12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for November 11, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1215 – Fourth Lateran Council opens in Rome, launching major reforms of church doctrine and practice.
- 1620 – Mayflower Compact signed aboard ship in Cape Cod Bay, establishing self-governance for the Plymouth Colony.
- 1831 – Nat Turner, leader of the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia, is executed in Jerusalem, Virginia.
- 1889 – Washington is admitted as the 42nd U.S. state.
- 1911 – “Great Blue Norther” brings record same-day heat and cold swings across parts of the central United States.
- 1918 – Armistice ends World War I fighting on the Western Front; nations commemorate Armistice/Veterans Day.
- 1921 – Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.
- 1940 – Armistice Day Blizzard strikes the Upper Midwest, killing more than 140 people.
- 1965 – Rhodesia’s white minority government issues a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the UK.
- 1975 – Angola declares independence from Portugal.
- 1975 – Australia’s Governor-General dismisses Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in a constitutional crisis.
- 1992 – Church of England votes to allow the ordination of women as priests.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1960 – Stanley Tucci, actor/director (“The Devil Wears Prada,” “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy”) (65).
- 1962 – Demi Moore, actor (“Ghost,” “G.I. Jane”) (63).
- 1964 – Calista Flockhart, actor (“Ally McBeal,” “Supergirl”) (61).
- 1974 – Leonardo DiCaprio, actor/producer (“Titanic,” “The Revenant”) (51).
- 1983 – Philipp Lahm, German footballer (Bayern Munich; 2014 World Cup–winning captain) (42).
- 1986 – Mark Sanchez, NFL quarterback turned broadcaster (39).
- 1989 – Adam Rippon, Olympic figure skater and TV personality (36).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1855 – Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher/theologian (“Fear and Trembling”) (42).
- 1880 – Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger and folk icon (25).
- 1938 – Mary “Typhoid Mary” Mallon, asymptomatic carrier tied to early U.S. typhoid outbreaks (69).
- 1972 – Berry Oakley, bassist for The Allman Brothers Band (24).
- 2004 – Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader and Nobel Peace laureate (75).
- 2014 – Carol Ann Susi, actor (voice of Mrs. Wolowitz on “The Big Bang Theory”) (62).
- 2021 – F. W. de Klerk, last apartheid-era president of South Africa and Nobel Peace laureate (85).
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