A Day in the Past

Today in the past

What happened on 8 November?

Black and white photo of four young men with long hair, in shirts and jeans, posing against a plain wall
Photo: Atlantic Records, Public domain

1971 55 years ago

Led Zeppelin releases its famous fourth album

The English rock band Led Zeppelin released its fourth album, which had no official title. Much of it was recorded at Headley Grange, a country house. The album includes ‘Stairway to Heaven’, an eight-minute song that is one of the band's best-known recordings. It became one of the best-selling albums in the world.

Explore 8 November

Your six-week history planner

This week and the next five weeks, Monday to Sunday. Each day shows its top stories — UK history first — and every one links to the full day.

Saffron edge = a UK story

  1. This week 2 Nov – 8 Nov

    1. Mon 2 Nov +112 more on 2 November
    2. Tue 3 Nov +143 more on 3 November
    3. Wed 4 Nov +115 more on 4 November
    4. Thu 5 Nov +125 more on 5 November
    5. Fri 6 Nov +83 more on 6 November
    6. Sat 7 Nov +147 more on 7 November
    7. Sun 8 Nov Today +133 more on 8 November

  2. Next week 9 Nov – 15 Nov

    1. Mon 9 Nov +151 more on 9 November
    2. Tue 10 Nov +131 more on 10 November
    3. Wed 11 Nov +143 more on 11 November
    4. Thu 12 Nov +134 more on 12 November
    5. Fri 13 Nov +112 more on 13 November
    6. Sat 14 Nov +124 more on 14 November
    7. Sun 15 Nov +132 more on 15 November

  3. In 2 weeks 16 Nov – 22 Nov

    1. Mon 16 Nov +127 more on 16 November
    2. Tue 17 Nov +132 more on 17 November
    3. Wed 18 Nov +135 more on 18 November
    4. Thu 19 Nov +125 more on 19 November
    5. Fri 20 Nov +128 more on 20 November
    6. Sat 21 Nov +125 more on 21 November
    7. Sun 22 Nov +102 more on 22 November

  4. In 3 weeks 23 Nov – 29 Nov

    1. Mon 23 Nov +115 more on 23 November
    2. Tue 24 Nov +126 more on 24 November
    3. Wed 25 Nov +124 more on 25 November
    4. Thu 26 Nov +126 more on 26 November
    5. Fri 27 Nov +135 more on 27 November
    6. Sat 28 Nov +134 more on 28 November
    7. Sun 29 Nov +115 more on 29 November

  5. In 4 weeks 30 Nov – 6 Dec

    1. Mon 30 Nov +115 more on 30 November
    2. Tue 1 Dec +148 more on 1 December
    3. Wed 2 Dec +118 more on 2 December
    4. Thu 3 Dec +118 more on 3 December
    5. Fri 4 Dec +137 more on 4 December
    6. Sat 5 Dec +127 more on 5 December
    7. Sun 6 Dec +116 more on 6 December

  6. In 5 weeks 7 Dec – 13 Dec

    1. Mon 7 Dec +110 more on 7 December
    2. Tue 8 Dec +126 more on 8 December
    3. Wed 9 Dec +126 more on 9 December
    4. Thu 10 Dec +122 more on 10 December
    5. Fri 11 Dec +126 more on 11 December
    6. Sat 12 Dec +89 more on 12 December
    7. Sun 13 Dec +104 more on 13 December

Planner key: explorer badges

Each story gets a badge for its topic. Collect them all — tap a badge to explore that topic through the year.

For teachers and parents

Every day has a printable worksheet with a “how long ago?” maths starter, a put-them-in-order timeline and a quick quiz — all built from that day’s real history. Stories about war, disasters and crime are kept out of the calendar and tucked away in a separate “For older readers” section.

Today’s worksheet How to use the site in class