12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for November 27, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1095 – Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
- 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703 peaks over England, one of the most destructive storms in British history.
- 1895 – Alfred Nobel signs his will, establishing the Nobel Prizes.
- 1924 – The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in New York City.
- 1942 – The French fleet is scuttled at Toulon to prevent capture by Germany in WWII.
- 1971 – Soviet probe Mars 2 becomes the first human-made object to reach the surface of Mars (hard landing).
- 1978 – San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated at City Hall.
- 1983 – Avianca Flight 011 crashes near Madrid, Spain; more than 180 people are killed.
- 1990 – John Major is elected leader of the U.K. Conservative Party.
- 1999 – The United Nations establishes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (first observed widely in 2000).
- 2007 – The Annapolis Conference convenes in the U.S., reviving Israeli–Palestinian peace talks.
- 2015 – A gunman kills three people and wounds several others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1951 – Kathryn Bigelow, Oscar-winning filmmaker (“The Hurt Locker,” “Zero Dark Thirty”) (74).
- 1955 – Bill Nye, science educator and TV host (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”) (70).
- 1957 – Caroline Kennedy, diplomat/author (U.S. ambassador to Japan & Australia) (68).
- 1964 – Robin Givens, actor (“Head of the Class”) (61).
- 1968 – Michael Vartan, actor (“Alias”) (57).
- 1973 – Twista, rapper (“Slow Jamz,” rapid-fire delivery) (52).
- 1985 – Alison Pill, actor (“The Newsroom,” “Star Trek: Picard”) (40).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1680 – Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit scholar and polymath (78).
- 1852 – Ada Lovelace, computing pioneer and mathematician (36).
- 1895 – Alexandre Dumas fils, French novelist/dramatist (La Dame aux Camélias) (71).
- 1978 – George Moscone, mayor of San Francisco (49).
- 1978 – Harvey Milk, San Francisco supervisor and LGBTQ+ rights pioneer (48).
- 2011 – Ken Russell, British film director (Tommy, The Devils) (84).
- 2014 – P. D. James, British crime novelist (Adam Dalgliesh series) (94).
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