November 14 facts for kids

November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 47 days remain until the end of the year.

This page is all about November 14th! Here you'll discover important events that happened on this day throughout history, as well as famous people who were born or passed away. It's like a time capsule for one special day!

Exciting Events in History

Early Times and Big Changes (Before 1900)

• 332 BC – The famous leader Alexander the Great became the pharaoh (ruler) of Egypt.
• 1680 – An astronomer named Gottfried Kirch found the Great Comet of 1680 using a telescope. It was the very first comet ever discovered this way!
• 1770 – Explorer James Bruce thought he found where the Nile River began.
• 1812 – During the Napoleonic Wars, French armies were defeated by Russian forces at the Battle of Smoliani.
• 1851 – The classic book Moby-Dick by Herman Melville was published in the USA. It's a famous story about a giant whale!
• 1889 – Amazing journalist Nellie Bly started her journey to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She actually finished it in just 72 days!

Modern Milestones (1901–Today)

• 1910 – Pilot Eugene Burton Ely made history by being the first person to take off from a ship! He flew his plane from a special deck on the USS Birmingham.
• 1914 – The beautiful Joensuu City Hall in Joensuu, Finland, opened its doors. It was designed by Eliel Saarinen.
• 1918 – The new country of Czechoslovakia began to form its government.
• 1920 – Pesäpallo, a Finnish sport similar to baseball, was played for the first time in Helsinki.
• 1922 – The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) started its radio service in the United Kingdom.
• 1938 – The Lions Gate Bridge opened in Canada, connecting Vancouver to the North Shore.
• 1940 – During World War II, the city of Coventry in England was heavily bombed by German planes. Coventry Cathedral was almost completely destroyed.
• 1941 – World War II: The large aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sank after being hit by a torpedo.
• 1952 – The New Musical Express magazine started publishing the first official music chart in the UK.
• 1957 – A large meeting of organized crime figures in New York was broken up by police, leading to many arrests.
• 1960 – Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana. This was a huge step for civil rights!
• 1965 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Ia Drang began. This was the first big fight between American and North Vietnamese armies.
• 1967 – The Congress of Colombia declared this day "Day of the Colombian Woman" to honor Policarpa Salavarrieta, a national hero.
• 1967 – American physicist Theodore Maiman received a patent for his ruby laser system, which was the world's first laser!
• 1969 – Apollo program: NASA launched Apollo 12, which was the second mission to land people on the Moon.
• 1970 – The Soviet Union joined the ICAO, making Russian one of its official languages.
• 1970 – Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed in West Virginia, sadly killing 75 people, including almost the entire Marshall University football team.
• 1971 – The Mariner 9 spacecraft successfully entered orbit around Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
• 1973 – In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne married Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey.
• 1973 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising, a big protest against the military government in Greece, began.
• 1975 – Spain gave up control of Western Sahara by signing the Madrid Accords.
• 1979 – US President Jimmy Carter froze all Iranian assets in the United States because of a hostage crisis.
• 1982 – Lech Wałęsa, the leader of Poland's Solidarity movement, was released after being held for almost a year.
• 1984 – Cesar Climaco, the mayor of Zamboanga City in the Philippines, was sadly killed in his home city. He was known for speaking out against the government.
• 1990 – After German reunification, Germany and Poland signed a treaty to confirm their border.
• 1991 – Authorities from America and Britain announced charges against two Libyan officials related to the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
• 1991 – Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returned to Phnom Penh after living in exile for thirteen years.
• 1995 – A disagreement between politicians in the U.S. Congress caused the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums.
• 2001 – War in Afghanistan: Afghan fighters took control of the capital city, Kabul.
• 2001 – A very strong earthquake hit a remote part of the Tibetan Plateau. It caused the longest known crack in the Earth's surface ever recorded on land!
• 2003 – Astronomers discovered 90377 Sedna, which was the most distant object found in our solar system at the time.
• 2008 – The first G-20 economic summit (a meeting of leaders from major economies) opened in Washington, D.C.
• 2012 – Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip because of increasing rocket attacks.
• 2016 – A strong earthquake hit Kaikōura, New Zealand, causing two deaths.

Famous Birthdays

Born Before 1900

• 1449 – Sidonie of Poděbrady, a princess and daughter of the King of Bohemia.
• 1650 – William III of England, who became the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
• 1719 – Leopold Mozart, an Austrian musician and composer, and father of the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• 1765 – Robert Fulton, an American engineer who helped create the first successful steamboat.
• 1797 – Charles Lyell, a Scottish geologist who made important discoveries about Earth's history.
• 1805 – Fanny Mendelssohn, a talented German pianist and composer.
• 1840 – Claude Monet, a very famous French painter known for his beautiful Impressionist art.
• 1863 – Leo Baekeland, a Belgian-American chemist who invented Bakelite, the first plastic made from synthetic materials.
• 1889 – Jawaharlal Nehru, an Indian lawyer and politician who became the first Prime Minister of India.
• 1891 – Frederick Banting, a Canadian physician who won the Nobel Prize for helping discover insulin, which treats diabetes.
• 1900 – Aaron Copland, a well-known American composer and conductor.

Born After 1900

• 1907 – Astrid Lindgren, a Swedish author who wrote many beloved children's books, like Pippi Longstocking.
• 1907 – William Steig, an American author and illustrator who created Shrek! and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
• 1917 – Park Chung Hee, a South Korean general and politician who became the third President of South Korea.
• 1922 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian politician who was the sixth Secretary General of the United Nations.
• 1922 – Veronica Lake, a popular American actress and singer.
• 1933 – Fred Haise, an American astronaut who flew on the Apollo 13 mission.
• 1935 – Hussein of Jordan, who was the King of Jordan.
• 1948 – Charles III, the current King of the United Kingdom.
• 1954 – Condoleezza Rice, an American political scientist and politician who was the 66th United States Secretary of State.
• 1954 – Yanni, a Greek-American pianist and composer known for his New Age music.
• 1956 – Peter R. de Vries, a famous Dutch investigative journalist.
• 1959 – Paul McGann, an English actor.
• 1964 – Joseph Simmons, also known as Run, a famous American hip-hop artist from Run-DMC.
• 1964 – Patrick Warburton, an American actor known for his voice work in many animated films and TV shows.
• 1971 – Adam Gilchrist, a legendary Australian cricketer.
• 1972 – Josh Duhamel, an American model and actor.
• 1975 – Travis Barker, an American drummer and songwriter, famous for being in the band Blink-182.
• 1979 – Olga Kurylenko, a Ukrainian-French model and actress.
• 1982 – Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai.
• 1985 – Thomas Vermaelen, a Belgian footballer.
• 1998 – Sofia Kenin, an American tennis player.

Notable People Who Passed Away

Passed Away Before 1900

• 565 – Justinian I, a powerful Byzantine emperor.
• 1263 – Alexander Nevsky, a Russian saint and military leader.
• 1359 – Gregory Palamas, a Greek archbishop and saint.
• 1391 – Nikola Tavelić, a Croatian missionary and saint.
• 1522 – Anne of France, a French duchess.
• 1687 – Nell Gwyn, a famous English actress.
• 1716 – Gottfried Leibniz, a brilliant German mathematician and philosopher.
• 1817 – Policarpa Salavarrieta, a Colombian seamstress and spy who became a national hero.
• 1831 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, an influential German philosopher.
• 1832 – Charles Carroll of Carrollton, an American politician who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Passed Away After 1900

• 1908 – Guangxu Emperor of China.
• 1915 – Booker T. Washington, an important American educator and historian who worked for civil rights.
• 1916 – Saki, a British short story writer known for his witty and sometimes dark tales.
• 1939 – Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who was one of the longest-living dogs ever recorded!
• 1944 – Trafford Leigh-Mallory, an English air marshal during World War II.
• 1946 – Manuel de Falla, a Spanish pianist and composer.
• 1977 – A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, an Indian monk who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
• 1984 – Cesar Climaco, the mayor of Zamboanga City, who was a strong critic of the government.
• 1991 – Tony Richardson, an English-American director and producer.
• 1992 – Ernst Happel, an Austrian footballer and coach.
• 1995 – Jack Finney, an American author known for his science fiction and thrillers.
• 1997 – Eddie Arcaro, a famous American jockey.
• 2014 – Glen A. Larson, an American director and producer who created TV shows like Battlestar Galactica.
• 2016 – Gwen Ifill, a respected American television journalist.
• 2020 – Des O'Connor, a popular English comedian, singer, and TV presenter.

Special Days and Celebrations

• Children's Day (India): This day celebrates children and is held on the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister.
• Day of the Colombian Woman (Colombia): A day to honor women in Colombia, especially Policarpa Salavarrieta.
• World Diabetes Day (International): This day helps raise awareness about diabetes around the world.
• Dobruja Day (Romania): A day to celebrate the Dobruja region in Romania.

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See also

In Spanish: 14 de noviembre para niños