The United States Congress issues the final report on the Iran Contra Affair.
1988 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for murder in regards to drug traffickers.
1991 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite and American academic Thomas Sutherland are released in Lebanon, where they had been held hostage; Waite since 1987 and Sutherland since 1985.
1991 - After an 87-day siege, the town of Vukovar, Croatia, surrenders to the Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serbian paramilitary forces.
1993 - In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
1996 - Bernard Dowiyogo is elected President of Nauru over Lagumot Harris, and immediately ends diplomatic relations with France over its nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll, French Polynesia.
2000 - Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas marry.
From 2001
2002 - United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
2003 - The Local Government Act of 2003 becomes effective in the United Kingdom, ending the controversial Anti-Homosexuality amendment.
2004 - Russia officially ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.
2006 - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes marry in Italy. Their marriage ends in divorce in 2012.
2009 - 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification: Controversy is caused when French player Thierry Henry appears to have handled the ball in the run-up to a goal that sends France to the World Cup against the Republic of Ireland.
2019 - Gotabaya Rajapaksa becomes President of Sri Lanka; he later names his brother (and former President) Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister.
2019 - The United States government says that is does not consider the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.
Births
Up to 1900
709 - Emperor Konin of Japan (d. 782)
1522 - Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (d. 1568)
1527 - Luca Cambiasi, Italian painter (d. 1585)
1630 - Eleanor Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1686)
1647 - Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (d. 1706)
1736 - Anton Graff, Swiss painter (d. 1813)
1743 - Johannes Ewald, Danish playwright (d. 1781)
1756 - Thomas Burgess, English writer, philosopher and religious figure (d. 1837)
1772 - Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806)
1774 - Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (d. 1837)
1785 - David Wilkie, Scottish painter (d. 1844)
1786 - Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
1787 - Louis Daguerre, French artist and physicist (d. 1851)
1804 - Alfonso Ferrero la Marmora, Italian general and statesman (d. 1878)
1810 - Asa Gray, American botanist (d. 1888)
1820 - James William Abert, American army officer and mapmaker (d. 1897)
1832 - Adolf Erik Nordenskiold, Finnish-Swedish explorer (d. 1901)
1836 - W. S. Gilbert, British philosopher (d. 1911)
1839 - August Kundt, German physicist (d. 1894)
1856 - Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929)
1860 - Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish composer and statesman (d. 1941)
1861 - Dorothy Dix, American journalist (d. 1951)
1873 - Arthur J. Weaver, Governor of Nebraska (d. 1945)
1874 - Clarence Day, American writer (d. 1935)
1877 - Arthur Cecil Pigou, British economist (d. 1959)
1880 - Narum Torbov, Bulgarian architect (d. 1952)
1882 - Wyndham Lewis, British writer and painter (d. 1957)
1882 - Jacques Maritain, French philosopher (d. 1973)
1882 - Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano (d. 1959)
1883 - Carl Vinson, American politician (d. 1981)
1888 - Frances Marion, American screenwriter and director (d. 1973)
1889 - Stanislav Kosior, Polish-born Soviet politician (d. 1939)
1891 - Gio Ponti, Italian architect (d. 1979)
1897 - Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, British physicist (d. 1974)
1898 - Joris Ivens, Dutch movie maker (d. 1989)
1898 - Poul F. Jensen, Faroese poet and writer (d. 1970)
1899 - Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-born American violinist and conductor (d. 1985)
1901 1950
1901 - George Gallup, American statistician and pollster (d. 1984)
1901 - V. Shantaram, Indian director, screenwriter, producer and actor (d. 1984)
1904 - Mihai Antonescu, Romanian politician (d. 1946)
1906 - Alec Issigonis, Greek-British car designer (d. 1988)
1906 - Klaus Mann, German writer (d. 1949)
1906 - George Wald, American scientist (d. 1997)
1907 - Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2003)
1909 - Johnny Mercer, American lyricist (d. 1976)
1911 - Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer (d. 2000)
1913 - Endre Rozsda, French surrealist painter (d. 1999)
1914 - Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1969)
1915 - Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2004)
1917 - Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (d. 1957)
1919 - Jocelyn Brando, American actress (d. 2005)
1920 - Mustafa Khalil, 77th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2008)
1920 - Ron Suart, English footballer (d. 2015)
1922 - Luis Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (d. 1967)
1923 - Alan Shepard, American astronaut, first American to travel into space (d. 1998)
1923 - Ted Stevens, American politician (d. 2010)
1926 - Estanislau Basora, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
1927 - Hank Ballard, American musician (d. 2003)
1927 - Eldar Ryazanov, Russian movie director and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1928 - Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer
1928 - Salvador Laurel, Vice president of the Philippines (d. 2004)
1934 - Vassilis Vassilikos, Greek writer and diplomat
1936 - Don Cherry, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1995)
1936 - Ennio Antonelli, Italian cardinal
1938 - Eugenio Montejo, Venezuelan writer, poet and diplomat (d. 2008)
1938 - Norbert Ratsirahonana, former Prime Minister of Madagascar
1939 - Margaret Atwood, Canadian writer
1939 - John O'Keefe, American-British neurologist
1939 - Liz J. Patterson, American politician (d. 2018)
1939 - Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
1939 - Amanda Lear, British singer, actress and author
1940 - Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman (d. 2020)
1941 - Gary Bettenhausen, American racing driver (d. 2014)
1942 - Linda Evans, American actress
1942 - Susan Sullivan, American actress
1943 - Leonardo Sandri, Argentine cardinal
1944 - Wolfgang Joop, German fashion designer
1945 - Wilma Mankiller, American tribal chief (d. 2010)
1945 - Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister and former President of Sri Lanka
1946 - Alan Dean Foster, American fantasy and science fiction writer
1948 - Ana Mendieta, American performance artist
1950 - Graham Parker, American singer
1950 - Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-born American musician
1951 1975
1952 - Harald Konopka, German footballer
1952 - Peter Beattie, 36th Premier of Queensland
1953 - Alan Moore, British writer
1953 - Kevin Nealon, American actor and comedian
1954 - Guy Innes-Ker, 10th Duke of Roxburghe, Scottish aristocrat (d. 2019)
1956 - Warren Moon, American football player
1958 - David Brailovsky, Argentine footballer
1959 - Cindy Blackman, American jazz musician
1959 - Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer (d. 1998)
1960 - Elizabeth Perkins, American actress
1960 - Kim Wilde, English singer
1961 - Steven Moffat, Scottish screenwriter and producer
1962 - Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)
1963 - Joost Zwagerman, Dutch writer (d. 2015)
1963 - Peter Schmeichel, Danish footballer
1967 - Gavin Peacock, English footballer
1967 - Jocelyn Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 - Owen Wilson, American actor
1968 - Gary Sheffield, American baseball player
1969 - Duncan Sheik, rock music singer
1969 - Sam Cassell, American basketball player
1969 - Koichiro Kimura, Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler (d. 2014)
1970 - Peter Dutton, Australian politician
1970 - Mike Epps, American actor, comedian and writer
1970 - Megyn Kelly, American lawyer and journalist
1971 - Therese Coffey, English politician
1972 - Jessi Alexander, American singer-songwriter
1973 - Darko Kovacevic, Serbian footballer
1974 - Chloe Sevigny, American actress
1975 - Anthony McPartlin, English actor and television presenter (Ant and Dec)
1975 - David Ortiz, baseball player
From 1976
1976 - Shagrath, Norwegian singer (Dimmu Borgir)
1977 - Fabolous, American rapper
1980 - Minori Chihara, Japanese singer
1980 - Francois Duval, French rally driver
1980 - Junichi Okada, Japanese singer
1980 - Maggie Stiefvater, American writer
1980 - Hamza al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2001)
1981 - Christina Vidal, American actress
1983 - Michael Dawson, English footballer
1984 - Johnny Christ (Real name: Jonathan Lewis Seward), American bassist of Avenged Sevenfold
1985 - Allyson Felix, American athlete
1986 - Georgia King, English actress
1987 - Jake Abel, American actor
1988 - Michael Roach, American soccer player
1989 - Natalie Osman, American professional wrestler
1991 - Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player
1992 - Nathan Kress, American actor
1992 - Queralt Casas, Spanish basketball player
Deaths
Up to 1975
1154 - Adelaide de Maurienne, Queen of France (b. 1092)
1170 - Albert the Bear, Brandenburg nobleman (b. 1100)
1305 - John II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1239)
1785 - Louis Philippe I, French soldier and writer (b. 1725)
1814 - William Jessop, British civil engineer (b. 1745)
1827 - Wilhelm Hauff, German poet (b. 1802)
1830 - Adam Weishaupt, German founder of the Illuminati
1841 - Agustin Gamarra, President of Peru
1886 - Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)
1920 - Matthias Jochumsson, Icelandic poet (b. 1835)
1922 - Marcel Proust, French writer (b. 1871)
1927 - Scipione Borghese, 10th Prince of Sulmona, Italian industrialist, politician, explorer, mountaineer and racing driver (b. 1871)
1941 - Walther Nernst, German chemist (b. 1864)
1941 - Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1867)
1962 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize winner (b. 1885)
1965 - Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (b. 1888)
1969 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American businessman and father of John F. Kennedy (b. 1888)
1972 - Danny Whitten, American musician (b. 1843)
1973 - Alois Haba, Czech composer (b. 1893)
1976 2010
1976 - Man Ray, American artist (b. 1890)
1977 - Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (b. 1897)
1978 - Leo Ryan, United States Congressman (b. 1925)
1978 - Jim Jones, American cult leader (suicide) (b. 1931)
1979 - Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (b. 1901)
1987 - Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (b. 1934)
1991 - Gustav Husak, Czechoslovakian politician (b. 1913)
1994 - Cab Calloway, American musician (b. 1907)
1998 - Aurelio de Lira Tavares, President of Brazil (b. 1905)
1999 - Paul Bowles, American writer (b. 1910)
2002 - James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
2004 - Cy Coleman, American composer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1929)
2009 - Jeanne-Claude, French artist (b. 1935)
2009 - Red Robbins, American basketball player (b. 1944)
2010 - Brian G. Marsden, British astronomer (b. 1937)
2010 - Gaye Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1923)
From 2011
2011 - Walt Hazzard, American basketball player (b. 1942)
2014 - Pepe Eliaschev, Argentine journalist and writer (b. 1945)
2014 - Ahmad Lozi, Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1925)
2015 - Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1975)
2015 - Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Belgian terrorist (b. 1988)
2015 - Mal Whitfield, American runner (b. 1924)
2016 - Denton Cooley, American heart surgeon (b. 1920)
2017 - Azzedine Alaia, Tunisian-French fashion designer (b. 1933)
2017 - Giorgio Antonucci, Italian physician (b. 1933)
2017 - Commins Menapi, Solomon Islands footballer (b. 1977)
2017 - Youssouf Ouedraogo, 6th Prime Minister of Burkina Faso (b. 1952)
2017 - Friedel Rausch, German footballer (b. 1940)
2017 - Ben Riley, American jazz drummer (b. 1933)
2017 - Gillian Rolton, Australian equestrian (b. 1956)
2017 - Pancho Segura, Ecuadorean-American tennis player (b. 1921)
2017 - Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian musician (AC/DC) (b. 1953)
2018 - Waldyr Boccardo, Brazilian basketball player (b. 1936)
2018 - Hector Beltran Leyva, Mexican drug cartel leader (b. 1965)
2018 - Eddie Reeves, American songwriter and record label executive (b. 1939)
2018 - Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, Pakistani Islamic cleric (b. 1923)
2018 - Uladzimir Zhuravel, Belarussian footballer (b. 1971)
2019 - Norodom Buppha Devi, Cambodian royal and ballerina (b. 1943)
Holidays and observances
Latvia - Independence Day (1918)
Oman - National holiday
Venezuela - Feast of the Virgen de Chiquinquira, also known as la Chinita, in the western state of Zulia
Days of the year